Hiking Pass Mountain

This will be our last hike of the season. It is April 1st and it is getting warm (even hot by afternoon) and it is not pleasant to hike when it is 90F. Besides that, the snakes are out now that it is warmer and we are not anxious to meet up with a rattler on the path. Our leader, Bruce, will be heading home to  Illinois so that is another reason to be finishing until next season. But today we will hike this mountain. We begin in the parking area and will hike to the dip (or saddle) on the far right. We have to climb about 700'. Then we hike around the back side and descend the saddle on the far left with the 2 little jagged peaks. Round trip was 5.2 miles.

We are nearing the top of the first saddle - it has been uphill all the way and we are ready for a rest.

This is another reason to stop hiking in the hot weather - and for not being the hike leader! Sunning himself in the middle of the trail, is this Gila Monster! He slithers into the bushes and under a rock when he sees us and after carefully taking some pictures (using our zoom lens!!), we get out of his way. Gila Monsters are as poisonous as rattlesnakes - and we don't want to make him angry.

The trail gets pretty sparse on the backside of the mountain but there are cairns to mark the way - but also some false stone piles so we have to be careful.

At the edge of the second saddle, we stop for our snack break. In the distance, you can see Mesa and Apache Junction.

This is the trail that we will have to take down.

For last half mile, Bruce takes us down into a fairly deep wash - a dry stream bed that can gush with water when it rains but is dry most of the year. But the evidence of that rain is the lush shrubbery and flowering bushes - globe mallow, penstemon, chupa rose, and palo verde.