A several years ago (I don't remember the exact year), John had read about the Spur Cross Conservation Area and the story behind it.  At that time, it had been part of the Spur Cross Ranch but had been put up for sale - the proposal was to turn it into a conservation area and open it up to the public.  John didn't know if it had been opened up yet, so one morning, we went looking for it...only to find that we could not get there, because it was still part of private land.

Not anymore.  Today, Spur Cross is part of the Maricopa County Park system, and all 2,200 acres are open to the public.  Still fascinated with the area, John suggested that, for our next day hike, we should go explore one of the trails in the Spur Cross Conservation Area. 

The trail that he had in mind was the Tortuga Trail, a 3.2-mile long trail (roundtrip) that connects to the Elephant Mountain Trail.  The trail was an old Jeep road with some minor elevation changes - perfect for getting a little bit of a workout, without straining ourselves too much (we were, after all, badly out of shape).  It sounded like a nice way to spend the day, so we decided to go for it.

So on a very cold morning in December, we packed up our hiking gear and left for the Spur Cross Conservation Area, located just outside of the town of Cave Creek. 

To get there, we took Cave Creek road into town and began looking for Spur Cross Ranch Road.  Even though we had taken that road before, several years ago, we still went right past it as we drove through town.  We didn't realize it until we reached the second Circle K in town, so we turned around there and went back.  Now that we were looking for it, we managed to find it right away.

Spur Cross Ranch Road took is through a beautiful residential area with custom homes and horse properties.  (It was definitely an area with money.)  After about six or eight miles, the winding, twisting road turned to dirt.  We took that for 1.5 miles, where we eventually came to the trailhead parking.  A few hundred yards beyond that, we reached a locked gate that marked the end of the road; hikers were permitted to pass through by way of an opening just wide enough for a person to pass through, but that road was closed to motor vehicles.

John let Mary and me out of the Jeep, so that we could use the port-o-potty while he went to park.  After we met up again, we started down the Tortuga Trail (stopping, of course for that traditional trail kiss first). 

The trail began as a nice, flat hike along an old Jeep road that cut through the pristine Sonoran desert.  This part of the trail was very easy; it was also very pretty, because it was so green.  The recent rains had caused everything to start sprouting, so the desert floor was covered with little blades of grass. 

After a quarter of a mile, we came to what looked like the ruins of an old ranch building.  All that was left was the foundation and about six inches of the wall.  We don't know anything else about these old ruins, as there weren't any signs indicating what they were.  (I suppose I could do some Internet research about them.)

We took a break at the old ruins; Mary had a little snack, and I took pictures of the surroundings.  Then, once Mary was rested, we set off on the next leg of our journey: the long climb up.

The next quarter-mile of the Tortuga Trail involved a long (though not strenuous) climb up to the top of the hill.  During this part of the hike, as we climbed higher and higher, we had some very nice views of the Spur Cross Ranch area...and of the homes that had been built out in the desert.  It certainly reminds you that you are not out in the wild; it may be pristine and beautiful, but you are still in the city. 

Once we made it over the hill, though, the houses disappeared, and we were in the wild again.

We stayed on the trail for another quarter to half of a mile, as the trail began to drop towards a wash.  As soon as we came to the wash, we stopped again to take a short breather.  That was when I noticed that there was a small cave in the side of the hill.  It was a "Mary-sized" cave that probably wasn't very deep.  When I pointed it out to John, all he could say was, "Well, this is the Cave Creek area."  True...

We didn't go much further on the trail after that - in fact, after we climbed out of the wash on the other side, we only went another fifty feet or so before we decided that we had gone far enough.  The wind was getting colder and colder the further we went, and the skies were threatening to open up on us at any minute.  It was already 11:00 a.m. - lunchtime - so we decided to sit down and eat first; then, we would head back to the trailhead.

The wind was really getting cold as we hiked back to the trailhead, and off in the distance, we could see that the mountains were already getting rain.  That motivated us to get back to the Jeep as quickly as possible. We did stop to take a break again at the old ruins, but we only stopped for a moment so that Mary could jump off of the wall a few times.

Just before we reached the trailhead, John decided to hike ahead of us, so that he could go get the Jeep and drive it to the gate, where he would pick us up.  Once we were all in the Jeep again, we drove away immediately and started towards home.

And as soon as we were back on Cave Creek Road, the skies opened up on us.  How lucky for us!

It was a shame that we did not get to hike to the end of the trail, but I am certain that, once the cold, wet winter is over, we will be back...

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