Having had little time for hiking since the beginning of the year, John and I were ready to get back outdoors again.  I was finally fully recovered from surgery, and we both needed to get back into shape again. 

So, to get us back into the outdoors again, John suggested that we do a short hike along the Cave Creek Trail #4, one of the trails in the Seven Springs area.  It was a trail that he had been eyeing for some time and wanted to try someday.  Although rated as a more difficult trail, the Cave Creek Trail is easy for the first few miles...and that was all we intended to hike that day.

We departed on Saturday morning, around 9:00 a.m. and drove to the Seven Springs Recreational Area, located along FR 24 in the Tonto Forest.  To get there, we took Cave Creek Road through the towns of Cave Creek and Carefree then kept going until the road became FR 24.  From there, it was another eleven miles to the Seven Springs Campground.

We paid our day-use fees at the self-pay station then parked at the Seven Springs Campground, as that was where we thought the hike would begin.  We even found a trail sign, so once we were geared up, we started hiking along the trail.

We must have gone an eighth of a mile before we realized that we were on the wrong trail; and it wasn't until the trail looped back to the campground that we found out that we were on the Cave Creek Nature Trail.  That was when John remembered that the trailhead was not at the Seven Springs Campground after all; it was at the Cave Creek Trailhead, a quarter of a mile up the road!

After completing the quarter-mile nature trail, we climbed back into the Jeep and drove a little bit further up the road to the real trailhead: the Cave Creek Trailhead.  There, in the large, paved parking lot, we found a wooden trail map that included all of the trails in the system and a sign indicating the start of the Cave Creek Trail #4.  Finally, we were on the right track!

We started hiking around 10:30 that morning, and the first thing out of Mary's mouth was, "I don't want to go hiking!"  Having already hiked a quarter of a mile, she thought that she was done for the day.  She was awfully surprised when we had her hiking again.

To compensate for Mary's crabbiness, we took frequent breaks along the way, including a short break during the first quarter-mile of the trail, before we came to Ashdale Road.  There, Mary sat down on a rock and refused to get up again.  We managed to distract her from the impending temper tantrum by showing her a spider's web full of dew.  She thought it was so neat that she forgot about her misery for the time being.

We crossed Ashdale Road (where, we discovered, we could have parked the Jeep to avoid the first quarter mile of the trail) and continued hiking on the other side.  From there, the trail went downhill towards Cave Creek and paralleled the creek for several miles.  We knew, however, that we were only going to get another half-mile out of Mary at the most, so we would not get to see very much of the trail at all.

What we did get to see was very beautiful.  The warm winter had already brought green grass to the trail, and the trees were beginning to bloom.  Who would have thought that we were so close to civilization in such a pretty place?

After another quarter of a mile, we came to a fence; here, the only way to pass through the fence was to go up and over it, by way of aluminum steps.  The trail then continued on the other side.

We only got to hike another quarter of a mile after that, because Mary was getting crankier by the minute.  John hurried her along, promising her that he would find us a cool spot to have lunch before we started hiking back to the Jeep.   It wasn't long before we found that cool spot, near the junction with the Skunk Creek Trail.  It was a challenge to get there, but it was worth it.

We all sat down on the big boulders alongside of the creek and ate our lunch next to a small pool of water.  While we were there, we found many things for Mary to do to forget her troubles.  For one, there were interesting things everywhere - especially earthworms trapped on the rocks, looking for soft soil in which to burrow.  Mary had never touched an earthworm before, so that was quite the experience for her.

The other distraction was to throw rocks into the creek.  This had been one of her favorite pastimes since she learned to walk, and it always kept her entertained, even on her crankiest days.  She loved trying to make the biggest splash possible, by throwing the biggest rocks that she could carry.  Some of those rocks were very heavy, but she was determined to use them anyway, and she did so without injuring anyone.

Rested and refreshed, Mary was soon ready to hike back to the Jeep, and she did so without much complaint.  She even got to ride on John's shoulders for part of the hike, and she giggled the whole time.

It was already 1:00 p.m. when we arrived back at the Jeep.  Since it was Mary's nap time, we decided that it was time to drive home; and as soon as we pulled away from the trailhead, she was fast asleep.

Our day's adventure was over; true, it was a short day, and we didn't get to hike more than three miles, but we felt good knowing that we had finally gotten out of the house and back into the outdoors again.

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