Pass Mountain Loop Hike

Pass Mountain sits slightly southwest of the Superstitions in the Usery Mountain Park.  I drove to one of several trail heads, this one at the top of Meridian Road in Apache Junction.  I've read the Pass Mountain ridge line route is a good one but not to do it on a windy day so I decided to try the Pass Mountain Loop trail.  8 miles with 1000' of climbing so given what I have scheduled for this Friday, not too strenuous.  In the distance, the western end of the Supes.

From the Meridian trail head, there is no signage nor did I encounter any for over half of the hike so have a gps track for reference.  You'll discover several trail intersections that will leave you confused at times.  The trail climbs almost 2 miles to a pass from where....

....the views are great, including the Four Peaks.

From the pass, rather than dropping down, the trail....

....stays high and traverses the slopes.

Someone hung Christmas ornaments on a cactus in the foreground.

The trail descends slightly and eventually I reach a broad area with more good views where I talk to a couple of hikers.  

The trail descends in earnest and rounding a corner I can see the "PHOENIX" directional sign on a nearby hill side.

Continuing, I reach the Wind Cave trail head where there is a steady stream of people making the 1.5 mile mile climb.  The cave is somewhere at the bottom of the cliff band.

Nearing the end of the hike, the sun has changed the appearance of the Supes from how it looked 2.5 hours earlier.  This is a good hike and worth doing but probably not again.  Portions of the trail are runnable so you can motor around it faster than your normal pace should you want to.