More planning needed

As usual, I left the house yesterday not really knowing where I was going to go. I eventually decided that I would walk down a dirt road I had seen when I hiked to an overlook of Tortilla Flat. Since I was almost there before I decided where I was going, I didn't look at a map or Google Earth or anything else to plan my route. I had climbed 200 or 300 feet before I looked around and saw the road I wanted to be on, far far below. Dangit. Since I was almost to the top of the mesa, I decided to continue up.

The road I meant to be on. Well, it looks pretty boring down there.

If I had been on that road, I could have checked out this water tank.

There's a large part of Canyon Lake that I haven't seen. That's because the only way I know of to get there is by boat. Maybe I'll rent a boat some day, but in the mean time, I thought that maybe I could hike over there, or at least to a spot where I could see it.

Part of Canyon Lake is over there. Looks like a pretty area from here.

It turns out that I didn't go much further on this hike than I had gone before. I could have kept going, but the slope I was on was getting uncomfortably steep (I was slipping now and then). I was looking ahead to see if the route got better soon and had decided to turn back when I spotted a fox slinking quietly away. It was gone long before I got my camera ready. I went just a little further, hoping to see it again (I didn't), then turned back.

While I was out there, I spotted Hackberry Mesa. Now I feel like I need to go back to Hackberry Mesa and look back at the mesa I was on yesterday. Oh, maybe I have pictures of it. I'll have to look as soon as I resolve the hard drive issues I'm having on my main computer.

Hackberry Mesa and the Superstition Mountains.

I bumped a cholla on my way back, and a ball of spines stuck to my jeans. I didn't know about it until my hand brushed the ball. Ouch. It was a windy day and it hurt when the wind blew the spines around. I had to get a picture, though.

Attack of the cholla.

Click below to see all of the pictures.

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