Saguaro Nat'l Park hike and New Phone

Yesterday we finally got an earlier start to our day and drove to the visitor center at Saguaro East. It's the Red Hill center. We watched the movie of the Saguaro and the ancient people of the area and their respect for the desert and it's habitat. We then drove about 2 miles back down Kinney Rd across from the Desert Museum where the King Canyon Trailhead started. We had plans to climb to the top of Wasson Peak on Tucson Mountain but realized shortly after beginning that was not going to happen. Getting to Wasson Peak at 4200 ft. above sea level was about a 3.4 mile climb and would have probably been a 4-6 hour round trip. We had not done that much hiking up to this point and it was a very rocky climb. So we checked the map and decided to divert to the Sendero Esperanza Trail and then take the Gould Mine Trail back to the parking area. Temps were predicted to climb to over 90 degrees. We came prepared with water bottles, snacks and a couple of apples. The first part of the trail, as I said, was very rocky and hard to keep from turning an ankle.

Very nice views as we climbed

 

There were places where the trail did flatten out some and the rocks were smaller but we took our time and continued on the trail. After about 9/10 of a mile we came upon the Mam-a-gah Picnic area. So we crossed over the canyon and climbed up to the picnic area.

 

Unshaded picnic area

Shaded picnic area

 

 

After a snack on an apple and half an energy bar, we consulted our map and found the Sendero Esperandza Trail that intersected with the King Canyon Trail.

 

 

 

 

This trail took us around another ridge and toward the Gould Mine Trail. We had some climb as we crossed over to the other ridge but gradually as we walked the trail began to descend. This trail was about 4/10 of a mile. We found the Gould Mine trail and continued along a wash for about 1.1 miles.

 

 

 

We had a few more changes in elevation as we got closer to the parking area with changes in the rock color. We ended down in a wash area and crossed over and up a small hill to the parking lot and our truck.

All total we hiked 2.5 miles. The sun was really starting to wear us down and it was only about 11:30 or so. Two hours of climbing and hot sun drained us. We came back to the rig took a shower and rested for the afternoon. We eventually took a drive to a nearby Verizon Wireless store. Most full time RV'ers know that Millenicom - our internet provider had been bought out by Verizon so our no contract, 20 gig, flat fee internet service would now have to come from Verizon. Millenicom was no more. It just so happened that Verizon is having a promotion where you can get double the data when you sign up for internet service. Fortunately my Jetpack from Millenicom allowed me to stay with a no contract plan since I brought my own Jetpack and Glenda was eligible for an upgrade on her phone. But since I was switching to their internet service I could take Glenda's upgrade, get a new phone and a new plan with more data and a lower price that we were paying when we had phone and internet separately with the two companies. Glenda will get to use my upgrade after Nov. 25th. So I got a new Samsung Galaxy S4 and even got a $50 mail in rebate and $200 credit on the new phone for trading in my phone plus $70 in accessories for the new phone. It's going to take some time getting used to the new features but the look and feel is nice. It even has a 13 megapixel camera.

 

 

All in all it was a good day. We ended up eating at McD and I had my first McRib sandwich. It was ok. Not sure what people see in it though. It has good BBQ sauce but a little lacking on real flavor. Next time I'll stick to the fish sandwich or a wrap. Today we stayed home until around noon, ran some errands and had lunch at Olive Garden. Tomorrow is the move to Gold Canyon so it will be early to bed and early to rise. Must be at the RV service center by 9 am to get the tire worked on before we head out. Will let you know when we get to Canyon Vistas.