Better

Our house is located in an over-55 community.  The house next door is owned by a woman who is not quite 55 and legally cannot live here.  Several times a year, she visits her house for a couple of weeks.  I know that seems funny, but it works for her and she isn't ready to move here yet anyway.  Micki's a bundle of energy and one day suggested that she and I go for a hike.  Thankfully, she let me pick the hike.

At the north end of Meridian Road is a parking lot that fills up early with hikers who take the 7.5 mile loop around Pass Mountain.  Micki and I arrived late enough that some of those hikers were already back and gone, therefore we had no problem parking.  We hiked part of the Pass Mountain trail up to another of those famous saddles with the great views.  Unlike my last hike, this one was about 4 miles round trip and 650 feet elevation gain.  Much better!

From the parking lot, there's a short (about .3 mile) connector trail to Pass Mountain trail.  Just past the wash is the main trail where we turned north.

We were amazed by all the saguaro cactus in the area.  

This trail was just right for a pleasant day hike.  In a couple of days, Micki would be heading back to the cold Midwest.  I think she really enjoyed it too.

Here's the view from our turn around point at the saddle.  It was prettier than the picture shows.

Just another perfect day here in sunny Arizona.