Last Sunday my Wife had the desire to clean the house. I didn't. SO I thought it might be a good time to go out and get high....no, not that kind of high.
The Four Peaks Wilderness Area is only 35 miles from my house and climbs from roughly 1000 feet elevation in the Valley up to 7600 feet at the peak.
As seen from my patio
To get there you can cover the first 15 miles in about 10 minutes on HWY 87, a nice 4 lane road through the Fort Mcdowell Indian Reservation. The last 20 miles, however, are going to take about an hour, along a bumpy, twisting, turning dirt road up to the trail head.
The trip up this road is absolutely beautiful, climbing up through virgin desert into chaparrel then on into the beautiful pine trees.
Once at the trail head, the hike takes you wandering though Arizona Oak and Ponderosa Pine, wildflowers, beautiful views and fresh breezes, which are a welcome change from the desert floor, where it was 101 that day. At the trailhead, my truck showed a very pleasant 77 degrees.
The hike up to the base of the left peak will take about an hour, and the combination of the elevation and the up up up of the hike can make it a heavy breather at times. But the payoff at the top is very rewarding.
Today, I am heading up to Prescott, AZ for a little hiking and who knows what else, I'll be sure to get it posted sometime soon.
