Whitford Canyon Hike

In my last post I thought I would hike Silly Mountain just across from our RV park the day before Thanksgiving but my plans changed. Glenda wanted to hike the Hieroglyphs Trail with me and didn't want to get up at 7 am like the hiking club was doing for Silly Mountain. So we slept in until 8 and had some breakfast and drove to the trailhead by 9 am. Since I had been there before with the hiking club, I didn't really take many photos. It was a nice hike and the weather was perfect with a slight breeze. So after a big Thanksgiving dinner with residents in the park on our street I knew I needed to get out on the Whitford Canyon hike today. Whitford Canyon is about 30 miles down US Hwy 60 to the east of our RV park, then on a very dusty and rocky gravel road for about 5-6 miles. We drove across many canyon washes and over some hilly terrain. We finally made it to the trailhead with about 20 folks in our hiking club group.

This is a tame section of the road into the trailhead

Folks heading out onto the trail

 

We followed some trail and walked down a few canyon washes as we made out way down the trail. The plan was to make it to the remnants of an old frontier jail and then into a small slot canyon.

 

One of the washes we hiked down

Another wash

 

The landscape changed a lot from some underbrush, trees and shrubs to open areas with numerous cactus and rock formations.

 

After about 2 miles of hiking we made it to the frontier jail. Which actually I don't think is a frontier jail after looking at the structure.

What do you think?

 

This is an area where a lot of mining took place years ago so the structure could be a place where a miner made his home.

 

Then we headed over to the slot canyon. This slot canyon is pretty small and not very high walls. The slot is about 30 feet long and we had to climb up the wall at the end to get out.

 

 

 

All in all it was interesting to be in the slot, tight quarters and twists and turns. I hope I get the chance to hike in some deeper slots in the future.

 

It was a nice hike back after we stopped and had some nourishment. The scenery is so incredible and I just can't get enough of it. You would think that seeing s many cactus and shrubs it would get boring but it doesn't. Here are some more photos to enjoy.

 

Great views from the trail

The Master Hiker   :-)

Dead Tree photo

Teddy Bear Cholla

Beautiful vista

Canyon Wash

 

It turned out to be a great morning with some new friends. I look forward to more hikes and new places. The desert is really a beautiful place to be. Until next time.