| |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 5.91 Miles |
432 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.91 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 2.96 mph |
| 432 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Tuesday, I was scheduled for my monthly Lunch With Mom in Casa Grande. Since @LosDosSloFolks and I cancelled our scheduled Wednesday hike in Seven Springs, I figured I would do a hike before seeing Mom.
Driving south from Phoenix on I-10, there were tons of yellow flowers in the median, brittlebush and some other ground-hugging species. Also some lupine here & there. The flowers actually got better along I-8, the roadside fields filled with orange desert globemallow. So, despite the chilly overcast weather, I had high hopes for desert flowers!
The first flowers I photographed were moapa bladderpod, mainly because it was so hard choosing from the abundance of Coulter’s lupine patches.
I hiked the Stanfield Hill 2308 Loop counter-clockwise, starting on a sandy road. The corners frequently had berms kicked up by OHVs. The powerline was ~200 yds. to my right, as the jeep trail headed northwest.
When the jeep trail turns west, towards stand-alone conical Hill 2031, it begins slowly climbing. That turn is where the alternate trailhead on Robin Rd. accesses the loop. There is a significant wash where the jeep trail reaches Hill 2031. Heading left, up the wash, shortens the Stanfield Hill 2308 Loop to four miles. 🗺
Despite the area being known for heavy smuggling activity [ photoset ] , I only found two discarded jackets and one set of identifiable human footprints (heavy work boots). The main smuggler pass is apparently 1½ miles north, on the far side of Robin Road’s small lot ranches.
I stayed on the jeep trail as it turned right across the face of Hill 2031, joining the powerline road at the two mile mark. Just before the powerline turns north at a fenceless gate, I instead bent sharply back to the left, onto another jeep trail. 
The jeep trail south of the powerline road had scads of Mexican gold poppy, and more moapa bladderpod than I have seen, total, my entire life. After a half mile of golden goodness, the jeep trail drops 30 slippery feet to join the shortcut wash I mentioned earlier. I turned right, upwash, away from Hill 2031.
The wash remained sandy, despite getting rather narrow. There were still OHV tracks in the sand. After climbing up a 5 ft. high slick rock section, the jeep trail resumed. The skies were getting even darker, and the wind beginning to pick up.
The wind peaked, gusting through the pass between Hill 2308 and Hill 2272. It blew my red Honda Performance Development hat off my head. (The hat I’ve been hiking with almost five years, since I tossed the too greasy previous one after a kart race in Jacksonville.) I was able to retrieve the Honda hat, but not keep it on my head, so I stuffed it down my shirt.
I may not have the latest digital SLR, yet I get good angles on my flower photos because I get down in the dirt. Aiming up is more dramatic, and I get closer to the subject. And that is how I ended up losing my hat. I ran back to where I thought I’d it fell out of my shirt, but with a 10:30 EndEx looming, had to give up my search. I put probably 3,000 miles on the Honda Hat. Farewell old friend … 
Hiking Video: https://vimeo.com/811274552 |
|
Wildflowers Observation Extreme
You will likely never see as many desert globemallow as there are along AZ-84. Acres painted pure orange. As to the hike, tons of lupine on east side of Hill 2308. (Also plenty also on I-8 and along AZ-84.) Lots of moapa bladderpod, and dense patches of Mexican gold poppy on west side of Hill 2308. Other species as tagged in photoset. |
|
| _____________________
| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
