75 degrees, sunny, a weekday and it’s time for a hike. How about the trail that goes through the Fat Man’s Pass into Hidden Valley and out through the Tall Man’s Arch? Sure.
Hikes are hikes and who wants to hear another description of another hike? They’re all the same: inexorably upwards, lots of rocks, lots of cactus, lots of winding around, lots of groans, lots of stops for pictures, then over a pass and then downwards. Sound familiar? Sure - all our hikes are like that. So, how about just a few pictures of the hike itself? Much more exciting than my words.
This is not just a jumble of rocks - this is actually the trail.
Here’s the obligatory view picture, looking out over Phoenix. Obviously, this is in the beginning of the hike, I’m still smiling. Right after he took this picture, Gary dropped the camera - our new camera, onto the rocks of the trail, down about 10 feet. oops. Hey, just a few dings around the edges.
We don’t find many benches at the top of places we hike and I wanted to take full advantage of it.
We also don’t get such impressive entrances to trails as this one is. Actually, this is at the top of the mountain we’ve just climbed where others who drove up can park their cars and begin their hike here.
Look how the sun makes a halo of the spikes of this cactus.
But, let’s get to the meat of the hike: the fun parts. We finally came to Hidden Valley and here is Fat Man’s Pass. No way to get through this pass without going sideways - dragging your backpack behind you.
BTW, anyone can take this hike - there is a way over the rocks that anyone who doesn't want to skinny through this slit can take. Also, BTW, we’ve got some pictures of Gary next. He hogged the camera at the beginning of the hike and took pictures of me in embarrassing situations. Now, it's his turn.
Here is Big Gary trying to scramble through this narrow opening. He went head first, I went feet first and look like I’m lounging on the rocks. I’m not that dumb - I’d choose a better place to lounge.
We thought this was the arch but, no, the arch was still to come. Of course, with a little exploration, we found a much easier way to get around this small rock window. But - the pictures wouldn’t have been as good.
Here's the actual arch.
Check out this beautiful rock combination: the colors, the twists, the indentations. What forces of geology did this?
We meet lots of bikers on our trails. Parts of these trails are OK for bikes: level, sandy and not too rocks. But I often wonder how they get up the stair-stepper rock-sections that we so often are hiking over. Here’s the answer - they carry the bikes. The biker at the bottom of the hill told us he is out of shape for mountain biking and is almost exhausted, glad that his buddy is taking so much time carrying his bike up the hill.
Finally it’s time for lunch and a rest with a view over the Valley of the Sun.
We are always intrigued by all the petroglyphs and this area has a lot. Pretty cool to try to imagine their lives and why this artist was drawing these pictures. Was she (or he) communicating to others who might be in this area some time or was he (or she) just an artist with a burning desire to draw?
And, that’s the hike. Time for a soda and the drive home. Funny, we’ve been hiking all day and doing fine but, 10 minutes in a car and we’re so stiff walking into the convenience store for a soda that we look like sailors who have been at sea for 5 years.
Climbing is not a spectator sport."
-- Mark Wellman
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