Ford Canyon - White Tanks near Phoenix

It was a beautiful January weekend, so I decided to hike Ford Canyon in the White Tank mountains with Dennis. He was familiar with the trail, but I hadn't been before.
I laugh in the face of danger!
The canyon was very pretty, although the pools were rather green and murky.



It was a little longer than I was ready for, so I was quite tired at the end. Next time I'll work my way up to the longer hikes!

Trail Stats:
Distance (one way) = 7.4 miles - we hiked it as a loop w/ about 11 miles
Trailhead Elevation = 1615 feet
Elevation Gain = 1410 feet
Avg Time (as loop) = 5 hours

West Fork of Oak Creek - Sedona

The hiking group was doing a Veteran's Day hike on West Fork Trail of Oak Creek in Sedona. I don't normally like stream crossing hikes, but I really wanted to see the fall colors, so decided to join in.
Of course, we had hardly hiked at all before we hit the first (of at least 26) stream crossings.
The canyon was beautiful though.
The morning started out very cold - with just a dusting of snow from the night before.
Since it was Veteran's Day, we each had a little flag to carry (and some of us wore red, white, and blue, too).
As usual, I was the slow one on all the streams.



Breaking for lunch at the end of the trail. To go further, you would need to wade through the water.


Help! Don't leave without me! :-)
While I absolutely hated all the stream crossings (and got a wet foot towards the end), this was a beautiful hike. Anyone with balance or who doesn't mind getting wet feet would love it.

Trail stats:

	Distance Round Trip	8 miles
	Trailhead Elevation	5280 feet
	Elevation Gain	200 feet
	Avg Time Round Trip	4 hours

Vulture Peak near Wickenburg

I hadn't hiked Vulture Peak near Wickenburg before, so Dennis and I headed out to give it a try.

The trail started of with a gradual climb and then it got steeper.

I was still fighting my camera that was on its last leg, and didn't get any more pictures than this.

Trail Stats:

	Distance Round Trip	4 miles
	Trailhead Elevation	2480 feet
	Elevation Gain	1180 feet
	Avg Time Round Trip	2 hours

Picacho Peak State Park

My backpacking trip to Havasupai Falls got canceled due to rain and flooding, so I made the best of the weekend by heading to Picacho Peak State Park.

I was doing fine until I hit the steep part, then decided I was done and turned around.
Instead, I played with the squirrels.
And found a praying mantis. After that, I headed to Catalina State Park to hike Romero Pools, but my camera broke, so there aren't any more pictures.

Trail Stats (Hunter Trail):

	Distance Round Trip	4 miles
	Trailhead Elevation	1784 feet
	Elevation Gain	1374 feet
	Avg Time Round Trip	2 - 3 hours

Derrick-Highline-Horton Creek Loop Trail near Payson

I decided to escape the Phoenix heat and head up to Payson with the hiking group for a day hike near Horton Creek. Instead of coming back the same way we went in, we decided to do this as a loop trail.
Here's the group all together and happy before we started.

The trail started with a steep incline - a few people were less happy and it started to spread out the group.


Enjoying the beautiful views.
Crossing Horton Creek was the one part of this trail that I didn't like. It took me forever to walk across these logs.

The rest of the trail followed the water on the way back. It was a great hike.

Trail stats:

	Distance Round Trip	8 miles
	Trailhead Elevation	5460 feet
	Elevation Gain	1600 feet
	Avg Time Round Trip	4-5 hours