Our game plan was to be up and out before it was too hot. We didn't make it. Big surprise. But we did get out hiking. Casa Grande Mountain is less than a mile from the campground. On the other side of the interstate highway, we followed a bumpy gravel road to the parking lot. This is a new park. The trails are just being developed and old roads and trails are reverting back to nature.
A lady in a truck camper was boondocking in the parking lot. Little too dry and hot for my taste. It was very quiet and peaceful though. Each to their own.
Never having hiked in the desert before, we thought we would stick to the easy trails. At the first junction we switched to the moderate trail. Then somehow we ended up on the difficult ridge trail. The trail wasn't too hard but we couldn't figure out how to get back down the mountain ridge without backtracking. Eventually Wayne set off cross country to the lower trail. As he was disappearing out of sight, I had to follow despite my fears of rattlesnakes and falling into cacti. All in all we hiked about 3 miles up and down, round and round. Very interesting and eerily beautiful.
As far as wildlife goes, we were dive bombed by a hummingbird. (There are many hummers in this area.) We saw several small lizards but no snakes. Also saw a dove and two quails. Oh yeah there were a couple of horses in a paddock on the way to the park.
We finished hiking just before noon. So technically I guess we don't fall into the category of mad dogs or Englishmen.
Good hike and great exercise. We are in the best shape we have ever been. Life is good.
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| Cacti blossoms |
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| One of several lizards we encountered |
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| Heading into the hills |
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| I'd better hurray - Wayne's disappearing around the bend |
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| Up high |
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| Looking towards our campground - line of trees upper left |
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