Pete Williams
The PebbleCreek Hiking Club held its annual spring potluck picnic at Sunrise Park on April 20. Over 60 members of the club attended and feasted on outstanding dishes made by fellow hikers. The weather cooperated and was very pleasant this year. Our regular season of hikes concluded May 5. While there are a few hikers who brave the heat by hiking during the summer, the majority sensibly take the summer off, at least in Arizona. The next season will start up again September 25, with our next club meeting planned for September 21.
Left to right: Lynn Warren (photographer), Len “London” Jeffery, Julie Walmsley, Mark Frumkin and Gary Bray pose in brittlebush and globe mallow with Shiprock in the background.
Lynn Warren
If you travel Highway 93 toward Las Vegas, you have passed through forests of Joshua Trees approximately 25 miles beyond Wickenburg. If you were looking west at the right time, you may have also seen the rock monolith known as Shiprock rising abruptly from the desert. On April 7, five “B” hikers enjoyed a 7.6-mile hike through scenic desert terrain and capped off the hike with a short but challenging climb to the top of Shiprock where they enjoyed expansive 360 degree views. With temperatures now in the 100s, it is hard to remember the lush conditions and spectacular wildflowers seen just a couple of months earlier but, in addition to great terrain and scenery, this hike also provided impressive displays of brittlebush and other wildflowers, likely the last of a spectacular season. The club’s regular season ended on May 5 but some members will continue hiking throughout the challenging summer, researching new trails for next season. Visit the club website at PCHIKERS.ORG for more information and photos.
Left to right: Roger Sanders, Sandy Mednick, Helen Lewandowski, Joe Clarkson, Nancy Love, Jan Sherwood, Dennis Zigmunt (hike leader), Mark Frumkin, Pete Williams, Clare Bangs and Lynn Warren (photographer)
Pete Williams
On April 26, eleven members of the PebbleCreek Hiking Club did a hike in nearby White Tanks Regional Park. Not only has this spring been a great wildflower season, but we have seen many different desert animals on the trails. The added vegetation has brought out an unusual number of critters – wild burros and horses, mule deer, collared lizards, Chuckwallas, ground squirrels, rabbits, eagles and hawks, desert tortoises, Gila Monsters and, yes, an occasional rattlesnake. Check out our website at pchikers.org for more photos from our hikes, including wildflowers and the animals we’ve seen on the hikes.