Thursday Hikers

"We don't get lost. You can't get lost if you don't know where you are going." ~Mike C

First of all, four of them had GPS units, someone had a map, and somebody had hiked this particular trail before. There were nine of them and me and ALL of them hike at my pace or FASTER. I was hard-pressed to keep up with them while they were climbing on boulders, crossing creeks, and battling my new favorite plant, the cat's claw. They are way more hardcore hikers than perhaps I will ever be. It is a good thing I have been doing heaps of hiking bc otherwise I would not have been able to keep up. If I were here every Thursday, I would go with them.

We started out on the trail as the sun was rising and after the fifth or sixth wash headed into the hills for a less well-traveled trail. There were mountains and rock features all around and tons of fat saguaro (swaro) cacti swollen with water. There were also chollas (choya), staghorns, prickly pears, cat's claw and a variety of other plants with prickers and spines. We hiked up and down and around the stream, attempted to find a few trails and had lunch beside a lovely waterfall.

All in all, we hiked about ten miles (it feels like more). The hike was beautiful despite the deadliness of the vegetation (and I had on shorts bc I was thinking of warm weather) and I thought the scenery was beautiful.