Black Mesa-Hackberry Springs Loops (Superstitions)

All bundled up at the start of the hike. Hopefully 4 layers plus hat and gloves will be warm enough.
Can you believe that it snowed in the Phoenix area in April?
An hour into the hike, I'm brave enough to remove my hat ... but not my gloves. My hiking buddies have already stripped down to short sleeves.
Two hours into the hike and a snack break. My gloves come off :-)
OK, I only took the gloves off to make it easier to eat. My hands were still cold!
7 miles into a 10.6 mile hike and the windbreaker finally came off. Will 3 layers be warm enough?
A few of the hills.
Such grace! I hate going downhill!
I'm not a fan of stream crossings... especially when there's water and you have to cross the SAME stream 20X!
Only 1 mile left to go!

Trail Stats:

	Distance Round Trip	10.5 miles
	Trailhead Elevation	2300 feet
	Elevation Gain	480 feet
	Accumulated Gain	1125 feet
	Avg Time Round Trip	6 hours

Arizona Snow!

Coming back from a weekend trip to Vegas, we were treated with this beautiful view of snow covered mountains surrounding Lake Mead.
We stopped near Chloride, AZ to get out and play in the snow for a little bit.

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