The Arizona Trailblazers celebrated an early “auld lang syne” (good old times) out at the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area in Cave Creek. Twelve of us met on a brisk Saturday morning to hike the newly opened Dragonfly Trail. The group, consisting mostly of long time club members, was enthusiastic about hiking together, in spite of the overcast skies and possible creek crossings.

We started on the Spur Cross and Metate trails, retracing the steps from the previous year’s hike.

It’s a short loop but has some interesting shaped giant saguaro cactus as well as an ancient metate (the concave stone used for grinding grain by Native Americans).

Despite recent heavy rains, the creek bed was only slightly damp. The trail itself was soft under our feet – very different from the dry pre-hike two weeks ago.

We made a gentle climb up the Spur Cross Trail and veered onto the newly-opened Dragonfly Trail.

Here we had a spectacular view of Elephant Mountain and saw an ancient petroglyph alongside the trail as well as a man-made cistern used for irrigation.

The trail winds down to the Boca Grande Wash and in spite of the sparse water in the creek, some hikers did their best to get wet.

Although the day remained overcast with cool temperatures, it was perfect hiking weather and we stayed dry.

The hike was a 5.8 mile loop and was completed at a leisurely pace in less than three hours.

We finished just in time to head over to the Buffalo Chip for lunch. It was a superb day!

Photos by Wendy, Ted, Michael, Debbie.