Lucky Girl

I know I complain a lot about how hot it is here, but I really am happy that I live in Arizona. I love the West, and I love our little city of Chandler. We are a few hours from the high country where there are lots of trees, mountains, and lakes to enjoy, yet our deserts can be just as beautiful. Especially on days like today when the old "Orb of Death" hangs out behind some clouds.

We like to be outside, and being outside is finally starting to be comfortable again. Maybe. Let's not jinx it. In any case, last night I decided that the kids and I would go for a hike while Brian went mountain biking. So I grabbed my 60 Hikes within 60 Miles book that my pal Aimee gave me for Christmas last year, and found a promising looking hike about forty minutes away in Gold Canyon. 

I'm fortunate to have children who are morning people like me, so we got up, got dressed, had a light breakfast, and were out of the house by 6:25 am. As we were backing out of the driveway, I noticed ominous skies to the east, but the rain seemed isolated so I hoped the storms would be over by the time we got there. Halfway there, though, we were caught in some rain and then it was stormy all the way to the trailhead. We had gone quite a ways, and it looked like it might clear up fairly quickly, so we hung out in the car for thirty minutes. Other people were in their cars, too, and after a few groups of hikers and one group of mountain bikers took to the trail, I figured that they knew that really dark cloud was not coming our way so we followed.

We finally jumped out of the car and headed out on the Hieroglyphics Trail, a three-mile, out and back jaunt into a canyon within the Superstition Mountains that contains a masterpiece of Hohokom petroglyphs. Quite simply, it's an easy hike with a sweet reward. The kids really enjoyed it (when they weren't arguing with each other or hitting each other). All our hikes have their moments, but it was mostly peaceful because it wasn't hot, the views were awesome, I brought snacks, and the petroglyphs were cool to see.

heading out even with the stormy skies

We entered the wilderness!
Truly. The sign proves it.

lots of rocks to climb

There were quite a few levels of petroglyphs, and you had to climb them to see them well.
 Everyone did. Not just us. I swear. But we didn't touch the images.

Though we could hear thunder in the distance sometimes, we didn't get rained on and didn't see any lightning. Believe me, I was looking for it.. The trail was a little more rocky than I prefer, but it was a nice hike and a good way to spend a morning with my babies. I'm glad they like to do this with me. I really am lucky.