Eleven intrepid hikers gathered in chilly 40 degree weather at the Picketpost Trailhead, ready to hike off some Thanksgiving calories. We were encouraged to find clean and unlocked facilities and a relatively uncrowded parking lot at 8 AM.

No need to fear the cold, as we shed layers after a short time.

Started on the new Arnett Canyon spur, which connects to the usual trail at about 0.75 miles, but has some new views and amazing stone steps. We then joined the perimeter trail and ultimately reached the water-poor, but still lush with fall colors, creek bed.

Since almost all of us had done this trail multiple times before, we took a detour to the Apache Tears Mine to find some rocks, adding a mile to our day.

We then rejoined the trail at another dry, but very pretty, point in the creek and took a snack break. Eventually we left the creek bed and were back in the desert on the back side of the mountain. We saw 2 Jeeps whose drivers were looking for the Arizona Trail. Then we completed our loop and were at the parking lot after 1 PM.