George found another good one!  Today he led us on about an 8-mile trip, with about 1,000 feet of accumulated elevation gain.

We’ve hiked nearby before, but a different route down a rather narrow canyon.  This route stayed out in more open country, largely high in the talus slopes of a series of mesa “headlands”.

There were two dominant themes to this trek — spectacular “layer cake” cliffs and buttes, and fresh spring flowers.  We’re reaping the benefit of the generous rainfall over the past few months, and seeing the early promise of a very colorful spring bloom.

First, the cliffs.  Everytime we passed the headlands of one mesa, it seemed the another rose ahead of us!

Did I mention flowers?

When we stopped for lunch I was searching for a soft boulder to rest my weary bones and had a Close Encounter of the Cholla Kind.  Thanks to Jerry and Gary with a comb and pliers, and no lasting damage was done to my arm or camera bag.

This was an “in-and-out” hike, so our return route was over the same track as we went in.

Class this as a moderate hike, some elevation but nothing steep, and lots of “visuals”.  I’ll go again.