It's About the (RV) Journey....: Toadstools......

After stopping in the Bureau of Land Management Visitor Office again, we started out with the intention of hiking Wiregrass Canyon. The road leading to the trailhead is a 4 mile dirt road, that the ranger said was doable in a regular car. Well...okay....we thought we'd give it a try...at least check it out. Very shortly after starting down the dirt road, we hit water and turned around. Next up....Toadstools hike.

the dirt road to the Wiregrass Canyon trailhead

hmmm...how deep is that water? and how high is our car?

The trailhead for this hike is right on the side of the Highway. There is a definite trail-no guessing involved-and there are signs at various points of the trail so you know you are going the right way. Don't want to get lost in there!

Here we go

very cool walking among these rocks

love the stripes

This hike was really good, and started out passing through, around and between red rock formations, with a bit of desert blooms along the way. The formations were really cool and it was fun to be so close to these outcroppings.

the trail is pretty well marked

interesting formations

pretty easy hike

ahh...a bit of shade

For a bit, we were walking through the wash, which was a quite sandy. The sights around us got our mind off of walking through the sand.

walking in the sandy wash

what an interesting environment

Before we knew it, we were back on the dirt trail and had a much easier time walking. There was one obstacle in our way...a giant rock mound....and there was a narrow trail that went around it. It wasn't too terribly high up so the ledge wasn't too too steep, but I admit I had a bit of trouble and Tom had to hold my hand so I could get through that part of the trail. What a guy!

glad I'm wearing the dorky hat!

oohhh...I'm gonna need some hand-holding around that bend where the trail narrows!

cool!

yup...need hand-holding here...see the trail on the right....pretty narrow and high up (for me)

much better trail now

It wasn't long before we climbed the hill and entered another world. A bit sureal! There were several rock formations looking like toadstool mushrooms. Other areas looked like dollups of meringue (or was it too close to lunchtime for me-ahahah)!

heading up

woah...are we on another planet?

check out that landscape

toadstool mushrooms

the trail descends down a bit

looking for Fred Flinstone?

doesn't that look like whips of meringue?

so unusual

some toadstools are really tall

its really like another planet here

isn't this fun?

the walls are so white!

another toadstool up high

better view

how cool is that?

meringue-ville

or soft serve vanilla ice-cream?

another view

I think I see Wilma and Betty

balancing?

wonder how long that one will be here?

heading back down

such a cool hike!

After marveling at all the formations up there, we looked out over the terrain we had just come through to get to the toadstools, and began our trek back. The trail markers helped us find our way back very nicely. I needed a hand again at the narrow trail around the obstacle-it seemed worse on the way back for some reason. Must have been the angle. Ugh...its not easy being me. This was one cool hike!