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For Mother's Day this year, John decided to do something
nice for the two special mothers in his life: his mother Erika, and me, his
wife and a mom-to-be. Instead of buying us expensive presents or making us
breakfast in bed, John showed us how much he loves us in his own special way:
by taking us hiking in someplace pretty.
He chose the hike at the last minute, after tossing up many options all over
the state. The night before Mother's Day, he announced that we would be hiking
the South Fork Trail #46, which could be found at the Deer Creek Trailhead.
(We had already hiked Deer Creek #45 back in
November 1998. Now we would get a
chance to see a different part of that region.) It sounded as though the trail
would be similar to the Deer Creek Trail, which was a very lovely trail. If
so, then we would be in for a very beautiful hike.
We left the house at 6:15 a.m. Saturday morning. After picking Erika up at
home, the three of us drove to the Deer Creek Trailhead, which was located on
Highway 87, just across from the rest area in Rye. (We, of course, stopped en
route at Einstein's Bagels, where John treated us to breakfast.) It was
already after 8:00 a.m. when we arrived - much later than we had anticipated -
but since we were only planning to hike until noon, we didn't mind the late
start.
Our hike began at 8:20 a.m., when John and I shared our "new trail" kiss at
the trailhead. Technically, it wasn't a new trail for us, though, because we
had already hiked the first half-mile of the South Fork Trail, as it is also
part of the Deer Creek Trail. (Three trails - 45, 46, and 47 - all leave from
the same trailhead then branch off in different directions.) The first half a
mile is a gentle climb with one switchback that goes up to the top of a ridge.
After a quarter of a mile, Trail #47 branches off to the left. Then, after
passing through a gate, we reached the trail junction, where the South Fork
Trail goes off to the left and the Deer Creek Trail continues straight ahead.
All three trails end up at the same place: Mount Peeley, at different points
along Forest Road 201.
For the purpose of our hike, we stayed on Trail #46, which traversed the
ridgeline for about a quarter of a mile before it began to descend gradually
towards the South Fork of Deer Creek. Although this part of the hike didn't
have much shade, we found it particularly beautiful. The trail cut across a
grassy ridgeline that was sparsely dotted with mesquite trees, pinions, and
prickly pear cactus that was just beginning to bloom with bright yellow and
peach flowers. Occasionally, we found a few yellow wildflowers, but with the
dry weather we didn't expect to find many of them at all.
We found just a little bit more shade as we entered the canyon, through which
the South Fork of Deer Creek flowed seasonally. (The creek, of course, was
mostly dry except for a few shallow pools of water - we didn't expect to find
any water at all, considering that we hadn't had much of a winter this year.)
After having hiked for one mile, we stopped to rest next to the creek, at a
spot with some nice pools of water and flat rocks to sit on. Erika shared some
orange slices with us, and while we ate, we watched the water spiders glide
along the surface of the water. John also found some water beetles that were
swimming just under the surface of the water. They were interesting to watch,
because their random patterns almost looked like skydiving formations.
Continuing along the trail, we found ourselves crossing over more grassy
ridgelines similar to the one at the start of the trail, only with more shade.
Then, we would descend back to the creek bed and hike along the sycamores and
cottonwoods for a while. For the most part, the hike was very easy, with only
one section that was a steep uphill climb that was probably only fifty or one
hundred feet in length. Although it was difficult for me, I managed to make it
to the top of the ridge.
After hiking for about two miles, we came to an area that was rich with
foliage, with bright green leaves that almost completely choked the trail.
From a distance, it looked so pretty, but upon closer inspection, we suddenly
realized that we were walking into a huge patch of poison ivy! Carefully, we
stepped through the poison ivy leaves, trying to keep from brushing against
them, but some of them were so tall and leafy that we had a hard time keeping
away from them. (I was almost certain that I had touched the leaves several
times, but fortunately, I did not break out into a rash.)
Although the poison ivy patch was quite hairy, we only had about ten feet of
it to deal with - twenty feet total, if you count the return trip. Once we
were through the worst of it, our hike continued at its normal pace. At that
point, the trail began to climb gently as it went upstream. I, of course,
began to get tired, but I kept going anyway because it was still early in the
day and there was so much left to see.
Our destination ended up being somewhat of a surprise. We weren't expecting to
find a piece of history along the trail, but once we discovered it, we decided
to make that our "turn-around" point. What we found was the remains of an old
stone cabin, with its fireplace and chimney still intact. My guess is that it
was constructed in the late 1800's or early 1900's by one of the frontiersmen
who lived in and explored the Mazatzals. We stopped there and took several
pictures of us inside of the cabin. Then, since it was already 10:15, we
started to hike back to the trailhead.
It only took us just over an hour to return to the car, since the trail was
mostly downhill from the cabin. We arrived back at the car around 11:30 a.m.,
just after the morning haze of clouds had burned off. Although the winds had
picked up, giving us a little relief from the heat, it was already starting to
get hot, so we were grateful to have completed our hike before the hottest
part of the day.
But that wasn't the end of the day. After arriving back in Phoenix, John took
us to lunch at Z-Tejas, a nice Southwestern restaurant in the Paradise Valley
area. The food there was delicious, and the service was great, despite the
fact it was Mother's Day and the restaurant was crowded. We had a very
delightful lunch; then, we all went home to relax. |
