Real rainfall this winter has precipitated an explosion of wildflowers this spring in Arizona.  It’s been a spectacular sight, especially since last year (our first winter/spring) it was pretty dismal and barren.  As if by magic, we are discovering new trails in the area that are not only free of cost, but walkable for our level of “expertise” (or not, ha ha).  We were warned that the temperatures would climb to the 90’s, but it capped at 85 during our morning exploration of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Trails.  Morning cloud cover definitely helped and we were able to finish as the sun was breaking through.

Naively, we thought we’d hit the Tom Thumb Trail.  A lot of people talked about it (and now I wonder if they ever actually hiked the trail), so we thought it would be doable.  Well, at 10 miles round trip and a 1,385 elevation change, in addition to an “extremely difficult” rating (people use mountain climbing gear on this trail), we opted for the “moderate”, 5 mile round trip Marcus Land Slide trail.  And it was perfect.

Four Peaks, Superstition Mountains, wildflowers, raptors, incredible rock formations – great memories!

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