White Tank Mountains........

The Phoenix metro area has quite a lot of farms, and we passed by many fields of roses as we traveled to the White Tank Mountains, minutes away from our new home. This time of year is lovely, but I can't imagine farming in the warm (well, HOT) summer months. 

fields of roses

White Tank Mountain Regional Park is not too far from us, and offers a lot of hiking trails in a beautiful setting. It is part of the Maricopa County Park System, and we decided to purchase a season pass. Its good for 10 different parks in the Phoenix area, which we plan on exploring. For more information, click here.

the White Tanks

After speaking with the park rangers, we planned a 4 mile loop hike using 3 different trails. They were all well marked and very nice. The desert is just beautiful....really! We so thoroughly enjoy hiking through the desert in the cooler months. Its good to go prepared though...dressed in layers, with sunscreen and hat, hiking shoes, WATER! Even in the cooler months, it can get pretty hot in the sun and there is little protection out there. Just sayin'.

never know what you will see...this was in the parking lot at the horse staging area (and trailhead we were taking)

an overview....layers of mountains...not sure if you can decipher that in the photo

looks like a picture...we just realized how these cacti spread and grow....look at the little seedlings below

we were taking a combo of 3 trails for a 4 mile hike

ready Susie?

hi

huge saguaros

see the new plants starting?

the first we noticed this!

another "picture"....

a perfect day for hiking....cool with a slight breeze, and of course that brutal sun

cacti come in all shapes and sizes and seem to speak to us...hahah...this one is saying "look up"

We hiked along a dry wash for a while, before crossing it, and we were amazed how deep it was. The water must come barreling down the mountain and hurling through the wash during monsoon season. Would be amazing to see that, but not realistic! Our thoughts get away from us as we walk along exploring our surroundings, and of course, we have fun with the saguaros. They really do look like they are saying something. (Or are we out in the strong sun too long?)

heading up over the dry wash-it gets much deeper a bit farther away

beautiful

more cactus trees starting up

you know its warming up when Tom takes his jacket off!! (Its the sun!! The air temp was in the 50's)

check out that deep dry wash...must be amazing to see water rushing through there

still on the right trail?

walking across the dry wash...its amazing...so deep

slight ups and downs to make it interesting

gorgeous hike

time to move it...the sun is starting to head down behind the mountains

bad pic of the sun behind the mountain

the desert is gorgeous...especially with the surrounding mountains

We really enjoyed this hike, and plan on coming back to this park to check out some of the other trails too. The Maricopa County parks are amazingly well kept and cared for, including clean and nice picnic areas and bathrooms located throughout the park. Modern clean bathrooms! How nice is that?

heading back now

Back to reasonable dinners. Tom is using his new bottle holder!  (He just has one bottle of beer nightly though....using the 2nd for show)