Twelve hikers met at Red Mountain Park and divided into two groups of six to do a one way key exchange hike with the Sierra Club. Alicia, Ivy, Dan, Jim, and Mark went with Ted and the Sierra Club to start out at Canyon Lake Trailhead on the Boulder Canyon Trail, while Michael, Wayne, Bill, Dave and Dick went with Eileen and the Arizona Trailblazers to start out at the First Water horse staging area on the Hackberry Spring Trail.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Along the way we stopped at Hackberry Springs, took a unique picture of clouds over Four Peaks at the saddle after Hackberry and explored the Indian ruins at Garden Valley.

At the junction of Second Water and Boulder Canyon Trails, the halfway point, we met up with the Sierra Club and sat on the smooth rocks along the creek for lunch and relaxation. After lunch, we continued on to the Indian Paint mine to explore.

Along the entire trail we encountered many different flowers in bloom - desert poppies, brittlebush, lupine, Desert Globe Mallow, Fiddleneck, Desert Marigold, the list goes on! Bill brought along a chart and did a good job of pointing out all the different types.

At the top of the hill on the Boulder Canyon Trail we stopped again to see the view behind us of Weaver's Needle and Battleship Mountain, La Barge Creek below, and Canyon Lake ahead of us. A wonderful end to another beautiful day in sunny Arizona!

Pictures by Eileen Root, Michael Humphrey, and Ted Tenny.