Kachina Trail, Flagstaff AZ

I had Monday off to celebrate Labor Day. It was a nice day in Phoenix when I headed up to Flagstaff to hike the Kachina Trail. I thought this would be a nice trail to get out of the heat, but since there were no significant elevation gains, it would be fairly easy on my knees.

The hike started out nice, walking through the woods and into fields of wildflowers.

Along with all the flowers were bunches of caterpillars.

 About 4 miles into the trail, we hit a nice clearing and stopped for a snack. I couldn't resist the urge to hoop down the trail.

I don't leave home without it!

Then scary-looking rain clouds started moving in over the mountains. We decided to cut the hike short and turn around where we were, rather than hiking the full 5.2 miles before returning.

It's a good thing we did! We hadn't hiked more than 5 minutes back when we started feeling sprinkles. Then we heard thunder and it really started raining.

Luckily most of the rain stopped when we were about half way back to the parking lot, and my pants had a chance to dry off before getting to the parking lot. They were a bit damp and muddy below the knees, but quicky dried once I was back in the car.

Even with the cold rain, it was a nice break from Phoenix and a great way to spend the day.

Butterfly Trail - Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson

This weekend the hiking group headed down to Tucson to hike the Butterfly Trail in the Santa Catalina Mountains (on Mount Lemmon).The trail lived up to its name with lots of butterflies, but it was so much more. In order to have butterflies, there were also lots of wildflowers, including these asters.

Yellow columbine
Indian paintbrush (with a grasshopper)

Crimson monkeyflower

The trail was a bit different than I anticipated. I had originally thought that most of it would be ascending up the mountain. Since my knee was still a bit fatigued from my Peru trip, that was a good thing.

Unfortunately, over half of the trail was spent descending into a ravine to the spring before we could ascend back out.

Despite the longer descent - and my throbbing knees - the trail was pretty and there were delights like these wild raspberries growing along the way.

There were also interesting beetlesincluding these Pleasing Fungus Beetles

and their creepy looking larvae/pupae that were hanging off a log.

I was thrilled when we finally reached the climb. My knee was happier and I could go full throttle and race up the hills.

This gave me the chance to break out my hoop and play for a while as I waited for some of the others to catch up.

Just as we finished the hike, we saw this mushroom, that looked like it was straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

After a bit of confusion about where the cars were parked (we did a shuttle), we climbed into the shuttle car and then into the minivan that we carpooled to Tucson in. As we headed down the mountain, we hoped that there was enough gas to make it to the first station (luckily, there was - but just under a half gallon left when we filled up!)

Trail Stats:

Distance Hiking = 5.7 miles
Trailhead Elevation = 7725 feet
Elevation Gain = 1800 feet
Avg Time Hiking = 3 hours (we took 4 hours, including breaks and lots of pictures)

Peru Trek with Cusco (Aug 9-23, 2011)

 While my main focus of my trip to Peru was to hike across the Andes, to Choquequirao and then to Machu Picchu, I also spent a couple of days in Cusco at each end of the trip.

From my hotel, it was a short walk to Plaza de Armas and the historic town center.

I also made several trips to the local market for fruits and baked goods.

I enjoyed just wandering around the city and observing traditional outfits that some people were wearing

I visited the Inca museum

and a children's art museum

I also went to Choco Museum, where I learned to make chocolate.

I roasted the beans.

Then ground the beans.

I used them to make hot chocolate and chocolate candies.

I also visited the Visiting Sacsayhauman Fortress 

I was too chicken to slide down the rock slides, since I didn't want to get injured before my trek.

and from there, took the short walk to Mirador desde el Cristo Blanco

When the trek was over, I returned to Cusco and had a nice massage and saw a parade in the plaza.

And then it was time to head back home.