Siphon Draw Trail - Superstition Mountain,AZ

Mary Ann and the Monkee unloading the truck. It was a beautiful morning - temps about 80 degrees with a cool wind blowing from the south.

Here's Mary Ann at the beginning of the Siphon Draw Trail. Behind her you can see Superstition Mountain looming in the distance. The Siphon Draw trail takes you up about 450 feet into the magnificent mountain.

Mary Ann again, on the way up...

As we get closer to the top, you can see Four Peaks in the distance.

Mary Ann and Monkee taking a break from the climb...

Monkee examines the trail map to be sure we are on the right track. He's such a hiker.

Nearing the top of the trail, you can see the Monkee in front of a Saguaro cactus. Saguaros can live to be over 200 years old! If you look closely, you can see holes in the Saguaro, where birds nest inside the catctus which has an internal temperature of 75 degrees - even when it's 115 degrees outside! At the tips of the Saguaro, the most beautiful flowers appear during May.

Along the trail we also find the Prickley Pear cactus, of which the locals here in AZ make jams and jelly and even Prickley Pear ice cream! I've tried the ice cream and it has a mild strawberry flavor (yum!).

Here is a view of the Valley of the Sun from near the top of the trail.

Here we are at the top of the trail, and you can see for miles!

The trail winds down the side of the mountain to the desert below, where you can find many species of Cacti - this is known as Cholla - a nasty little cactus whose spines are equipped with little "hooks" - that find their way into unsupecting hikers boots, shoes and skin. Once the spines "hook" under your skin, they are very hard to remove - really nasty.

And now to rest after our weary hike to the top and back down again.