Peralta Trail Hike

For a time now, I have wanted to hike the Peralta Trail in the Superstition Wilderness. Well, Saturday, was my day! This is definitely one of the best and most popular day hikes there is in the area. Fortunately we had an early start, which let us enjoy most of trail in some solemnity, but the return hike was filled with hundreds of hikers, boy scouts, horse back riders, dogs, etc. I love to know that others are enjoying the easily accessible natural areas near town, but i like it even more when it feels like we are farther from the city than we really are.

The hike was made even better by the mild, overcast weather and the the amazing green on the hills. I was hoping to see a few more wildflowers, but they just were not yet in full bloom, I did take several pictures however of some of the early comers.

The trail seemed to be moderate in difficulty, which took about 2.5 hrs for us to complete. The real reward of the trip is the view of weaver's needle from the Fremont's saddle. The view reminded me of Devils Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With the steady stream of hikers ascending the canyon to that point, it made me think we should sit and wait for the alien ship to arrive and play us a MIDI concert! But instead we turned around and enjoyed the greats view back down the canyon. Enjoy the pictures...

Here is some information about the trail ---> azcentral.com

Another Hike at San Tan Regional Park

Okay, another entry for another hike. The trail was gorgeous. We hiked the Goldmine and San Tan Trails at the San Tan Regional Park near Queen Creek. we have a lot of rain this winter and we could see that the hills were beginning to show green (no really, I mean it, green hills in Arizona) so we wanted to catch the desert wildflowers as it started to bloom. Unfortunately, we were just a wee bit early to see the bloom, but we could really see that the desert was getting ready for a great show, I anticipate that it will be in full force in 2-3 weeks. Peralta trail in the Superstitions will be our next attempt to see the big 2008 bloom.


For us the hikes have been an excuse to find interesting places to catch a bite to eat. So yesterday we returned to a place we had found a while ago called the Olive Mill in Queen Creek. Best way to describe it would be, "Not what you would expect to find in Queen Creek". It was quaint, clever, and tasty (we each tried a variety of the breakfast frittata panini, I decided the veggies with fresh herbs was the the best). Best part of the shop are the complimentary olive and olive oil tasting bar!


Thanks John and Michael for a great hike!

Telegraph trail hike on South Mountain

Spencer and I, and a few friends, took a hike on the south side of south mountain where we saw this petroglyph. Pretty cool we thought. It was a perfect day for a hike and the winter rain was just beginning to show green growth everywhere! We are definitely planning a desert wildflowers hike in two weeks. I'll post some additional pics soon of the hike. We are doing Peralta trail next... right, John.
-Shayne