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| Hiking | 7.90 Miles |
775 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.90 Miles | 5 Hrs 40 Mns | | 1.61 mph |
| 775 ft AEG | 45 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This hike was an unexpected delight. We only really tried it because Wendi had seen some pics of wild horses and was able to throw the ovens my way. Hiking by the river was nice but short lived then it was up the wash. So so through here, but the sandy footing made for really slow plodding. Made it to the ovens fairly early into the hike. So the question became why are we busting humps walking the rest of this wash. After fair amount of trudging I started wondering if snow shoes wouldn't help, or may be I could tie frisbees to my feet but I didn't have either and never do. What wouldn't have given for some frisbees.
I saw some really strange tracks. They stretched across the trail between two bushes. It looked exactly like drag marks but I couldn't make sense of it because the bushes weren't huge and if something this large was being drug then the animal dragging it was probably larger but it would be to big to be under these bushes. I stood there for a good minute or two until Wendi caught up with me. The trail cornered at the bush and as I came around I heard the a quick rattle, just long enough for me to see the tail. Wendi heard it too and made quick work coming through the bushes. I tried to get a picture but the snake would rattle every time I got within sight it would rattle and every time it rattled Wendi would yell. It wasn't coiled or ready to strike but rather than push it with the snake or Wendi we moved on before I got struck by whichever struck first.
Finally the wash levels with the desert floor and despite the sandy wash at least scenery becomes strikingly beautiful. It was almost like a zen garden. One of the best "Flora" hikes I've been on in a long time. Not much for flowers yet but the ocotilla were in bloom and just gorgeous. Tall saguaro. A few hedge hogs in bloom. The boulders looked like they were placed by Mother Nature herself. This was really worth the effort. Not too much later the trail finally left the wash but thankfully not the beauty. As in the description, there are some especially nice views from the high ground. Though not of Red Mountain which earlier in the hike I had turned around surprised to catch just a glimpse of it. We did see the fountain at Fountain Hills...I really see this thing way too often, though I did feel compelled to get the photo but only because there were some interesting rocks in the frame.
A couple on horseback stopped and chatted with us. They were definitely happy to be on trail and it was nice talking to them. We let them pass and continued down. Eventually we made it to the culverts. Those were probably the biggest I have yet seen. Made for a nice cool place to lunch. Just before that we ran into what looked like group tour on horseback. The lead guy was a little gruff in telling me not move my trekking poles. His horse he informed that his horse had never seen them before and was getting scared. I planted them and they passed without incident. He must have seen my Garmin because he asked if were geocaching. I told him no but he didn't look like he necessarily believed me.
Not too long after the culverts the trail cuts south as it begins shadowing the Salt River again. Then shortly after that it ascends level with highway. It was here that we were leaving ourselves the option to add on the Gateway Canyon hike and the Sunrise Arch hike too. After evaluating the river flow which seemed pretty quick we were a little intimidated but looking at the steep terrain that followed on the other side and the already warm temps we decided that that was probably adding too much for one trip. We crossed the two parking areas and rejoined the trail somewhat begrudgingly as now it was shadowing the highway pretty closely. But we had already had a pretty amazing hike and even the highway couldn't take away from it. We ran into horseback friends again, this time they were headed back the way they came. They seemed pretty shocked at the ground we had covered. There must have been a cool breeze coming off the river because as soon we crossed over the highway the heat really started bear down on us. We knew the TH wasn't that far ahead so we just suffered on but the second the trail offered us some shade we took it. I pulled out bandana and wetted it for Wendi though I did partake. It is amazing how awesome a wet piece of fabric feels when you're in a desert.
We made it to the car a little done with the heat. We never did see Wendi' "Wild Horses" so she was a little disappointed. We debated on whether we should take a quick trip to the river. We decided that it would be nice to empty our shoes of all the gravel from walking in the washes. We shed our packs and headed towards the rivers. Suddenly Wendi stopped and pointed across the river. "Wild Horses!" Sure enough, though it was more like just one horse. I ran back to the car and got the camera. By now of course the rest of the crowds on the banks were watching it and a few were trying to circle around the back of it. This forced the horse to cross the river and the nearest unpopulated stretch of beach was right beside us. So he came really close, with 15 feet of us. So Wendi got her horse sighting and then some. We relaxed our feet in the cold river water and emptied our shoes reveling in a successful day. |
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| The Tree of Understanding, dazzling, straight, and simple, sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It. - Wislawa Szymborska, "Utopia" |
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