Back in AZ and Hiking the Hieroglyph Trail…

After Katie's graduation ceremony we went out for a congratulatory dinner to bring a close to Katie's weeklong festivities. The next day we enjoyed Katie's company and made one of her favorite dinners, Tex-Mex styled enchiladas. We had a great dinner with Katie, Brooks, Sarah (her roommate) and with Sarah’s parents, Scott and Kathy which was a real treat. Katie’s roommate was also her teammate in college so it was really fun to reminisce and celebrate with Sarah’s family on our last night in North Carolina.

We  awoke early the next morning  to fly out of Raleigh and landed in Phoenix AZ by just after lunch. We called the shuttle after waiting for our checked bag for a long, long time. We happily reunited with our comfy Honda CRV and drove the 40 minutes west to Tolleson to pick up our RV. Freightliner performed the needed preventative maintenance items I had requested and we paid the bill. They were true to their word as the RV was plugged in the entire time and all the fridge/freezer contents were in great shape. What a relief!

Another hour later we made our way through Phoenix traffic in the HOV lane and pulled into Canyon Vistas RV Resort in Gold Canyon. What a neat site we have facing the Superstition Mountains with a perfect vantage point to enjoy some great desert sunsets although we may not see many during our week stay because of a predicted cold front bringing several days of rain and cloudiness.

Luckily we had a clear day our first full day so we took advantage of it and drove over to the Hieroglyphics Trail, one we had read about that sounded pretty interesting. Our total hike would end up being around 3.25 miles roundtrip and we would climb just under 600 feet in elevation.

This was a great hike at the base of the Superstition Mountains and it started out easy although it was a steady climb up. We were treated to amazing views over the vast Mojave Desert expanse. The landscape was dotted with the mighty saguaros standing tall. I learned a lot about he saguaros over the years but never noticed that there were both female and male saguaros (ha ha). Sharon hoped to see an Elf Owl in one of the cactus cavities but they remained elusive.

The trail next became a little more rocky with mostly loose rock about 1" in diameter along with some larger ones which required us to pay close attention to where we were stepping. We gained in altitude and the vistas in every direction were like scenes out of an old western movie. Nearing the end of the trail it was a bit more challenging requiring some mild rock scrambling at the end.

Then suddenly a small pond of water came into view and as our eyes gazed at the rocks near it we could see hundreds of really cool drawings. One can only imagine what the ancient natives were communicating as they carved into these rock walls.

Some of the heiroglyphs were obvious as to what they were depicting while others were not so easy to discern. One we saw looked like a monkey even though there were never any in this area. Perhaps it was actually a depiction of a mountain lion.

We found this to be a great spot to sit on the rocks to contemplate the native artwork and gaze back over at the desert valley below…And we sure were grateful to be back in shorts and T-shirts once again!

For a listing of some of the best hikes the USA has to offer check out this page Top 50 Long Distance Hiking Trails In The USA.

NOTE: We are in Gold Canyon, AZ at the Canyon Vistas RV Resort until December 26th then move over to Mesa Regal RV Resort in Mesa Arizona.