Picacho Peak State Park February 26-27

Day 29, 30:  Friday, Saturday   February 26, 27   Picacho Peak State Park, Picacho, AZ

We left Rainbow Acres to drive the 221 miles to Picacho Peak, the longest drive than we have had since early in the trip!  We have never needed reservations at this park, but it is good we had them this year.  The campground is full!  Nice views of the desert and lots of very prickly plants.  The chollas throw off little balls of spines, so we keep an eye on Sarah!  We have excellent cell reception here – it has been pretty good this trip.  We are getting close to our Verizon limit of 18G, since we have an Internet hot spot, so we are keeping an eye on our data use..

View from our campsite.  Chairs lined up to see the sunset!

Picacho Peak

Saturday morning we went on a hike on the Sunset Trail, toward Picacho Peak.  We walked up and down ridges on rocky trails almost 5 miles – it seemed longer!  Sarah was getting hot and resting in shady patches as we came back.  Last year Jim climbed Picacho Peak, and he said once was enough.  There is a cable people hang onto to get through a rough, steep spot. 

Desert in bloom

View from the Sunset Trail

Jim and the Girl

Teddy Bear cholla, not as cuddly as it sounds!
Throws off spiny balls that roll around on the ground.

Yay!  Heading back down!

Saturday evening we visited Jim’s friends Everett and Jean Goin at their winter home at Robson Ranch in Eloy.  We had a great visit, and they fixed wonderful food for us.

Jean shares her recipe!

Sunday morning I rode my bike down out of the campground and north on a frontage road to Picacho, 10 miles away.  There were skinny tire guys there with very fancy helmets, bikes, and outfits, doing time trials, one nice fellow told me.  Maybe to be on a team of some sort?  Jim has been spending time programming his copter, trying it out, changing parameters, then testing it again.  He walks down and away from the campgrounds when we are out in the desert like this.  No campgrounds allow drone flying!!