by Bill Taylor
There will be no hike in April. However, I am planning to do some walking along the beach during our Rocky Point trip. With the weather heating up, I do not plan on any more hikes near Phoenix until the fall. I may plan a few out-of-town hikes in the mountains during the warm weather months, so stay tuned for future articles. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who showed up for my hikes the last five months, and added to the experience.
I thought my February hike in Lost Dutchman Park, along the base of the Superstitions, was going to be a no-show. Even though several people had told me that they would be hiking with us, no one was at the meeting place across from Fiesta Mall or at the trailhead. My girlfriend Brenda and I did the hike alone. However, when we got back to the trailhead and started setting up the lunch we had brought, two Mensans showed up just for the picnic. After eating a pleasant lunch, the four of us hiked part-way up the trail again in order to take more photographs, because the Superstitions looked so different in the afternoon light. We also tackled the labeled "desert vegetation tourist loop" trail next to the ranger station. We had a pleasant afternoon.
My March hike, in the McDowell Mountain Park, north of Fountain Hills, had my best turnout yet. There were eight of us, plus a seeing-eye dog, who enjoyed a nice four mile hike through a rolling countryisde. The area had burned off two years ago, and it was interesting to see what had survived, what was growing back, and what non-native plants were moving in. We even found a small waterfall at the head of a shallow box canyon. The water from the previous week’s rain was flowing beneath the sand upstream, running over and around the rocks of the 20 foot cliff, and then back under the sand again.
Between the parking area and the trailhead was a gravelled area with a picnic area and restrooms. The gate to the area was locked when we started the hike, and we agreed to eat our lunch there at the end of the hike. When we returned, the gate was open, and a handwritten sign indicated the picnic area was reserved for the Fountain Hills Republicans from noon to 9 P.M. It was 12:10, and there was nobody there yet, so we decided to eat there anyway, since it would not take us long to eat our lunch.
While we were eating, a truck pulled in towing a trailer. I was waiting to explain to the two men that we would be leaving soon, but they backed the trailer in next to the barbeque areas, and left the trailer without saying a word or even looking at us. Not five minutes later a female park ranger drove up. Being the hike leader, I talked to her. She asked if we were part of the Fountain Hills Republicans. I let her know we weren’t, but would be leaving soon. I told her I was planning to explain that to the two men who had left the trailer, but they hadn’t spoken to us.
Brenda asked the ranger, "Did they fink on us?" The ranger smiled, and replied that the two Republicans had driven directly to the ranger station and done just that. I guess we looked like a dangerous bunch, and it was a job for the authorities to clear us out. The next time we’ll eat our lunch at the picnic reas further north, in the unburned areas, which is a lush desert. (Is that an oxymoron?)