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| Hiking | 4.13 Miles |
595 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.13 Miles | 2 Hrs 18 Mns | | 2.38 mph |
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| 595 ft AEG | 34 Mns Break | | |
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| partners | | Part 2 of our McDowell Mountain Park day. We finished off East End and now it was time to finally hit Marcus Slide. I was quite excited about seeing this place as I had heard and read many good things.
It was starting to warm up. Almost immediately you walk into highly vegetated terrain. There is lots to gawk at as you make your way on this super nice trail. Plenty of desert flora with boulder and rock formations scattered about not to mention the looming boulder covered mountain on your right.
We stopped occasionally to check out the interpretive signs but for the most part we kept moving. It was very lush and fortunately, there weren't as many people on this trail as there was the Tom's Thumb Trail.
We checked out the collapsed mushroom rock display, hit the point where you look out into the valley and then hiked onto the actual Marcus Slide. I'm glad for the interpretive signs as it makes what you see more meaningful. Kelly said we could have lunch at Submarine Rock. That was a really cool area where two large submarine-looking rocks had perched themselves. There was nice shade below them. While down there we read Laurie's hike description. She did a great job with that.
After lunch when you come back out, there is an interpretive sign describing the rock and asks, "how do you suppose the rock got this way?".... they don't know either  . Anyway, we learned a lot of new terminology as we continued toward another large boulder before completing our loop. As we got closer to the TH we observed a couple different groups of cactus families where the pieces that fell off were now growing up around their parents.
The last thing was some mistletoe berries where the light was shining thru them. They were so pretty. We did encounter a couple horseback riders but they were heading down another trail. We said our goodbyes at Tonto. Kelly had to go get the rental car for her parents and Mia and me had to go see my mom at the Care Center.
It was a fun combo, thanks for the idea Kelly! Marcus Slide is a really great hike; one for the whole family and/or people visiting you.
I took a lot of video of the area since it was my first time out there and it is a relatively new area.
Video 1 to the Interpretive Shear Zone sign http://youtu.be/lPT5KpbtNk0
Video 2 http://youtu.be/hz1jKETarjI to and on Marcus Landslide to the Submarine Rock
Video 3 from the Submarine Rock back to the TH http://youtu.be/EwQ_rt4A5Jk |
| _____________________
For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
