John and I had set aside Easter weekend
for family because John's sister Janice was getting married on Saturday, April
3. So naturally, John's grandparents, Aunt Lotte and Uncle Richard, and a
whole bunch of other relatives were in town to help Janice celebrate her
special day.
The next day, though, John and I still found a little bit of time for us to go
on a hike before we had to be at his parents' house for Easter dinner. Though
we were hungover from Janice's wedding and tired from lack of sleep, we still
pulled ourselves out of bed at 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning and got dressed to go
hiking.
During the night, the "Easter Bunny" came to visit our apartment, leaving two
Easter baskets -- one for me and one for John. In my basket was a plastic egg
containing a coupon telling me to go look in the office closet (which had been
off-limits for two days). I did so, and in there I found a brand new hiking
stick to replace the one I had broken on the
Ida Canyon Trail (see "The Huachucas"). This one, however, is collapsible so that it will fit in my
suitcase when we go to Montana.
John also received a plastic egg, in which the coupon told him to go look
under the sink. There, he found his "Easter Bonnet" -- a new hat, one that
looks like Indiana Jones' hat. He had seen this hat in Popular Outfitters
while we were doing our wedding gift registry, and when he tried it on, I told
him that it looked very good on him and that it would help protect him from
getting so sunburned.
There were other plastic eggs hidden around the apartment. John received one
for a full day of fun jumping, "no apologies", must be scheduled in advance
but he had to see me for permission. There was also one for one free auto
repair (within John's capabilities), one "hug, kiss, or grope -- photocopies
accepted", and one for horseback riding -- something we had been meaning to do
for a while.
To thank John for making Easter morning so special, I took him to breakfast at
IHOP. Then, we left to do our hike so that I could use my new hiking stick.
The plan was to hike the Pine Creek Trail, a three-mile loop that leaves from
the Ballentine Trailhead, eight miles south of Sunflower along SR 87. Since it
was raining in Phoenix, we figured that we would probably only be able to hike
in a half a mile then turn around and head back to the car. However, as we
began driving towards Sunflower, it began to snow! It was still snowing when
we reached the trailhead, and though it was cold and wet, John and I hiked
anyway.
The Pine Creek Trail is a moderately easy loop if you go north from the
trailhead, a little more difficult if you start south. From the north, it
starts out as a flat trail then gently begins to climb towards the summit of
the hill. It then crosses over the first summit and goes towards the second
summit, and from there, it begins to descend, at a slightly steeper grade than
the ascent, until it ends up back at the trailhead. Even with a hangover, I
did not find this trail difficult at all.
What made this trail all the more enjoyable was the snow. As we left the
trailhead to begin our hike, it continued to snow, and as we ascended the
hill, the snow started to stick to the ground. Once we reached the top of the
hill, we found ourselves hiking through a winter wonderland. The desert plants
were covered with at least two inches of snow, and all of the bright pink and
purple cactus blooms were filled with ice. As we hiked across the summit, we
were almost in blizzard conditions as the snowflakes whipped by us. It was an
amazing sight!
We finished the trail in just under an hour and a half. Then, we drove back to
Phoenix, arriving at the Verleys' house just in time for Easter dinner. John
and I told each other that, even if we were invited, we just couldn't do
another hike that day. John's Aunt Lotte wanted to go hike Camelback Mountain
that afternoon, after dinner. However, having seen what we had just seen --
the incredible beauty of snow falling in the desert -- we wouldn't be able to
enjoy ourselves as much as we had that morning. |
