Mark's Cycling & Hiking Blog
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups

The Rattler & La Milagrosa Hike

4/19/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
A windy day was forecast so I was more than agreeable to take up a friends request to lead up La Milagrosa Canyon to the waterfalls.  Well, I was agreeable until I realized that my one previous visit wasn't actually up the interior of the canyon but a loop around the inner canyon.  Then, after reading several descriptions of the canyon hike I decided that is best left for another day so, above, we head east on Horsehead Road into the wilderness.   
Picture
I understand there are several neat features within the canyon so certainly will visit for at least a scouting mission.  Our little group of 3 headed up the ridge trail which allowed some good views into the canyon.
Picture
The hedgehogs are now blooming.  Beautiful color.
Picture
The trail drops into a canyon with a meager flow of water and then back out and the climbing continues.
Picture
Wow, not seen this before, a saguaro cactus having an orange arm.  Weird.
Picture
Every time we reached a saddle, there was another to climb.  I had my prior experience having hiked the loop and I also had a GPS track I checked so what did I do......
Picture
….I walked right by a right bearing fork and we kept going up and up.  Finally, I called a halt to the proceedings, checked the screen of my device and noooooooo.  I had mistaken a black terrain elevation line for the route.  There, about a mile back was the black, dotted route line.  We retraced our route to.....
Picture
….the fork in the trail and took a break to refuel.  I walked down to a ledge and peered into the canyon while my companions were probably discussing whether one should push me in to the chasm. 
Picture
We decided, rather than continue on the official loop trail, to go back the way we had come which would give us 8 miles while the loop would yield about 10.5.  Working with a time constraint forced the decision.  Above, water trickles over rock slabs.
Picture
Various homes have landscapes for which they pay many thousands of dollars to look like what we see all around us.  Throughout the hike, I was in hyper snake scan mode and did see a garter snake on the trail but no rattler.  Returning home, a neighbor alerted me that a Western Diamondback was in our condo complex so....
Picture
….I ran over to see.  There it is, curled under a rock.  The fire department arrived and....
Picture
….grabbed it with one of those pincher tools.  Note the color of the rocks behind the snakes upper body.  They blend in way too well.  I asked the fireman if I could touch the snake and he said no.  Then I asked if he could release the snake so we could reenact the capture for video and he again said no!!!  They had more snakes to capture so off they went.     
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

    Categories

    All
    April
    California Riding
    Grand Canyon Backpacking
    March
    The Characters

    Archives

    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.