Feb. 25. Wed. What a pleasant hike we had on the Linda Vista trail Wednesday. The trail was at the southwest end and base of the Catalina Mountains. The morning started off rather chilly and most of us wore heavier clothes wondering where that cold front came from! It took just a little longer to warm up until the sun came up over the mountain and erased the cool shadows of our trail. Sure enough, we were soon coming out of our jackets under the sunlight. The whole area appeared a bit unique compared to the other hikes. The foliage grew low and lush and looked like a Prickly Pear farm! We had not seen such a concentration of so many!
This narrow single-file trail was also a little more strenuous because of several ups and down with high rock steps in some places. But it was well worth it because every turn offered up fantastic views of the west valley and distant mountain ranges.
At the top of our trail there were several HUGE cacti. Many of us remarked that we had never seen any that big!
We stopped for our usual break and just really enjoyed taking in the great views before heading up the trail a bit further before winding our way back down to the trailhead.
On the way down we passed by this even larger cactus. So tall and majestic! You can compare its height next to me at 5’7”. Makes me look tiny. What a treat to see this guy and know that the older cacti of the desert are being preserved from urban development. The hike was also pleasant because we had a nice view of this mountain always over our right shoulders.
Hiking beneath the mountain through different terrain was fun and so scenic. I would gladly hike this trail again.
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