We are coming to the end of our hikes in the desert but there are a few left. Today we hiked the Hawes trail near the end of Power Road. As we neared the parking area, we had to stop as a group of 8 (and a baby) javelinas - or wild pigs - crossed the road right in front of us.
Why do javelinas cross the road? Probably to find food on the other side??
We had a great view of Red Mountain - part of the McDowells - as we began our hike. If you look closely, you can see a helicopter between the mountain and the saguaro cactus. That is an Apache helicopter - they are made right near here in Mesa and are tested across the desert and mountains around us.
Isn't it beautiful?
This became a wildflower hike.
The desert has burst into bloom this week. Here we see the yellow Mexican poppies and the purle lupines.
The pink fairy dusters.
Tiny white daisies.
A baby fish hook cactus pokes it's head up between the rocks.
A chula rose - looks like a tube of red lipstick.
Jack inspects an old mine shaft - it goes back about 15 feet - probably someone looking for gold in these mountains many years ago.
We thought these cacti were "high fiving" each other!
The last mile of the trail is over red rock and has some ups and downs. All together, we hiked 5.2 miles (or almost 8km) with no real net elevation gain but lots of hills of ups - and, of course, downs. Another great day with our hiking friends.
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