The LAST Hike

On Saturday, April 3, we went for our last hike of the season here in Phoenix. Since we had not yet been to South Mountain Park, we decided to hike the "Fat Man Pass" Trail. Gerry, Jack and Mary set out early so the temperatures would be more comfortable and began on the "Morman Trail". This starts as a fairly steep climb for the first mile with several switch backs and the trail was busy because it was a Saturday. But clear blue Arizona skies and lots of blooming flowers made it a strenuous but good beginning. When we reached the top of the ridge, we could see for a long way - downtown Phoenix and even the airport with planes landing below us.
We took the turn off for Fat Man Pass and had a lot of fun squeezing through a narrow 9 inch passage. The rock sides had become shiny and slippey with the passage of many bodies over the years. This led to Hidden Valley and another jumble of rocks to slide down on one's butt and duck down because the passage was only 3 feet high. Again the rock was slippery and you had to put out your feet to made a safe stop. After that was a naturel tunnel that one could walk upright through. The rocks in this area are quite different from other areas we have hiked because they are large boulders toppled at interesting angles and covered with a black "rock varnish'. When we left Hidden Valley, we turned the wrong way and only discovered we were on the wrong trail after a mile of unfamiliar territory (it was to be an in and out hike) We finally asked a local fellow on his mountain bike and he told us the best would be to turn around and return to the junction. This added 2 miles to the 4 mile hike and another hour of hiking. It was warm but we knew we would be going downhill at the end. When we returned to the RV, the pool never looked so good!