Bajada Trail

 

Cooper and Tahoe got to run off leash today in pure ecstacy at South Mountain.

 

Afterwards, we ate lunch at a cute pet friendly organic cafe called The Farm. We both ordered the veggie sandwich. The 9-grain bread was killer!

Usery Mtn.

 

Usery Mountain has a series of interconnecting trails and you can make up a lot of varied dayhikes out of them. I made a figue 8 dayhike.

 

We trekked through an impressive saguarro grove.

 

There were lots of cholla too, and Tahoe got one stuck in his leg.

 

One of the highlights was climbing up to Cat Peak. Atop the saddle, I heard a pack of coyotes howling like crazy. It sounded like they had caught lunch. Tahoe heard it too, and he listened very carefully.

 

Nighthawk Wash was the other highpoint. I like washes because they feel like places to be explored. You have to crawl under gnarly trees and over big boulders, and you can always find an old bone or a cool rock in a wash.

 

I like a good cairn even unnecessary ones.

 

New Year's Day

 

Tahoe and I celebrated 2012 by hiking the San Tan Mountains.

 

It's been several years since I've hiked this range, and they have added a bunch more trails.

 

Ironically, when I got home and compared the trail guides, I realized that I had hiked the exact same loop as I had previously. I guess I don't change that much. Or I really like loops.