Sunday, November 29, 2009

November 28 to 29, 2009

Yesterday, Saturday we were supposed to get some rain but I decided to get out for a quick 9 holes of golf before the weather set in. I picked up Art just before 9 am and we got our golf in, no problem, in fact I never saw anything that looked like rain all day.

I am at loose ends right now. Last night I went to bed before 10:00! And I was up this morning by 5:30. After a quick shower I went to the Village Inn for breakfast and brought along a good book to read. It's amazing how quiet it is on the roads and in the restaurants at that time of morning :-) I was back home by 8:00 and didn't know what else to do with my day. I had a nap. for half an hour and finally decided I had to get out and do something. The weather didn't seem too bad, it was cool (56 F), so I got ready to go for a hike into the Superstition Mountain Range. It was certainly cooler in the hills but not too bad. I took my time and got a few pictures for posterity. Usually our pictures have lots of blue sky - not so much today. My goal was to hike part way up Siphon's Draw so I parked at the start of the Firstwater Trail Road and hiked in to the Jacob's Crosscut Trail which meanders around the bottom of Superstition Mountain. I made it up into Siphon's Draw but as I went higher I lost the sun behind the mountain and it got pretty cold. I wasn't really dressed for that so I decided to stop and have a bite to eat then head back. The elevation change was 700 feet and the total distance was 5 miles. I don't normally hike by myself but there were lots of people on the trails, being a Sunday, so I wasn't too worried.
It's a good thing I got back when I did because, as I'm writing this there's a lot of dark clouds over the mountains and it is clearly raining there. There are a few drops here as well. Looks like we are going to get some rain after all. Well, the desert definitely needs it.

start of my hike
It's not all just desert - there's lots of shrubbery and cactus here
This looks like the place used by Park Rangers during full moon nighttime hikes. No lights and no cameras allowed. I want to go on one one of these days (nights) :-)
Siphon's Draw coming up to the left
Flat Iron plateau - of the two peaks, the one on the right.
I hope to climb that again this year.

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