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| | | Dixie Peak - Valle - Cactus - Tortoise, AZ | | | |
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Dixie Peak - Valle - Cactus - Tortoise, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.78 Miles |
1,039 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.78 Miles | 2 Hrs 40 Mns | | 2.71 mph |
| 1,039 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Needed to do my  and baby  check up. It's still nice enough I can hang out at the house and have my coffee and do some work before heading out; so I'm taking advantage of the later start. I headed up the Hawk's Nest Trail thinking about my 6-nite backpack at Glacier in early July, hoping that I will be in good enough shape to do that. I got up to the owl nest and she was sitting up pretty tall but no evidence of a little one so I continued up. Off to the right I noticed a pretty cholla that had a Hedgehog blooming brightly right below it, made for a nice photo.
I hung a right at the Dixie Loop Trail. A lot of the cactus had buds, blooms and blossoms but I guess I expected them to be more bloomy. Although most Brittlebush were spent, there were still some blooming and it made for a few nice photos along with the cholla. The ocotillos had some fabulous blossoms and I liked that I could get close up with them. I shot more than my fair share of these plants and tried to include nice backdrops of the area and trail. And now it was to make my way toward Dixie Peak, being as Kelly has me on a roll in that regard  .
I still am fighting a nasal cold that wants to drop down into my chest so that was a bit frustrating as I was trying to breathe getting up the peak. This peak has those little false summits that get me every time because just when you think you're done, there's one more. I did actually sit down for a moment or two and shot a couple photos of the TSMC plant. It's been interesting to watch the progress.
Down I went and I realized my toes were rubbing against the front of my shoe... so I may have to change to a thicker sock to see if that helps. My big toe nails are almost done recovering from several months ago from wearing too short of shoe. It's downhill from here to the northeast saddle. But just as I was enjoying the breeze and view,  buzzed me. It was off to the right and I'm glad I didn't over react like I want to do; and yes, I snapped a picture but was only able to get part of it. Needless to say, I started paying more attention to the trail in front of me. The worst thing is I would be coming back this way but hopefully it will have continued down the hill.
I hiked the east side where the Brittlebush is still blooming along part of the trail and there was also lupine. The lizards are also out enforce and they kept me company for most of the hike. I would see about ten hikers today, most of them couldn't get a "hello" out of their mouths  . At the saddle, Alexa reminded mt to enroll for tomorrow's "Get Strong" class and headed back the way I came. Fortunately it was uneventful other than the few hikers I would see.
I headed down the Valle Vista Trail and enjoyed going thru this valley. The Teddy Cholla are starting to bud and bloom and there was other budding and blooming cactus. I ended up taking more pictures than I anticipated. I was glad that the breeze stayed with me as sometimes when I hike down here, the breeze seems to disappear. Because of that cooling breeze, I decided to stick with my original plan and continued to the Cactus Wren Trail. Here I was delightfully surprised to still see some Owl Clover and Lupine blooming so I got distracted by that. I finished this part of the hike to the GO junction and turned back.
The trail is very nice and leisurely as I retraced my steps and then it was on to the Desert Tortoise Trail. I did encounter a couple hikers here including a gentleman with a big camera. There is still blooming desert flora to shoot so hopefully he found some good subject matter; I know I found some great budding/blooming Buckhorn. And now it was just a matter of finishing off this hike but not before I got to see a bird catch something in its mouth, fly to a creosote and then lose it; still cool to see.
I headed back up the Hawk's Nest Trail to check on the owl. I did manage a couple pictures of her and a white feather ball baby. So it looks like both of my owls only had one baby.
WATCH 9:25AM-12:08PM, 6.73 miles, 1619-2304 elevation. 132 avg bpm/160 max. 28% Zone 5 max, 49% Zone 4 anaerobic, 22% Zone 3 aerobic burning 1084 calories. 68 and sunny and slightly breezy, 19% humidity. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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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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and baby 
check up. It's still nice enough I can hang out at the house and have my coffee and do some work before heading out; so I'm taking advantage of the later start. I headed up the Hawk's Nest Trail thinking about my 6-nite backpack at Glacier in early July, hoping that I will be in good enough shape to do that. I got up to the owl nest and she was sitting up pretty tall but no evidence of a little one so I continued up. Off to the right I noticed a pretty cholla that had a Hedgehog blooming brightly right below it, made for a nice photo.
buzzed me. It was off to the right and I'm glad I didn't over react like I want to do; and yes, I snapped a picture but was only able to get part of it. Needless to say, I started paying more attention to the trail in front of me. The worst thing is I would be coming back this way but hopefully it will have continued down the hill.
. I never quite understand that between all the hiking and gym classes I do, why do my muscles not adapt and feel like I've done neither each time I hike or exerercise. They say muscles remember but mine have a very short term memory 
