Miners Needle Trail

This was a fun hike up into the mountains that lead to an interesting formation called Miners Needle.  We were with the Hiking Club and are getting to know some of the other hikers.

 We started out with lots of underbrush.

 We even came across a series of streams and pools.

 Then we got up into the mountains some and got a view of Miners Needle.

The weather was beautiful and we had a great hike.

Arizona Trail

This hike was along a segment of the Arizona Trail, which actually run all the way through Arizona from the Mexican border to the Utah border.  We went with the Hiking Club.

 The trail was flat but longer than any we had done before, about 6 miles altogether.  We had a nice sunny day, but it was a little chilly in the early morning.

 We saw some beautiful desert scenery and bluffs.

 This is a baby Saguaro Cactus growing in the middle of a nurse bush, with a Jumping Cholla Cactus behind it.  The Saguaro usually start out in a nurse bush which provides protection and prepares the soil.  After the Saguaro gets big enough it takes all the water and the nurse host dies.  The Jumping Cholla, Cylindropuntia Fulgida, is native to Sonora.  It can get 13 feet tall.  It gets its name from the fact that the stems are easily detached when brushed against, often just the merest tough.  Then it sticks to its victim.

Don't know what type of cactus this is that puts out this tall trunk and then dies.  This one has a black bird sitting on a nearby branch.

Young Saguaro with the mountains in the background.

Siphon Draw Trail and Christmas Vending Machine

This trail was called the Siphon Draw Trail and it goes about half way up the Superstition Mountains.

This was a guided Hiking Club tour.  At the top was this little waterfall, really rare for Arizona, but we had a good rain yesterday.   It was interesting to find water like this half way up the mountains.

 This was at the trailhead with the mountains in the background.

 A close up of Superstition Mountains.

 An interesting peak.  The mountains were quite jagged.

 At the draw it was all smooth rock.  Then it starts going up steeply.  We want to climb to the top here some day, which would be Flatiron Peak.

 For Christmas one day we bought some items at this vending machine in Gilbert.  It's sponsored by the Church.  You select an item and pay with your credit card and it gets donated to a family in need.

We bought a goat and some chickens and some trout farm starter kits and a few other items.  It was fun and will hopefully be of real help to some people.