After work today we decide to try a 2 mile short hike close to home on the Hawes Trail System and explore a section we didn’t hike before. The weather is great and soon we are on the trail, we even have multiple ways to access the trail system.
The trail is quite level in the beginning and due to that it is also slightly dangerous as the bikes that are using it quite often are going at high speed forcing you to be very aware of your surroundings. Therefore soon we decide to go on a side trail that is more steep and as we soon discover also much less popular for bikers.
One of the things we love about this area is that it is still quite undeveloped with many large saguaros dotting the landscape. In fact it looks like a veritable saguaro forest from the distance.
While the new trail is safe from bikers it is not safe from helicopters that buzz us from above, not sure why this area is so popular. Still we enjoy the great weather and beautiful views while we continue along the trail.
The reason that the trail is less popular for biking is due to the fact that it is a lot more hilly with many more technical ascents and descents. On foot it is quite fun to start running downhill to climb the next hill, using physics to save energy.
Observation:
As we walk along the trail we hear from a nearby tree the distinctive call of the Gila woodpecker. Looking for it we finally find it when she decides to hide in a saguaro. With a bit of patience we notice that the saguaro is actually like a apartment complex with multiple holes each inhabited by a different Gila woodpecker. We spend some time watching one of them peering out of the hole until a bicycle passes by and it decides to retreat to safety. Quite cool especially as we didn’t know that multiple holes in the same Saguaro can be used simultaneously.
There are some signs of early spring with flowers all around us as long as we look carefully. Most surprising is that we saw the first Mexican poppies of the year, they usually appear later in the year.
As we return the sun is starting to set which colors the landscape beautifully, this is one of our preferred times to hike and take photos of the landscape.
After reaching the car the day is not done yet as we still visit the library to borrow some books and then go the Power Food Park where we buy some BBQ and pasta for dinner, both are yummy and full we are ready to retire for the night.