Day 54 - Douglas Spring Trail - Most Beautiful Hike Yet

I chose the Douglas Spring trail to hike as it was on for an late afternoon MeetUp Hike this week and it sounded interesting.  Little did I know it was going to be so beautiful.

My first trail picture doesn't look very appealing, but this trail in many places looks like you are walking through someone's garden.

From the trailhead the trail is wide and only rises gradually.

What I liked in addition to the many flowering plants is the verity of cactus.

I find myself starting to climb steadily up the hills.

A look down here and their you slso see the small plants in bloom.

Not only the variety but the various heights of the plants provide for some interesting pictures.

Just shifting the camera you get a whole different view.

I'm well into the hike and here are hand carved steps into the ledge.

Here the placement of step stones adds contrast to the plants.

This saguaro next to the trail makes for a very nice foreground to contrast with the distance.

  

The changing elevation also gives a great workout.

The in-person perspective is much more charming than what I captured in the pictures.

I met a number of people on the trail.  Some were connecting with other trailsvto make a loop.  My hike was up and back the same way.

This picture shows the mirror image of the cactus in the shadow.  Sunlight and the angle help give the desert dimension.

I made it to the spring.  It's a brook that comes down the mountain.

Now looking down hill the brook disappears into the ground.

These yellow bushes are the dominate color on the path right now.  There are plenty of desert bees busy doing their thing too.  You can hear the humm from the bees as you walk along the trail.

I was going to stop at the sting and turn around but wanted to go a little further to where the falls are.

There isn't enough water running to have more than a trickle over rocks.

A few more pools in the carved out rock.

This is where I turned around having hiked just about 3 miles in.

I wanted to hike today although my legs are still a little stiff from my 14 mile hike.

Today's hike was just under 6 miles round trip in about 2 hours with 892 feet of elevation gain.  A good moderate hike.

I met this guy on the way down.

He stayed long enough for a facial pose after walking around him.

I don't think I did the beauty of the hike justice but please believe me that this was the best hike for color and verity of plant types of any hike yet.  I would recommend this trail to anyone visiting this time of year.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.vom