Down to our last full week in Gold Canyon...Get in as much as we can before we leave

Well today is a rain day in AZ. Not like what our friends Steve and Debbie have had to contend with in CA though. Real feel for them being stuck in one place but at least they have family near by.

Can't believe we're down to our last full week at our winter home in Gold Canyon. 5 months goes fast. We're keeping busy with many of the activities in the park like the Valentine's Day dinner and Comedy show.

We had a prime rib dinner with mashed potatoes and broccoli with a tiramisu cake for dessert.

OF course we've been getting in as much hiking as possible with our friends. We did another round of hiking at the First Water Trailhead up around Praying Hands and the Treasure Loop with Ron and Patsy.

Praying Hands

Here come the girls

Met some grade school kids on a nature hike too

Beautiful desert landscape

 Of course we stopped at a local restaurant after to get a bite to eat. This was a new place for us called Filly's Roadhouse.  Check out the link. It's near the open desert and is frequented by local ranchers that ride their horses right up to the restaurant and tie up their horses while they eat. Very good food and interesting décor.

Our next hike was with Ron and Patsy and friends, Bill and Kay. We haven't had as much opportunity to hike with them but enjoy their company. We  got to know Bill and Kay too through the hiking club over the last 3 winters. The plan was to hike the Kelvin trail portion of the AZ Trail. The AZ Trail extents from Mexico to Utah , north and south. This is an in and out hike to an old trail trestle that is used by the local copper mine company. Wonderful views of the open mining and the Gila River. With all the rain recently the desert is alive with greenery and beauty. The weather was perfect with a light breeze, warm temps and lots of sun.

Girls just want to have fun

Bill, Kay, Patsy and Ron

Headed to the trestle

Built in 1958

No hike would be complete without a selfie

Stopped at a viewpoint to check out the copper mine

We had such a great time and even walked along the train tracks back to the trailhead. This shortened the hike by about a mile. Just outside the trailhead on the road leading in we saw mailboxes of folks who live near by. Pretty cool.

Well then what do you do after a fun hike? You go get something to eat. We stopped at Porter's Café in Superior, AZ nearby for a burger, fries and cold drinks. Another wonderful day in AZ.

All of this hike has been leading up to a big event for Ron and myself. The RV park hiking club has several hikes that are considered Challenge hikes. Each year so far I have done one. The first year I hiked with the club up Picacho Peak in Tucson and Flatiron in the Superstitions. Last year I hiked Flatiron again with my friend Ron who had not been up there. Ron has done some of the Challenge hikes like 5057 and Picketpost Mountain. Well I talked him into hiking up Picketpost with me this year for my first time( He said he wanted to go back up so I invited him to lead the way).

This is a hike with 2000 ft. elevation gain and some areas of bouldering along the face of the mountain. The hike is about 4.5 miles round trip. It took us about 5 hours to complete with 15-20 minutes of photo taking and refreshments at the top. Going up was a lot of cardio climbing but coming down was all stress on the joints as we descended down the trail. Legs like Jello as the end.

It was a nice cool morning and we got started on the trail about 8 am. It didn't take long before we had to take off the outer layer as we climbed.

Going up there

Halfway up

Starting elevation

At the top

As we climbed we took many looks back at the views around us, Good excuse to stop and catch our breath.

As we climbed we followed cairns and painted arrows and dots to keep us on track. In that kind of environment it's easy to lose your way.

We met a nice young couple on their way down. They really helped keep us going, telling us about the views above. Fortunately we were getting close to the top and we weren't going to turn back now.

Just when you think you're at the top, you crest a saddle and there's more up to go. Not as steep but still up. Finally we crested the very top. We knew it because there is a mailbox and an old metal bench there. Inside the mailbox were several notebook where people had recorded their achievement of making there.

The views spectacular and well worth the blood, sweat and tears. OK, mainly sweat. But it was so worth it. So good to have a friend that would put himself through that kind of abuse again.

Thank you Ron.

Town of Superior in the distance

Been there, Done that.

It's been a wonderful winter here in Gold Canyon. So many things to do with so many wonderful people. Looking forward to returning next winter. There may be some changes next year but we won't know until this summer. We'll keep you posted.

Had a fun dinner last night with our son, Chris and his girlfriend, Audrey. We had dinner at a new place called Mellow Mushroom. Pizza place with several varieties of beers. Hoping to get another golf date in with Chris before we leave. Bittersweet as usual, thinking about leaving but new adventures await us down the road. I also have a few last minutes projects to complete on the rig to make sure we are road worthy. So a bust end to our stay in AZ for the winter. Looking forward to meeting up with Faye and Dave in TX and traveling with them. I can't imagine the trouble we might get into. Ha-ha. What ever it is, it will be fun.

Stay tuned. The best is still to come.