Camping and Hiking Trip - 11/11/2010 to 11/12/2010

Hi, everybody!

It's been a good weekend, but a busy one. I had Thursday and Friday off for Veteran's Day, so decided to go on a camping trip. The original plan was to stay at Usery Mountain Regional Park on Thursday night, then go on to Lost Dutchman State Park on Friday. As it happens, I headed home on Friday instead. I'll save the trip to Lost Dutchman for next time. For now, I had a lot of fun and took a lot of photos. The whole album is here.



I left at around 11:30 Thursday morning, and arrived at around 1 PM. So... about 90 minutes for a 30-mile trip. One minor blip on the way there... I stopped at an intersection in Mesa or Tempe, I forget which... took some photos of a pair of mountains on either side of the road. I was in a public place-- there was a bus stop about 20 feet away, and IMO you can't get much more public than that-- but little did I know, there is a small Army National Guard base there (Papago Park Military Reservation). A military police officer came out, questioned me, and ultimately asked me to delete the pics I'd taken (there were two.) At least the guy was really nice about it.

On Thursday, after arriving at Usery Mountain Park, I set up my campsite and went off to do a little hiking. I did the Merkle Trail, which is a pretty easy hike-- flat and very well-marked. But beautiful scenery. Then I did the Vista Trail, which intersects with the Merkle but heads up the mountain. Got some more really nice views.

After that I rode around the park for a while, and just before sunset headed back to the tent. It was pretty cold that night! Temps in southern AZ this time of year are mid-70s, during the day, mid-40s at night. The desert is really bad at retaining heat.



Next day, in the morning I hiked the Buckhorn Campground Nature Trail and the Wind Cave Trail, before stopping at the Nature Center (think "gift shop") and heading home. I think, with temps being what they currently are, I'll stick to camping out one night at a time. Besides, I have to save some things for future trips. I also picked up a book about cool day hikes in southern Arizona, so will be doing some of the stuff from that book.

Thanks; have fun!

First Weekend-- Lots of Photos

This weekend I decided that I need a cargo box for the back of my red scooter. The under-seat storage compartment barely fits my helmet, and I wanted to have a bit more space to put things in when I start traveling out of town. So Saturday morning (11/6/2010) I went back to the place where I got the scooter--Arizona Discount ATV and Scooters, here in Phoenix. They're good folks. While installing my cargo box, they also adjusted my front brake for me. Works great now! :)

I'd promised myself I'd get back to hiking this weekend, so while temporarily scooterless I took the bus over to Mountain View Park. There are a couple of pretty easy hiking trails there, so I figured it'd be a good place to get started again. Only one problem-- I screwed up my directions, and ended up getting off the bus at 7th Street, when I really ought to have gotten off at 7th Avenue. Not a big deal-- once I realized my mistake; I was only 2 miles east of where I wanted to be. So I set off, taking a hike in order to find the place where I was to take a hike. (LOL)

I got lost a little along the way, but it's all good. I got to explore a part of the city I hadn't really been to before, had some fun, and took some neat photos.

I happened to walk by a tattoo shop called "Phoenink"... silly, I know, but I love that kind of goofy stuff.

A house with lots of bikes lined up out front...

A fire station with a most excellent bench out front; I sat down and rested for a few minutes...

Sunnyslope Mountain, a famous Phoenix landmark...

A probation office... (I dunno, just seemed like an odd place for it)...

Hey, there's a house up on top of this hill/mountain... must be where the rich folks live :P ...

Completely by accident I found a used bookstore... Yay books!

Is it park yet? Why, yes it is...

Unfortunately, the rest rooms at the park were locked... see, folks, this is what happens when you a) have lots of people around who don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves (i.e., vandals) and b) your state runs out of money...

I hoped I didn't have to pee while up on the trail. Ah, well... time for lunch (it was around noon by this time)...

Woohoo, salad! And the book that I'd bought at the used bookstore. After which, I went to the trail...

I didn't go too far up the trail, since I'd already walked over 2 miles getting to the place (yeah, I know, way to cop out... well, next time) but I did get some nice pics:

(Can't have an authentic southern Arizona hike without cactus)

Very nice... while I like my job, the scenery isn't all that great. I stood on the trail for quite a while, enjoying the silence, then headed back to get my scooter. Along the way I passed a house that I kinda liked...

... and the Arizona Canal...

... before getting back on the bus to the scooter shop. The work was almost done by the time I got there, so I only had to wait about 15 minutes. I happily rode home to relax a bit. :)