An Annual Hike

Almost every winter one of our first hikes is in Usury Mountain Park to Wind Cave. It is a very popular trail and a little under 2 miles one way. We went there last week. The desert in that area is beautiful.

Although the trail isn't too long, it is steep. This is an awful picture John took of me. I really wasn't struggling as much as it looks like here but it does take some work to get to the "cave."

But the view over the valley is worth it, even if we had to share it with quite a few other hikers.

Although it is called a cave, it is really an overhang. At Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado  overhangs like this and those a lot deeper were used for cliff dwellings. Wind cave would provide some protection from rain. It often hosts large numbers of bees and some chipmunks as well as hikers.

My Favorite Things

Today, we saw a few of my favorite things. We went on our first hike of the winter season--to Wind Cave. The trail is accessed in Usery Mountain Regional Park and goes into the Tonto National Forest. There we saw saguaro cactus





palo verde trees



cholla cactus



and lichen that is somewhere between lime green and fluorescent green.



When we first visited southern Arizona and hiked in the Sonoran Desert, I found it pretty dull and ordinary--maybe even ugly. I don't feel that way anymore. I love this landscape and the many different shades and types of green plants. They come in so many unusual shapes.

This is wind cave. It doesn't look like a traditional cave. It was carved out by the desert winds, I believe.



The trail is short--1.5 miles one way--but is rated difficult. It is rocky and fairly steep. It is also very popular. We see more people on this trail than on any other in the Phoenix vicinity. Today we saw something different.



This fellow was carrying a bunch of balloons up the trail. We asked a man hiking up with him and learned they were going to release the balloons in honor of their nephew's birthday. I didn't learn anything more than that.



When they reached the cave, they unwrapped the balloons and released them into the sky. I was able to take a picture of the uncovered balloons, but I didn't get them ascending into the sky.



If you aren't familiar with Usery Park or Usery Pass Road, you still might know where it is. This sign is right across the road and is visible to many who fly in and out of Sky Harbor Airport.