On the last day of our rescheduled activities on this long weekend the decision is to finally try the McFadden Horse Trail. We were eyeing this trail for some time but due to the distance to get there and the just right weather needed to hike it we never made it. Today we made the 2:30h drive to the trailhead and at noon were on our way up the mountain.
And up it is even though relatively gently in the beginning. We have to stop relatively often to catch our breath allowing us to enjoy the nature all around us and the beautiful flowers.
While we climb and climb we really like the stretches with some tree cover that allow us to hide from the heat of the day. Unfortunately there are relatively few stretches with pines as the area seems to have burned relatively recently.
We stop soon in a shaded area to eat some lunch and watch the birds flitting through the trees. We start a bird sound identifying app and it is surprising how many birds it can identify around us. As it identifies them if we are interested we follow the sound and try to take photos of them, this works unexpectedly well and is something we should try more often.
We chose our lunch spot well as afterwards the road that we follow exits the pine forest and starts climbing vigurously. This stretch takes quite some time as we stop to catch our breath, cool down and enjoy the great views.
After this stretch of climbing the road levels out for a bit and we enjoy this stretch of the trail with some nice views both from where we are coming and also where we are going.
And then about one mile in it is time to leave the road and start on the actual trail. Almost the whole next mile is up and up on a relatively good trail with some fallen trees to be avoided from time to time. On one of the view level stretches we pass the border of the Sierra Ancha wilderness protecting a big area in the National Forest.
As we climb slowly we have time to enjoy the views while still keeping an eye on the cairns to ensure we do not lose the trail which sometimes can be a bit difficult to follow.
There are still lots of flowers on this stretch and with flowers we also see a lot of butterflies which is quite enjoyable.
As our GPS tracker is showing that we are two miles in we reach the top of the plateau where McFadden Horse Mountain is located. We are quite exhausted after climbing around 2000 ft in these two miles but we know that from here the terrain is much more flat. The challenge actually becomes to find the trail as it really doesn’t exist for long stretches with only the cairns to follow.
We really enjoy this section of the trail, it is much cooler here at 7,500 ft, the terrain is flat and we can easily follow the trail across the flat peak.
However soon the trail becomes very difficult to follow with us losing the cairns a few times and being quite happy that we also have the track on the GPS to actually catch up with the trail later whenever we lose it for a short while.
Post the peak the trail goes for an additional 1.5 miles to an overlook and the views start earlier, we really are on the top of the world here. Multiple Grace’s Warblers seem to agree and sing all around us and with a bit of luck we are able to catch one of the fast flitting birds on camera.
The end point of the trail after 4 miles of hiking is at an overlook of Elephant Rock. It seems just a jump away but the fall of hundreds of feet dissuades us of any try to reach it (and it is more than a jump away). On top of Elephant Rock there are some ruined walls, we cannot decide if they are ancient or something more modern, either way we are wondering how anybody reach the top of the rock.
We take a rest here and eat some snacks enjoying the grand views of the surrounding area and the many flowering cacti. It is very beautiful and we do not want to leave but we have to as it is 5PM already and we have only two more hours of sunlight.
The return trip on the plateau is uneventful and we start the descent with the sun still up but steadily falling towards the horizon.
As the descent is on the west facing side of the mountain we have the occasion to watch the sunset, it is glorious and even though we know we have to make it to the car and that it is late we can’t stop ourselves from taking loads of photos of the sunset.
As the sun finally disappears behind the mountains we speed towards the abandoned road reaching it right before it is getting really dark. Using our flashlights and avoiding the spiders and centipedes on the road we descent carefully to the car and think we are out of the woods. We soon learn that we still have to be careful, the dirt road is full of animals from skunks to foxes to rabbits, everything jumps in front of our car ensuring that we drive very carefully until reaching the main highway. From here it is a two hour drive back to Phoenix and we arrive home at midnight tired and with all our muscles hurting after a beautiful day out.
