Mesa, AZ - It Looked Flat on the Map

The forecast for the Phoenix area is rain for the next 4 days, beginning at 4:00 this afternoon. Looks like we’d better get our hike in before the deluge. We have been mixing it up between old and new hikes and today was the day for a new hike: Tom’s Thumb in the McDowell Sonoran Peserve on the north side of Scottsdale. This is a beautiful area that has been scalloped out for everyone to enjoy before suburban sprawl took all of the space. Homes line the edges of the Preserve but, once you face the mountains and venture inside, you can feel as it you are in a wilderness.

We awoke at 6:30 since we had a long drive, a long hike and we wanted to get off the mountain before the rain began, though we do carry ponchos with us in our packs. Donuts and coffee along the way and we were able to start at 9:45. Here’s a map of the trail.

WE had what is called a lollipop loop planned: we began at the Tom’s Thumb trailhead at the top of the picture, followed the black line south all the way to its end at the lower left of the picture where we turned east onto the blue line, the Windgate Pass trail, followed it to the white line which is the East End trail heading northwest, met the Tom’s Thumb trail and headed back to our car at the trailhead. Looks pretty flat to me, at least here. Of course, there is that shading stuff, that must mean something. The Tom's Thumb trail to its crest is a hike that the locals use as an aerobic workout and we were not the first ones in the park, there were people already coming down the hill as we were hiking up. They were sweaty and puffing, ‘I’m still wet from my hike up’, one woman told us as she was running back to the trailhead.

It was a huffer, I’ll give the trail that. interminably upwards, steeply upward, with an emphasis on the ‘steeply’. We crested the saddle, looking every which way for Tom’s Thumb. Oops, there’s another saddle ahead of us. Natch. Over that, shucks, another saddle ahead of us. Isn’t that the way of mountains? Finally, over the third crest, we looked to the right and saw what we knew had to be the Thumb. Gotta touch it for good luck. I just wished I was lucky enough to finish the trail. 

And, then we continued on the Tom’s Thumb trail. This part of the trail was as steep a descent as the preceding part was a steep ascent. When we reached the bottom we actually came upon a desert oasis with a bubbling steam, cottonwood trees, reeds and singing birds. Who’d a thought?

A younger woman then overtook us, telling us that she had been following us for a while. We talked with her a while as we walked the trail further where we met 2 guys hiking the same loop in the opposite direction we were walking. We compared mileages and all headed our ways. A short while later, we said good-bye to the young woman who then speeded on her way, leaving us in the dust.

Lunch at the last junction where we turned to begin the steep ascent to the Tom’s Thumb saddle from the east where we could begin the descent back to the trailhead. This was as much a huffer as the first ascent, when were fresh. How many switchbacks were there? How many times did I stop to catch my breath? How many false crests were there? All too many to count: I’m especially not going to tell you how many times I had to stop along the ascent, where we finally saw this: a sign pointing back to the trailhead. Whew. And, it's all downhill.

We reached the crest, turned right and began to head back down to the trailhead. ‘Hey’, said the young woman as she began caught up with us, ‘we meet again.’ She had stopped for lunch at Tom’s Thumb and was now heading back to the trailhead also. ‘Wasn’t that last ascent a bear?’ And, wasn’t I glad to hear that she also had thought it a real huffer, too.

She then told us that she had met the two guys again as they circled the loop. ‘Where are your parents?’ they asked her. Parents? They thought we were her parents? Well, you be the judge: Here Marci is with Gary. No, maybe you shouldn’t be the judge - I know what you’ll say. Yep, we sure could be old enough to have a child her age.

Good trail, a real thigh burner but a nice loop with challenges, great views, interesting rocks on all sides (look at that cute little mushroom taking a bow),

an oasis and a landmark to shoot for. But, we certainly gained more elevation than we usually do. Strangely, the trail looked so flat on the map we used. Of course, they all do. Here’s an elevation chart for this trail: up to the Tom Thumb crest, down to the valley, up to Windgate Pass, down to the valley, up the East End Trail to the Tom’s Thumb crest and then back down to the car. Up and down.

We reached the trailhead by 3:15, headed on home, had dinner and the rain started at 7:15. I don’t remember the RV salesman telling us that raindrops on an RV roof would sound like someone was dropping marbles from 50’, do you? Nope, that’s one of the little secrets they don’t let you in on. But, my word, we had those marbles falling for about 2 hours and off and on throughout the night. Various predictions of rain vary from 1.75” to 4”, depending upon location and who is making the predictions. But all agree, 2” is a lot for this area and will cause flooding and filled washes. The weathermen are already quoting the lines: ‘Turn around, don’t drown’ when you come to a patch of running water more than 2” deep.

10.1 3102’