Fortunately, we picked a window of time to go for a hike where it just spit on us a little bit. We left Sherman at about 9:50am, and set out to hike the highest mountain overlooking Quartzsite!
There is a little hill right near the town called "Q mountain" because of the huge Q letter that is made with rocks on the side of it. It's really just a hill though, about 200 feet high. We wanted something a little more challenging.
Granite Mountain is 1,677 feet, so taking away the surrounding area's altitude at around 900 feet means that we'd be climbing about 700 feet. Not much really, but enough to give the legs a bit of a workout.
Only problem was, there's no easy route to the top!
Ruth, hiking in the desert.
Desert tree.
Looks like it would have been a nice place at some point.
Ruth, starting to gain some altitude.
Quartzsite in the distance.
Lots of interesting cactus.
Another one.
And another.
And another. How does this stuff even grow here?
Starting to get higher. Only problem was, the trail we were on didn't actually lead up the mountain!
This one is interesting. With two tiny flowers on it.
I bet the bird on top had to pick his landing spot carefully!
No more trail. Just scrambling over the loose rocks. It was pretty steep in places!
Many RV's parked in the desert!
The view from the top. The hill on the right is the much more popular Q mountain.
Kevin, at the top. Of course I'm not the first person up here, but it's certainly not climbed very often. Some very steep sections, and no actual trail.
Zoomed in on Sherman, parked right in the center of the picture.
This is a pretty one.
We made it back from our hike at 12:15pm, so we were gone almost two and a half hours. We probably only did about 4 miles (6 kms) but most of the time was spent on the steep part of the mountain.
We had made arrangements with Kenny and Angela from RV Life is Good to go for lunch, and we were just in time because they were picking us up around 12:30pm! Hopped in their truck with them, and we were off to Silly Al's for pizza. They had their friends Rob and Cindy holding a table for us because it's a pretty popular place.
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Kevin, Kenny, Angela, Rob, Cindy, and Ruth.
Somehow the talk got on to birthdays and it turns out the the three guys have their birthdays February 5th, 7th, and 9th. How funny is that?!
We had a great visit with them and it was a good way to spend time together on a rainy afternoon in the desert.
Thanks to the person who bought five jars of honey through our Amazon links yesterday. It looks delicious!
Nice pictures, it was a fun time at Silly Al's with some good people. Maybe we all can meet in Mexico for a birthday lunch..
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a fun time. It was wonderful getting together with you both as well as meeting Cindy and Rob. Not sure about the birthday lunch in Mexico, we may have already moved but if we are around it sounds like a great idea.
DeleteI can't believe we didn't get you guys on our list but you will definitely be included when I get it sent out. I think Q had more rain than Yuma yesterday. We were supposed to get drenched but the storms seems to have moved more north of us.
ReplyDeleteSomehow we missed the list being passed around with all the meeting and greeting we were doing. Just goes to show you what a great time we had at the Blogger's Fest.
DeleteWhen we arrived in Yuma yesterday afternoon we saw lots of puddle around so they must have had a fairly good rain here too!
My bday is Feb 5th as well. In High school, the group of friends I had birthdays were Feb 3rd, mine on the 5th, the 6th and the 7th.
ReplyDeleteLoved the bright litle catus photos!
Sounds like February is a pretty popular month for birthdays! :-)
Deletetoo bad we had already left as that hike would have been one we would have gladly joined you two on...
ReplyDeleteYes, that was too bad, we would have loved the company. Maybe we can arrange a hike together here in the Yuma area. :-)
DeleteMy husband, Jim, would have fit right in, birthday Feb 6th!
ReplyDeleteHe certainly would! Kevin's younger sister has a birthday on Feb. 6th too!
DeleteIt was great spending time with you two. Thanks for joining us at the fire the other night.
ReplyDeleteThe hike looks like a great one. Sorry you had to descend to rain.
Doesn't Silly Al's have delicious pizza. We were there last time for dinner. Yummmmy! Safe travels.
It was only raining lightly as we came down and just a little harder on the way back. Once we got back to Sherman is when it really started coming down so we timed that pretty well!
DeleteWe were happy to see they had a gluten free crust, so we were happy campers!
Glad to hear Silly Al's pizza is still good as I missed it this year, so far. Challenging hike with awesome views. So many Aquarians with early Feb birthdays should be no surprise as they are the dreamers.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great hike other than having to try and scramble up the steep part with all the loose stone and rocks but well worth it for the views.
DeleteI didn't know that people born in February were "dreamers", I would say that that fits Kevin pretty good.
Wonderful cacti pics!
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris! I remember loving all the cacti when we were in Arizona back in 2006 and now I remember why, there are so many of them and they are so different.
DeleteI climbed up there last winter to get a geocache that is at the top. I did it the hard way coming up from the back side then up the ridge line. When I got to the top, I noticed a much better route on the north side. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteJohn
We came up the east side and along the ridge and that was hard in spots. We looked around for another route back but didn't see one that was any better so I guess, we must have missed it. Glad to hear that you climbed it as well because you definitely see that not many have.
DeleteThere is never a shortage of places to park/camp there in the desert around Quartzsite love Silly Al's another place we were looking forward to visiting again.
ReplyDeleteWe weren't sure what to expect for parking as we had never been here before but you are right there are lots of places to park and still be away from everyone.
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