Hike #16 - Sunrise Trail - McDowell Mountains Scottsdale AZ

Hike #16

Date: February 15, 2014 

Location: Scottsdale AZ

Hikers: Jim, Tina & Linda 

Directions: 
Take 101 to Shea Blvd.  Take Shea East towards Fountain Hills. Take a left onto 136th Street.  Right onto East Via Linda.  East Via Linda will end and turn into 145th Way.  There is Horse Trailer parking on the right before the trailhead.  This is the best place to park.  Parking at the trailhead is limited. Water/No Restrooms

McDowell Mountains - Sunrise Access Area

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/preserve/trailheads

or   

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=211942705729765557834.0004a0e85698dc9815896&ll=33.596283,-111.76707&spn=0.013762,0.027788&z=16&iwloc=0004a0e87b79b9bb66399

The day is starting beautiful.  Our weather in Arizona has been amazing. upper 70's low 80s.  This morning the MoonSET was amazing before I was picked up by Tina.

The plan is a butt buster!  :)  We have hiked the north side of the McDowells for years but today is the day for the south east side.  There were a couple of options to take.  One is Lost Dog Wash or Sunrise Trailhead.  I decided shorter and steeper is for us.


Parking is limited at the trailhead.  There is an equestrian parking lot on the right before the trailhead. Plenty of parking there and a short walk to the trail head.

Walk from parking lot to trailhead

The hike today should be a little more than 4 miles.  2.6 miles up to the Summit.  This is not a loop trail.  We are headed to Sunset Peak.  Everyone is in a great mood and no one is grouchy.  HAHA. You know who you are!

Entrance to Trailhead

The View to the top is impressive.  If you look close at the middle of the picture below you can see the last switch back to the top.  Looks like we have a ways to go.  If you take a break and turn around the views back to the South east are amazing. You can see all the mountains in the distance and even see Fountain Hills and the fountain.  It was windy and cool at the bottom even though the temperature is heading towards 80 today at 8:00 in the morning we are not feeling the warmth.

There is a junction that you can take as you approach the top.  You can head right towards another trail that I believe will connect you to Lost Dog Wash.  We decided to take the .8 mile trail to the top.  Our thinking was "oh it is shorter". Yea well shorter and stepper.  It was tough.

Looking South

View to the East.  

It is amazing all the Mountains we can see. You can see Red Mountain in the distance. Four Peaks and even the Superstitions.  Awesome View!

We made it to the top and there is an extra summit of .2 to be at the very top.  

Tina and I left Jim on a rock and headed to the top.  It was steep and had that lose rock.  We don't need Jim hurting his knees coming down.  In the distance you can see Camelback mountain and downtown Phoenix.  You can also unfortunately see all the pollution.  With the warm temps the Valley of the Sun holds all the bad air in.  It surrounds us as we look in all directions.  Sad! 

Camelback/Piestawa/Lookout/ShawButte in the distance

Now it is time to head back down.  It took us an hour to get to the Summit.  There are more people on the trail now.  This part of the trail is steep and has the loose sand that makes it hard to keep your footing. We all go slow because no one wants to fall. Tina leads the way.

As we head down we can see the Fountain Hills fountain going off.  We say the fountain on another hike I think Toms Thumb.  Pretty cool that is it visible. 

This was a great hike.  Beautiful weather. Great Workout.  BUTT BUSTER!  Good Company too. 

In the end it took us 1 hour and 45 minutes down. 

Hike #16 Done!  

Can't wait for Hike #17.  Another Adventure planned with Julio in Tucson.