Today we have planned another hike in the State Trust patch close to our home. We decide to go on a section we haven’t been before, at least partially. We have visited the other side and we will touch it again to look for a cache that escaped us last time. But first we have to find the entrance and to avoid the prohibited canal. Which is always empty by the way, not sure what is protected really.
We find a beautiful saguaro on the way, but in general there are far fewer than in Usery. Not sure if it is because of the difference in protection or habitat. And then we start finding caches, the first one is quite scary in a fake rattlesnake but after poking from a safe distance we understand it is the cache, phew.
The trails here are quite flat which is good at this point. And they are not popular, we only meet two riders throughout our hike as we follow the powerlines for quite some time.
As usual here there are good views of the Superstition Mountains as well as of the surrounding neighborhoods. The weather is also quite nice today, perfect for a hike.
We find quite a few different birds today including a kestrel eating a roadkill, or so we assume, near the paved road. And verdins, quite a few verdins, we really like them as they flit around in the trees.
There are also a few Gilded Flickers, some even on the ground which is quite unusual for them. But the most special bird we see today is a sagebrush sparrow, we haven’t seen them for quite some time and they are relatively rare here.
What we don’t like to find is homeless encampments, at least the ones we find are empty. What we like to find are caches and we find all we look for including the ones we missed last time, yay! And then it is time to return to the car after an enjoyable hike in this less popular area.
