This mountain was rated 2 black diamonds - very strenuous by the local trail club, so I couldn't resist taking a look.  The trailhead was in the middle of no where but only 20 minutes north of Scottsdale.  I got there at 10am and it was already 80 degrees so I made fast tracks upwards past the cactus gardens.

An hour later I reached the East/West Trail junction.  From there I began a bushwack looking for an old abandoned miners cave.  The trail was fading away when I looked up and saw some sand-bags at the cave entrance.  Yahoo - I had found it so I went inside.  A picnic table, hurricane lamp, cans of food, mining tools and bed are all still there and in good shape.  I looked around for some gold nuggets but alas found none so I left and headed back to the main trail.

Back at the junction I hiked along a ridge for 20 minutes till I got to Tom's Thumb.  The sky was deep blue and a soft warm breeze was blowing.

The Thumb is just shy of 4000 feet with great views to the valley floor.

I had read about an Ogre Cave located behind the Thumb so off I went to find it.  It was a scramble down some boulders and I was mindful of the handholds due to rattlesnakes and scorpians.  I did find this second cave and it's secret stash of trinkets other hikers have left there.

This mountain had a rugged feel, great views and fun secrets caves to locate - highly recommended!

As it was now 95 degrees, I high-tailed it back to Scottsdale to meet Mike at the hotel pool for a 4pm cocktail and refreshing swim.

  There are 51 photos in Album (Note: Move mouse pointer over larger pic and click on NEXT for better viewing)