Arizona Rain Hiking

Last week everyone was asking me if I'm watching the SuperBowl. I'm not the type of person that likes to watch people play games and live their lives, I like to play my own games and live my own life. SuperBowl Sunday was a bit on the rainy side in Anthem this year. I knew it was supposed to rain most of the night before but it was supposed to be done early in the morning. Daisy Mountain seems to have its own weather though and it rained off and on throughout the day.

I love hiking in the rain. There's hardly anyone on the trails because they think it's bad weather to be out but they don't know what they are missing. I've done a couple hikes in the rain and this so far has been the best one. Probably the only thing that could top this would be hiking during a torrential downpour since the mountain does have a couple waterfalls that run dry really fast once the rain stops. 

There are a couple downside. Hiking in wet caliche can be like walking in a fresh poured sidewalk. It's a lot more dangerous coming down the hill and a poncho is a must. However the views are amazing when hiking up in the clouds. The north side of the mountain has the best views during the rain. The clouds come in from the south and wrap around the mountain. That morning there were 90 second intervals of clouds and sun. One minute I could see the next peak over 90 seconds later the entire peak and valley in between were covered in clouds. I have a video of this at the bottom of the post.

Anyone that likes the outdoors needs to add hiking in the rain to their bucket list.

From the base of Daisy Mountain.

I believe this was at the first summit.

After the first summit hiking in the clouds. It was mostly clear at my house just under two miles away.

At the peak.

This cholla stuck out because the new growth was a lot brighter than the rest of the cactus.

Hiking down the north side.

North side looking towards New River and Tonto National Forest.

This was just past the first summit.

By far the best part of the hike.

Black Canyon Recreational Trail

A couple weeks ago I decided it was time to find a new trail to hike. So I found a couple, one being a block up from the Rock City Café. Normally I hit the trail around 5:00-5:30 but this morning I got a late start and didn't get to the trail head until 6:10. Since I left the house so late I figured I could just leave the flashlight at home. Bad idea. When I got there I decided to check what time sunrise was. It had been 6:35 just a couple weeks ago. Now it was 7:10 meaning I would have enough light to start hiking around 6:35-6:40. So I had to sit in the car and wait for a bit before starting my hike.

 

My plan was to do a minimum of 10 miles. I ended up doing 12 that day. It's a lot easier than Daisy Mountain since there are no really steep inclines but there is still quite a bit of up and down. Needless to say I was sore for a couple days after this one. About a mile into the hike I realized I forgot the memory card for the Nikon DSLR I was hauling around. So I had to take all my pictures that day with my phone. I was impressed by the views of this hike. I only had to get 3/4 of a mile in to get some really good views of the canyon. After just over 2 miles the trail drops into a creek where I had a fun time trying to figure out the best way to cross without getting wet. After that it was a pretty moderate hike just climbing over one small hill at a time. Once I passed up Black Canyon City I decided to call it a day and head back. On the way back I explored an active gold mining camp.

 

This was my first hike every wearing Under Armor and I have to say I was impressed. Normally I wear cotton and it makes hiking in the cold suck due to the fact I would sweat and then get cold when the wind hits. With Under Armor my shirt stayed dry and I stayed warm. So now I no longer despise hiking in chilly weather.

 

Yesterday I decided to wake up early and take my nephew Jeremy up the trail with me. We started just after 6. This time I had my flashlight and my camera had it's memory card. The whole time I got to hear Jeremy asking if we can shoot my .45. So when we got to the creek I had Jeremy find a bottle to shoot in the creek. I have to say I was pretty impressed with this kid's aim. At 20-25 yards he was getting shots right next to the bottle.

 

After doing some shooting we crossed the creek and climbed over some rocks. When we went to cross back over we saw something above a branch of a tree. All I could see was fur above the branch that was an orangish brown like an orangutan. Then I saw a tail flap around. Now my view from here was not good so I decided to sneak around to see what it was. As I got down to the creek I made a turn and there was a cow staring me in the face. As we got to the top of the trail we could see 3 or 4 more cows back on the other side of the creek. Guess that explains all the fences. I knew they were either keeping in cows or bison because of the cow pies everywhere and now the mystery was solved.

 

 

 Took a high tech selfie.

 There's quite a few of these fences along the trail to keep the cows in. The gates open so I'm wondering if the bridge is for mountain bikers.

 From the top of the trail looking at Black Canyon Creek.

 

Jeremy shooting the. 45.

 Doesn't that look delicious. I was craving a burger all day after seeing this cow.

 I think this is the coolest part of the trail. Only about 3-5 minutes from the parking lot. Some of the biggest Saguaros I have ever seen at all different elevations.