Flowers on Mingus Mountain

First of all I have to say that this hike was a serious butt kicker and reminds me that I need to get in better shape.  We started at the top of Mingus Mountain at trail head #106 with a wonderful view of the Verde Valley below.

Little did we know that the views would only get better.  Trail #106 immediately starts downhill and is covered in loose rocks.  We had a few falls on the rocks.  Mostly our feet slipping out from under us and landing on our butts.

As you descend you start to see lots of vegetation including flowers, cactus, trees, and shrubbery.  Some of the flowers were just beautiful.

This is my favorite nature picture from the hike.

There were rocks that were so pretty that my girls couldn’t keep their hands off them.  They are our “pebble puppies.”  Of course they come by it honestly, because Jason and I are considered “Rock Hounds” and let’s not even start talking about their Grandma’s!

Elizabeth tired quickly of the downhill climbing. She was so tired she wanted to take a nap on a downed log she found on the way.

She even resorted to dragging her backpack instead of carrying it.

Nikki was having a ball and wasn’t complaining at all.

When we came around the end of Mingus Mountain we got to see wonderful views of the Verde Valley. We could even see the San Francisco Peaks up near Flagstaff, Arizona.  We met up with Trail #105A.  Here we took a break, snacked and looked at the incredible views.

It was so pretty in spite of the fact that I hadn’t eaten and was fighting a killer headache. I know I should always eat, but when we left the house I wasn’t hungry. Stupid me…

We met up with Trail #105 which is the way back to the car.  The girls were having a great time.  They even took several pictures at the trail head.

Then we found out that our hike back to the car would be uphill with lots of switchbacks.  We later calculated it at 700 feet from the beginning of the trail head to the part where it flattened out and a lot of elevation change.

After starting up this hill Nikki started complaining.  Her feet were hurting and she didn’t want to go any further.  To her rescue came her Daddy.  He had me help her up on his backpack and he carried her quite a way up the hill.

When we were almost back on even ground she got down and hiked again.  It was on this level land that she found the ladybugs (check out my lady bug blog).  We also found animal tracks including this one…

I’m pretty sure it’s bear tracks.  We also found some four leaf clovers.

Our path took us near the hang gliders launch and we had to check it out.

We ended up near the cell phone, radio, and TV antennae on the top of Mingus Mountain before heading down hill to the car.

We went 4.3 miles total.  We ended up at 7, 815 feet at the summit of Mingus Mountain.  With a minimum elevation change of 700 feet.  Our feet were hurting.  We were exhausted.

We are no worse for the wear today!  We can now look back with fond memories.  We won’t be doing that hike again anytime soon.  Maybe right before the snow starts falling…