Just wandering

There are lots of places along Apache Trail where you can pull over and go wandering around in the desert. A few days ago I stopped at a place where I had last been hiking about 8 years ago. It was close to sunset so I didn't wander very far.

I found Sneaky Pete's final resting place.

The prickly pears have bloomed.

It has amazed me for years that I have never gotten a thorn stuck in my foot. I get cholla balls stuck to my shoes all the time, but a thorn hadn't gotten through to my foot until this hike. I was walking along what used to be an ATV trail when something stabbed me in the arch. I sat on a rock to get the thorn out, but it was a small rock and so I got stickers stuck all over my pants legs. Sitting down in the desert must be done very carefully.

Ouch.

That stuff covering the ground around this hedgehog cactus is full of stickers.

Cholla are also blooming.

I find the desert scenery to be very relaxing.

I was looking for something interesting to photograph and decided to get a closer look at a rock outcropping. The sun had dipped below the Goldfield Mountains by the time I got to it, though.

Rocks.

The sun set on the rocks by the time I got there.

A hike in the desert is never disappointing. There's always something interesting or something pretty. Click below to see all of the pictures.

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