The Other Side of the McDowell Mountains

So Saturday we decided to tackle the McDowell's from the other side of the mountain chain - via Scottsdale. We decided to do Sunrise Trail. It was the longer of two trails in the area, so we figured less people would be on it. We went at noon, for good measure (most people hike early), and the weather could not have been more perfect. The trail is all uphill in one direction, but it's very gradual. If you work out at all, you won't find it a problem, but you do have to look at your feet thanks to a pretty rocky path. As a matter of fact, Michael was concentrating so hard on his footing that he almost crushed this guy.

When Michael jumped back, I thought we were having another snake encounter, but he had come a second away from stepping hard on the tortoise before it moved and caught his eye. We sent Mr. Tortoise in one direction, and we went in another - happy hiking!

Note: Per a comment left down below, I decided to bring up here, since we didn't know any better and hadn't seen any signs about tortoises - just overheated dogs and bee activity. "You shouldn't pick up a Desert Tortoise. When they are picked up they get scared and as a result can pee out their water reserve which they desperately need since it rarely rains. As a result of this, they can actually die. There are signs about this at Pinnacle Peak asking people not to pick them up.

Every time we thought we were at a peak, we realized we weren't,



but the views were great from just about everywhere (especially if we ignored the white smog that was burning our eyes).



As we came around one corner, lo and behold, the Fountain Hills fountain! It seems like no matter where we are, we can see that thing. It's like a bat signal, or a beacon home.



Eventually, we ran across a sign for the sunrise peak spur and headed up. That was pretty darn steep and the hardest part of the whole hike, but it wasn't required, so you can skip it.

Or walk it slowly because it was pretty up there.

OK, that's not him, but it could have been.

On the way back down the spur trail, I heard clomp, clompity, oof behind me. I turned around to see Michael falling off the cliff into a pile of boulders. He managed to stop himself before rolling too far, but not before hurting his wrist. We took stock of the fact that it could have been worse - there could have been cactus where he fell. He also could have broken something, and considering we're just a couple of weeks away from health insurance, that really would have stunk.

The rest of the hike was pretty easy, especially since it was all downhill. You still have to watch your foot placement, but it's not a biggie.

In a few days the Chinese Lantern Festival is starting. They've already started decorating Fountain Park. It already looks like fun.