Spur Cross Conservation Area - Part 5 - Sunset Hike

I was looking forward to this hike because it was my first Sunset Hike and was taking place out at the Spur Cross Conservation Area, one of my favorite places to hike.  I met Chetan, Michiko, and Bev at the Fry's on Cave Creek Road.  Bev's son, Chris, and his wife, Kara, were with her, so we got a chance to meet them.  Michiko, Chetan, and I went in one car and Bev, Chris, and Kara followed us in her car.  It was a small group as there was only one other person out there in addition to our group.

Kevin started out as he usually does by telling a little bit of the history of the area. He showed us a cactus in a picture from the 1950s. It was interesting to see how much it had grown when we saw it on the trail. During the hike, Kevin also pointed out where the original Spur Cross Ranch was and where they believe Warren Beaubien crashed his plane in the 1950s.  More of that story can be found in the Metate Trail post.

We saw some interesting things on the hike. We went off the trail for a bit and saw some petroglyphs up close. While there, Kevin told us a bit about how the people who once lived there communicated with each other. We saw a couple of tarantula holes; one was off to the side of the trail, and one was the tarantula hole we had seen on the last Full Moon Hike. We could see the webbing around the hole. Apparently, one of the functions of this webbing is to divert water away from the hole as it washes over it.

We were all amazed at how large the cacti are in this area. Not only were they huge, but some had many "arms" and some were very oddly shaped. We all agreed that it was a bit surreal walking among the huge cacti, and joked about how we felt as if we were in The Land of the Giant Cacti. We also saw some Cottonwood trees further up the trail and a Blue Heron, which I believe is the largest bird in the area. We also saw a rabbit at the start of the hike. I took a picture, but it's a bit hard to see it. It ended up being a really nice hike.

It is believed Warren Beaubien crashed his plane somewhere in this area.

Tarantula Hole

The sun setting over the mountains.

It's a bit tough to see him, but this is a picture of a rabbit sitting off in the brush.  You can most easily see him by looking for the point of light that is his eye.

One of the many groupings of petroglyphs that can be seen in the area.

A few more pictures from this hike can be found here.