Wednesday, March 8 – Things have settled down here at VIP RV Park in Apache Junction, AZ. This park isn't bad now that we have gotten use to no longer being in the beauty of the Usery Mountains. The people are very friendly; it it very clean; sites are nicely spaced; and it has a great central location. Especially nice, it is close to the Superstition Mountains and the many outdoor activities.
The good news continues with Paul being able to fix the slideout. He wants to work on it a little more when we reach Houston with the concrete pads to crawl around on. We are pretty confident we'll be able to use the slide without a problem, but we think we'll close it up the night before departing the Phoenix area as a precaution.
We took advantage of the Superstition Mountains this morning by hiking the Hieroglyphic Trail. What a marvelous hike! We really enjoyed this moderate then easy trail. The wording of that last sentence was intentional and for good reason. The trail is a gradual uphill climb almost the entire way to the end (moderate difficulty) and then downhill for the return trip (easy peasy!) Elevation gain was about 590’.
We would definitely do this hike again but next time we'll take our hiking poles and a snack for lunch. Everything we read indicated an easy hike so we only took water bottles and a trail bar. The trail is one of the rockiest we've hiked lately, and we wished we had those poles we left back in the truck. The rocky trail sure slowed down our ascent.
What magnificent scenery! A very beautiful hike.
We could see for miles and miles and miles.
About two miles from the trail head we arrived at a boulder filled canyon complete with a waterfall and pool. We had to do some boulder scrambling. We certainly enjoyed the rest and a trail bar snack while enjoying the view.
The SALT (Superstition Area Land Trust) was doing some clean up in the area, hence the blue bags in the next photo.
This is why the trail is called Hieroglyphic trail.
Going down sooooo much easier than up.
This is a VERY popular trail, and crowds are expected. Even at our 8:25 departure, we were two of many on the trail. The return trip – closer to 10:30 was like a Sunday afternoon walk in a popular park! It doesn't take long to get use to the passersby. We enjoyed the hike regardless.
There are numerous trails branching off from this trailhead. Any one should be able to find a great and suitable hike here. The parking lot holds about 75 cars. It was FULL on our return.
You'll get towed if you park elsewhere. The neighbors in Gold Canyon development have spent big bucks to live in this awesome environment and don't take lightly to visitors filling their streets to hike in the surrounding mountains.
A couple of very happy hikers.
Paul heard from his cardiologist. His April 10th appointment has been moved up to March 20. We canceled our reservations in White Tank Mountains for next week. We will head back to Houston come Monday morning. We are so happy the appointment could be changed.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!
