One of the areas that we don’t visit nearly enough is the north side of Phoenix even though there are many interesting parks in the area. Therefore today we decide to visit one of them, the Sonoran Preserve from the Apache Wash Trailhead. We are planning a loop following mainly the Esplanade Trail in one direction and the Cliff Walk Trail back. The parking lot is huge which is good as it is quite full but given the number of trails there are not that many people on each individual trail which is nice.
The trail is quite flat except when passing washes. As usual some of the trail are following old roads which makes for easy going and gives us plenty of opportunity to avoid killer bikes.
As we get further away the trail becomes single track but at this point there is almost no one else on the trail so it doesn’t impact us that much. There are also quite a few caches along the trail, some of which are tough to find therefore giving us a reason to stop and catch our breath on our hike.
There are also a lot of sparrows along the way mostly black-throated sparrows. They are quite curious and watch us from the chollas as we pass by and we enjoy to watch them back.
The trails are well marked, you just have to know what the abbreviations stand for. Almost without noticing we reach a post that we deduce is the end of the Esplanade trail and the start of the Cliff Walk which means we are now officially returning towards the parking lot. In this area where we cross a wash there are a few rare saguaros including one that looks to have grown the wrong way.
The trail follows a large wash and there are some nice views down into the wash. We even descend a few times into it to find caches and also to marvel at some structures with unknown purposes.
As the miles pass we notice that it is getting quite late for the winter and the sun is setting which allows us to take some nice photos during the Golden Hour before the sunset.
And then the sun sets which is quite spectacular in the desert and we can see both the moon and Venus on the horizon. It is a beautiful sunset and then we walk the last mile to the car using the moonlight. When we get in the parking lot it is dark and we are the only car left, it is quite eerie. Soon we leave, just a few minutes before the park officially closes, and are on our way home after a nice 10 mile hike.
