Arizona - Broken Arrow Trailhead

 The other titles for this post could have been "We didn't know what we were getting into" or "Definitely the top end of our fitness level".

We have decided to hike every other day, giving our bodies time to recover between. Still feeling sore from our last one we chose a relatively short hike.

We parked at the Broken Arrow trailhead. As you can see from the map, lots of trails to choose from.

 

Hard to tell from this photo but we started at the P, top right, turned right at the first intersection, on to Hog Wash trail, followed it to the first left on to Hog Heaven trail and then a left on to Twin Buttes trail and back to the start. Around 5km in total (the numbers on the map are miles).

This was at our first intersection. Photo by Rick. As you can see, our first partly cloudy day but still a lovely day for hiking, we started with light shirts over our t-shirts but took them off about half way round the loop.

The first section, Hog Wash, was just what we were looking for. A lot of it was over smooth flat rocks, some up and down but nothing too onerous.

Surprisingly few people on the trail. We had thought a Saturday might be busy.

The trail was rough enough that we had to watch where we were putting out feet so stopped every now and then to catch our breath and look at the spectacular views.

Rick was my "stick holder" every time I wanted to take a picture.

On the Bell Rock trail a small flock of Jay like birds teased me, flitting and squarking but never settling for a photo. The same happened again, here, but we got a better look at them. I am leaning towards an identification of a Scrub Jay - a dusky blue, some black, no crest.

Then this one, flitting around ahead of us

No idea what he is.

As we got further along Hog Wash, the going got more difficult and the stops for water more frequent.

There was a long steep area of switchbacks, climbing up towards the pass.

A couple of times we lost the trail as it crossed large expanses of smooth rocks.

This section had a sign that said it was not recommended for bikes or horses but we saw a number of mountain bikers traversing areas that I found difficult to walk, let alone bike.

Luckily the trail was nicely wooded giving us lots of opportunity to sit in the shade and exclaim at the views.

Up, up, up. Such interesting trees to take my mind off my aching legs.

Some had red trunks leading to green foliage and grey trunks with dead areas.

We had noticed that this rock outcrop looked like a face from another angle, we could still see the face from this side too.

I was so glad to finally reach the pass and start descending back down into the valley.

Top of a Yucca.

It had taken us over 3 hours and our legs were wobbly but it was a fabulous hike. We decided we would pay more attention to the elevation change info next time.

Photo by Rick.

The results from Ricks first night of astro-photography. The Horse head Nebula.