Garden Valley Loop Photoset • AZLumberjack • 2015-01-13 • HikeArizona.COM

Garden Valley Loop, AZ

	2015-01-13
	8 by AZLumberjack

Garden Valley Loop

Phoenix, AZ

Garden Valley Loop

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking	4.96 Miles	660 AEG

Hiking	4.96 Miles	2 Hrs 41 Mns	1.85 mph
	660 ft AEG

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A wet day in Garden Valley

I was working the First Water Trailhead this morning and was treated to a #4 on the sunrise scale (on a scale of 1 to 10). Still, it was a beautiful morning following a light sprinkle of rain earlier. The clouds were parting, the sun was shining and the front was moving to the East leaving us with what appeared to be the start to a nice day.

Had no visitors by 0800 and I was getting bored so I slipped into my hiking gear and headed down the trail....destination, Garden Valley. I wanted to check the condition of the trails and was looking for refuse discarded by bad guys along the way.

As I strolled through the Garden, I removed my windbreaker and tucked it into my pack...more better now. The shrubbery alongside the trails appear to have been bitten by the frost bug from the recent cold spell so the magical green has been replaced by a rust brown color.

I made a turn-around at the earth tank at the North-East end of the Garden and began making my return trip. The morning sun was working on the Superstition Ridgeline and the evaporation was building up into a thick bank of clouds hanging over the Mountain.....Then I looked to the West

A continuous layer of dark clouds was passing over the Goldfield Mountains and heading my way.

I quickened my pace a bit (not all that easy when you're 74 years old) and made it to the edge of the Garden when I felt the first light drops of rain touching my exposed skin :doh:

As I continued on down the trail, the rain drops picked up in size and intensity and my boots began building up a layer of mud in the tread making the slick rocks even slicker.

Where in the :pk:

did all this rain come from, when it started out as such a nice morning? I remembered my windbreaker and removed it from my pack slipping it on over my pack (that must have looked really cool) but before long it too was soaked.

I arrived at the Trailhead to find that there was a dozen cars in the lot so others were out in that rain and mud and probably heading back also. No dry clothes in my truck so I hit the road with the heater blasting against my wet shirt and pants trying to raise the comfort level....Garden Valley's probably getting greener already :y:

Wildflowers Observation Light
Some flowers are beginning to show up as the days get longer.

	First Water Creek at Second Water Trail #236	Dry	Dry
	Nothing but rocks showing....but it's raining now.

_____________________

On every trip into the Superstitions, I find another Gold Mine. Today the mine was filled with Memories. I can not wait for the next trip.

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