I really lucked out with the weather. And I'm glad I did this trip clockwise rather than counterclockwise as I had originially planned because the weather in the valley kept getting hotter and the weather in NE Arizona warmed up enough by the time I got there Friday night. The nights were chilly but not cold.
I left late enough on Wednesday to miss all the traffic around Tucson and Phoenix. Traffic flowed nicely through both metro areas. There were plenty of wildflowers blooming along the road. My route was I-10 to the Cave Creek exit on I-17. This really is the "North Valley," the suburbs of spacious homes, horse corrals and desert foothills. The average elevation is 2500'. I arrived at 3pm and right away took a space at the Cave Creek Regional Park for the night. Campsites were full but I got a spot in the Overflow area for $17. This was actually a great deal as it was cheaper and away from the kids in the campground that may have bothered the dogs. We had our peace and quiet.
I had never been in this area before and I should have done my homework better, as I wasn't sure where to get to the Cave Creek riparian trail I had read so much about. It's a 10-mile trail in the northern foothills. I learned that there are several options for trailhead access.
I ended up driving around Carefree and Cave Creek in the late afternoon, two neighboring upscale 'hoods with upscale bars, roadside art and well-dressed tourists. Tall saguaros dotted the hills, and warnings signs for javelina and horses were noticeable. My first impression of the towns themselves were (besides its huge well-landscaped adobe-like homes on hilltops), their abundant animal clinics, several of them 24-hour operations. This is no doubt for the wealthy horse owners, but why can't Sierra Vista have its own 24-hour animal hospital?! It's not like we don't have horses down here. Gasoline sold for $4.03 at one Circle K station.
My senseless driving around dead-end roads frustrated me. I finally decided to hike along the "Jewel of the Creek" nature preserve on Cave Creek at 4:30pm. This is on Spur Cross Road, a dead-end dirt road on the north end of the town. This is the most southern access point to Cave Creek, which here is a small creek that meanders around boulder one can hop across. That gave us just enough time to stretch out our legs and explore the area before it got too dark. There were still several cars parked in the trailhead parking lot, along with an older man, Gordon, who started with me and showed me a way around the creek along the Dragonfly trail. This trail is a 4-mile loop hike but we only did about two miles on it as the other half was on an exposed, dry hill. This was also snake country and I watched out for snakes.
The smell of creosote and sage filled the area. Aaah, spring is blooming here! So did the smell of horsepoop as I got back to the parking lot. The older man, Gordon, who had showed me where to go, was still sitting in his truck. Was he waiting for me? We chatted a bit, and he turned out to be a charming 74-year-old man from New Zealand who's lived in the US over 50 years. He made his wealth building homes, but the recession "forced me into retirement" he said, since people aren't buying big homes right now and many homes are in foreclosure in the North Valley. As a young man he travelled around the world for 3.5 years, met his English wife in Canada, got married there,had a daughter born there, then moved to the US where his son Michael was born. Michael is now in the USAF and stationed in the Gulf.
I could have talked more with Gordon but it was getting late. He knows the local history and is very proud of his neighborhood. He hikes the trails and knows of plenty more to go on nearby.
We chatted in the parking lot until 7pm. A coyote had strolled by, howled at the horses, then scurried off. He later reappeared even closer to my van, which got the dogs barking. Coyotes, javelina, Gila Monsters all make this area their home; it seems self-destructive to want to claim this land for private homes. There are also horse trails along the roads for the locals to ride on, and many of them are dressed in western wear to impress the tourists.
The dogs were resting in the van when I decided to have dinner at the Taphaus Brewpub in Cave Creek. It's a huge barn-turned-restaurant that advertises 60 beers on tap. None of the beer is brewed on the premise. I had a chicken sandwich with one pint of Taphaus Pilsner at the bar. It's a mild pilsner brewed in Phoenix. I would have had a second beer but I still wanted to drive around. A lone singer entertained the Wednesday night crowd singing Dylan and other folksongs. The place wasn't too crowded at all. That's why I'm surprised I got such slow service.
I got to see Jupiter and Venus in the western sky again, as they slowly move apart from each other. Despite the lights around me they were clearly visible on an otherwise clear night sky. It was a quiet night. No kids screamed, no dogs barked, no neighbors stayed up late playing music.
https://www.azutopia.com/easy-hikes/jewel-of-the-creek-hiking-trail-loop/
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