The full moon rise today was at 7:11pm. I scheduled a full moon hike with a few friends. SteveT and HollyW were able to make it. I picked up Holly at her house in town and then drove north another ten miles to pick up Steve. We were three humans and two dogs in one old Ford Escape. I let Steve drive to the trailhead in the state park.
The trailhead to the 4.2-mile Guindani Trail is at the end of the paved road in the Kartchner Caverns State park. Entrance to the park is $7 a car, $3.50 for Arizona veterans (which I am). We got to the gate at 5:40pm and no attendant was there, but self-serve envelopes were available. We parked in the most western parking lot where the trail begins.
The first mile of this trail around a hill is rather level, with a gentle uphill as it follows the Cottonwood Creek. It was dry today, and neither dog could find a watering hole. Luckily the sun was low enough not to bother us, but it was light enough to keep any predators away.
I hadn't been on this trail for three years. That second mile climbs steeply around the hill before it loops back around facing the west. It was a slow climb for us, but with clouds along the horizon, we were in no hurry to rush the hike because the rising moon was shrouded anyway. What we lacked in spectacular moon rise we more than made up for it with the sunset colors. We made it back around the hill just in time to see the Dragoons to the east light up in orange.
More later
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