hikes,  outdoors,  travel

McDowell Sonoran Preserve Gateway Trail

July 28, 2021 /

While on a walk in the condo’s neighborhood, a lady who saw me taking pictures of the cacti suggested going to the nearby Gateway Trail. We would then get a taste of the desert without seeing all the neighborhood houses and without having to go on a long drive since it was only 5 minutes away. When we arrived at the the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Gateway Trail, we saw right away that we would enjoy this walk despite our late start.

I didn’t realize how close the hills were from the neighborhood. I really wished we had left earlier though as the sun was already high in the sky! We came prepared with hats, and a backpack filled with water bottles. In retrospect, we should have brought more bottles though.

My youngest decided pretty early that he did not enjoy walking on this terrain and in the heat so I ended up carrying him on my back for half the hike before handing him over to his dad to carry. My 7 year old stepped on a tiny baby teddy bear cholla cactus growing in the middle of the trail and a spike went through his shoe. Thankfully it was easy to take out and did not bother him after.

The trail we took was 1.7 miles but felt much longer. It was hard to tell at times whether we were on the right trail because the landscapes was so similar: cacti everywhere and granite rocks. Being hot made me concern we would overheat.

We took advantage of the little shade here and there offered by some of the larger bushes and larger saguaro cacti. It was really neat to see the plants that characterize Arizona’s landscape. This preserve is so close to neighborhood but stands apart.

There is a 4 mile trail that goes up in the hills that would have been cool to hike either earlier or maybe in the fall.

A bientôt!

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