Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale

The early morning sun flowing across the par 3 hole number 8 on the golf course as seen from our condo deck.

After another wonderful sunrise last Tuesday we decided to take a hike so I went to the office to see if they had a recommendation for a nearby trail that was not too difficult for old folks.

There are several well-known mountain parks in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area but the concierge recommended a nearby park that fit our request quite nicely. Just a few miles northeast of where we were staying it had a medium difficulty trail and beautiful vistas so we grabbed some extra bottles of water, smeared on sunscreen and headed for the hills.

After a ten minute drive we arrived at Pinnacle Peak Park, an urban park surrounded by rather upscale housing and at least two golf courses, one on the southern and one on the northern side of the park. We parked in a spacious lot and headed for the gate past an information booth manned by a friendly fellow, waited for the ladies to make a pit stop and then headed up the trail.

Teddy Bear Cholla cactus not far from the trail head.

The trail winds up toward the Saguaro field then veers off to the right then switches back and forth up the hill behind the large rock grouping in the center right and around the base of what looks like a tombstone in front of a Sphinx on the right shoulder of the peak.

That flat rectangular rock doesn't look very large but when we climbed up the trail there was a rock climber about halfway up the face. The rock up close looked to be 50 or 60 feet high and the climber was making slow headway on the nearly smooth surface.

When we came back down he had finished his climb, was seated on the head of the Sphinx and was guiding a woman up the same route he took earlier.

We weren't tempted to stray from the trail since there were spines and thorns everywhere. In the photo, above, the the Teddy Bear Cholla looks friendly and even fuzzy cuddly but is just waiting to bury barbed spines in the unwary hiker's flesh. In the left near background is a Staghorn Cholla (or maybe Buckhorn Cholla as they are difficult to differentiate) which has fewer but longer thorns.

Some of the other Cholla varieties are Christmas Cholla, Pencil Cholla and the dreaded Jumping Cholla which doesn't really jump but its branches are easily detached from the parent and stick in clothing or flesh of the careless passerby, human or animal. There were signs along the trail identifying each of the varieties (along with other plants) except the Jumping Cholla, which I didn't notice.

Saguaro cacti guarding the trail.

 We saw a sign along the trail asking runners and joggers to yield to other trail users. That sign didn't seem to affect the runners and joggers who seemed to be doing time trials up and down the peak. Another sign asked hikers to move to the uphill side of the trail, speak softly and not make sudden movements in case horses came along the trail. We didn't see any horses so didn't get to try out that advice.

We saw and interacted with several friendly volunteers who answered questions when they weren't packing water up the trail to water newly planted vegetation.

Jack and Sue, the younger half of our party.

Harold and Ikuko, the geezers of the party. Note the golf course near Ikuko's left
ear and the houses stretching out across the valley beyond.

The elevation of Scottsdale is 1,257 feet and we gained some elevation as we drove to the park but I estimate we climbed well over one thousand feet from the trail entrance to this point.

It was a scenic climb through the cacti and rocks. The sun was hard at work but there was a gentle breeze so we weren't uncomfortable.