When we travel, we like to find area trails to hike and get out in nature. The friend we visited in Arizona likes to hike too, and had a trail in mind for when we came to visit.
Due to limited luggage space we didn’t pack our hiking poles or hiking shoes. We took along our good walking shoes, our sun hats, and sunscreen. We knew our friends would provide water bottles for us.
We set our alarm to get up and get on the trail early one day, before it got too hot to enjoy the hike. (It was hotter than normal when we flew out to Arizona in early April, highs were in the 90’s, but it cooled down significantly at night). We drove to the trailhead (past long-horn cattle roaming) to the Superstition Wilderness in the Superstition Mountain area.
It was a lovely morning for a hike…clear, blue skies and a nice, cool temperature. We stopped to take photos of the unique and open desert scenery…so different and fun to see. My friend likes to take pictures so it was no problem stopping whenever we wanted to capture a moment…she understands.
On the drive to the trailhead our friend was telling us about her hiking club she joined when she moved to Arizona a year and a half ago. In addition to plenty of water (a staple for hiking anywhere) she learned to carry a fine-tooth comb with her on desert hikes…just in case you have a run in with a cactus.
Well, of course, that happened to me. We were well into our hike, taking pictures of the cacti in bloom, and I got excited about this beautiful, blooming cactus and started taking photos. I could get a better angle if I moved around a bit and, sure enough, I brushed up to a very prickly cactus and a clump stuck to my ankle, through my sock, as I jumped away. It’s called the Teddy-Bear Cholla and I had admired it previous to our hike. The Teddy-bear Cholla looks so cuddly…but it’s not! Thankfully my friend had followed the advice from her fellow hikers and put a comb in her backpack.
It worked slick! Many prickly needles came out easily with the comb. There were a few strays that I took out with Duct Tape when we got back to her place. It was quite comical that we would need a comb after her telling us about it on our way to the trail.
The hike in the desert was unique and strikingly beautiful. We enjoyed it…and learned something too.
