Balanced Rock at McDowell Sonoran Preserve

We drove out to the Granite Mountain Trailhead at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve to hike to Balanced Rock on some of the many trails here. Our route was 5. 8 miles with less than 300 ft of overall elevation gain. A nice hike before catching my flight back home. View of Granite Mountain just after sunrise.

I enjoyed hiking through the large boulders.

Lots of large rocks on the side of Granite Mountain.

These boulders created a small window.

Balanced Rock is the one on the left as seen from the trail.

Balanced Rock from up on the rock slab.

Back side of Balanced Rock

More rock formations along the trail.

As we returned we saw this road runner.

Poppies not yet open by this cholla.

a couple of the many saguaros along the way:

  

some of the wildflowers we was along the trail this morning:

  

 

 

Palo Verde Trail Bartlett Lake

We drove to Rattlesnake Bay at Bartlett Lake in Tonto National Forest to hike the Palo Verde Trail. WE hiked about 7.3 miles with 650 ft of overall gain. It was a chilly 36F when we started, but the views were wonderful and the day got warmer as we hikes. View by Rattlesnake Bay

The trail stays within lake view for the majority of the hike and goes up and down, across washes and over ridges, winding through lovely landscape.

There were lots of chuparosa in bloom today.

In the far distance to the north, we saw some snowy peaks.

One of many lovely saguaro cacti

Instead of going all the way to the parking area at the end of the trail, we stopped a bit short and explored a small cove before returning. 

On our way back, we took the longer loop at the northern end of the trail and soon saw these two mule deer, before they leapt away.

More views as we kept hiking.

These small cacti were growing on a boulder.

Lovely boulders along the trail.

We saw many poppies in bloom along the way.

Back near Rattlesnake Bay, jojoba and chuparosa growing together. 

some of the wildflowers growing along the trail today: