This morning Bill and I hiked the Scenic Trail at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. We are trying to make our way through all of the trails in this park while we are here, not only for our own enjoyment, but also so we will have first hand information to share with visitors that ask us to recommend trails for them to hike when they visit this beautiful park. With approx. 22 thousand acres of land, and approx. 80 miles of trails, we can hike for a long time without hiking the same trail twice.
One of the first things we noticed as we started out on the scenic trail is that the area at the beginning of the trail is void of any mighty saguaro cactus. That is because a desert wild-fire destroyed several thousand acres, back in 1995, killing most of the saguaro cactus in this area of the park.
Only a very few saguaro cactus survived the fire like the one in the middle of the picture below.
The scenic trail is approx. 4.3 miles long, and takes you through several elevation changes.
Eventually we made our way into areas where the mighty saguaro was untouched by the desert wild-fire of 1995.
The views from the top of the highest elevations are just beautiful.
And you never know what you will come upon just around the next bend in the trail…
The scenic hike took Bill and I about 2 hours to complete, and we found out it burned 773 calories. Can’t beat that for a walk in the park!
Stay Tuned!
Nov 15, 2016 @ 18:34:59
That is absolutely a wonderful trail for its beauty and for the healthy aspect of it. What a splendid time you have each day you go on the trials discovery all sort of treasures and sights. May you continue your times on the trails and enjoy telling your visitors all the things they have to look forward to on their walks.
🦃Happy Turkey Day 🦃
Nov 16, 2016 @ 00:07:36
Thank you Aunt Ellen. Yes, Bill and I know that we are so fortunate to be living, and work camping, in this beautiful park. We both agree if we don’t take advantage of all the beautiful trails available to us to hike and enjoy…, then we have no one to blame but ourselves… We so LOVE it here, and we are all over taking advantage of what is available to us here to help keep us healthy..XoXo
Nov 16, 2016 @ 00:00:28
What a great hike we had, the views were great, the best thing is that we were together.
Love you your Bill
Nov 16, 2016 @ 00:11:29
Yes Bill, we did have a GREAT hike today… One of the longest hikes we have taken so far… But, we had fun, and we kept saying all along the way that the best thing about our new retirement lifewe are living is that whatever we do, we do it together… Love your Girly Girl. XoXo
Nov 16, 2016 @ 01:49:52
Looks and sounds fabulous and just can’t wait to experience it with YOU TWO! Love you!!! xoxoxo
Nov 16, 2016 @ 02:03:27
Well we can’t hardly wait for you to get here to experience it with us… XoXo
Nov 16, 2016 @ 15:36:28
Sounds great. I am hoping to get up there soon to see you and do one of the hikes, so I will rely on you for a recommendation! My daughter, Stacey, and I hiked San Tan last weekend. My first time. It was so beautiful, so I’m definitely hooked! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Love you, Karen
Nov 16, 2016 @ 17:44:11
Well you know you are welcome here anytime. Bring Larry and we will make a day of it! When you know for sure that you can come up, just let me know and I will have a lunch ready so we can take a nice hike, come back and have lunch, then enjoy a glass of vino or two! Bill and I both LOVE to hike and we would so love to have you join us!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Love you too, Virginia