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| Hiking | 9.17 Miles |
1,699 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.17 Miles | 3 Hrs 32 Mns | | 2.79 mph |
| 1,699 ft AEG | 15 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | It's been awhile since I've hiked in Thunderbird Park but there was five geocaches in it I had yet to find so I found myself parked off of Pinnacle Peak road at the park.
I started off heading across the flats to the Flatlander trail heading east skirting the hills. As I neared the golf course, I veered north up the edge of the hill to find the first geocache. From there, I headed SW down to the flats then across and up a saddle to the second geocache. That was all off trail, a nice walk through creosote along the flat then an easy climb up to the saddle.
The third geocache was along the Arrowhead Point trail, so from the saddle, I went NW up the hill to the trail. I ended up finding an old abandoned trail on the ascent. That made the climb much simpler as I didn't have to worry near as much about the cholla. I'd follow the trail, lose it, then end up back on it again a bit later. It wasn't a simple social trail, real work had been put into clearing the rocks and such. I wonder how long ago it was made, then abandoned?
Once on the Arrowhead Point trail, my offtrail travel for the day ended and so did any solitude I was having in the park. I found the geocache along the Arrowhead Point trail, then descended down to the Coach Whip trail where I took the bridge across the road and into the main park proper where I found the fourth geocache. I used the facilities, then continued west along the Coach Whip trail to the west end of the park where I found the fifth geocache on the Sunrise trail. I took the Sunrise trail up to the top where I was mixed in with lots of women wearing yoga pants, then back down to the main park area where I got on the Cholla Loop, back to the Coach Whip trail, over the bridge, and back to my truck. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
. Ouch! Luckily,it popped pack into place, (but it is still sore 24 hours later). When I got to the base of the mountain I actually took the left most path that got me to the crosswalk. Crossing the street I then took the most direct route on Cholla back to the TH. Trails are ok for a city park. Very rocky and hard on the feet. One nice thing about Thunderbird Park is that there are very few user trails so there is little confusion where the trail is going. Annoying. This is the second day in a row that I’ve taken a tumble. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something….I’m not listening. 
