Winter in Arizona, for us, means it's time to conquer those desert trails that we can't do once the weather heats up. This year in particular, without snow in the high country, we had no choice but to do desert hikes, because it's just not worth it to freeze your butt off in the mountains without snow. 

One of the desert hikes that we had to do this year was the Vulture Peak Trail, just outside of Wickenburg. John had read about this hike a few years ago and had been itching to give it a go; and since it was only five miles long (roundtrip), he knew that our little hiker would make it...even though it wasn't by any means a kid-friendly trail.

Since it was unseasonably warm for February, we tried to get an early start that morning, in hopes of beating the heat. We managed to get it together rather quickly, so we were able to get out of the house by 7:30 a.m.

To get to the trailhead, we took the Carefree Highway past Lake Pleasant, until we reached the junction with US 60; from there, we turned and continued north into Wickenburg. Once in town, we connected with Wickenburg Road and followed that to Vulture Mine Road.  We kept going for another twelve miles, through the desert, until we arrived at the turn-off for the Vulture Peak Trail.

As we turned onto the trailhead access road, we were in awe to see so many RV's parked there! True, wintertime in the Arizona desert is prime snowbird season; but to see that many RV's in one place was amazing! It was like they had set up their own little city in the middle of nowhere.

We turned in the midst of the RV city and started down the dirt road to the trailhead.  Now, we could have played it safe and parked at the kiosk, a half-mile in on the road, resulting in a five-mile roundtrip hike. We could have...but that would have been out of character for us to pass up the opportunity to take our newly-purchased Toyota 4Runner out on its first 4WD road!  We had only bought it a couple of weeks ago, to replace our old Jeep Grand Cherokee (which had seen better days) and had yet to test it out on dirt; this was a great opportunity to see how it handled our lifestyle.

The result? It handled that road well! We made it to the 4WD trailhead without any problems.  And, of course, since we were able to access the second trailhead, we were able to cut a couple of miles off of our hike.

As soon as we arrived at the trailhead, we donned our hiking gear and set off across the desert, to climb Vulture Peak. Almost immediately, from where we parked the 4Runner, the trail began its steep ascent up the western flank of Vulture Peak.  We huffed and puffed our way uphill, stopping often to catch our breath and to check out the view of the desert floor below.

Despite the steep climb, Mary handled it very well and remained in good spirits throughout the hike. We were cautious, though, knowing that it was still early; the melt-down hour did not usually occur until 11:00 a.m.; we were still a couple of hours from that dreaded time of day.

As we hiked along, Mary found something that she had to point out to us. It was a heart-shaped rock, off the side of the trail.  "Look!" she said, "A heart rock for Valentine's Day!"  How appropriate!

We followed the trail uphill for about one mile - one very steep mile - until we reached the saddle. For Mary and me, this was the end of our hike; the maintained trail ended there. Having attained our goal, then, she and I sat down in the shade next to a large boulder and ate our lunch. 

For John, on the other hand, that was not the end of the trail. To bag Vulture Peak, there was an additional quarter-mile scramble up a steep slope to reach the summit. This scramble was far too difficult for Mary, so John left her with me to attempt the summit by himself.

He wasn't entirely by himself, though. As he started climbing, he was joined by a hiking party consisting of about five or six people and one dog.  He remembered reading that the Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club was also planning to hike Vulture Peak that day, and that happened to be them! They all helped each other out to get to the summit; and, once at the top, they handed John a camera and asked him to take a picture of their group. That picture is on their trip report! 

So there it was: one of the rare occasions when we met up with the administrators of another Arizona hiking website!

While on Vulture Peak, John found a couple of ammo containers. One was obviously the trail register, similar to the one that we had once found on top of Table Top. The other...? John took a picture of it and signed the log inside of it. He then put them back where he had found them.

After taking pictures and exploring the summit, John bid the Arizona Trailblazers farewell and began the scramble down from the peak. He met up with me and Mary; and together, we all started back down the trail.

The return hike from Vulture Peak proved to be an easy hike. Though it was a steep descent, Mary handled it like a pro; even I did well, considering that it was steep. I think it helped that the trail was more rocky and there wasn't as much slippery scree. That always helps the descent go smoother!

It took us about forty-five minutes to complete our hike...but our adventure wasn't over yet. There was still the matter of getting the 4Runner back to the pavement, without damaging our new vehicle. Fortunately, John is a very skilled driver, and though we were jostled and jerked around, we managed to make it back in one piece. En route, we passed by the other trailhead, where the Trailblazers had parked. They were smart to have parked where they did...

We soon arrived in RV Town, at the junction with the paved road. Satisfied that he had given the 4Runner an adequate test, John felt it safe to call an end to our off-road adventure and return to the pavement. The 4Runner had done well; we had picked a good vehicle, and we had many adventures in store for it in the years to come...

But for now, our day's adventure was over, and it was time to take our new 4Runner - and our tired child - home...

Return to Naked in the Woods.