Billie Horn led this hike. We had a nice group of 7 hikers arrive before 6:00 AM at the Gateway Trailhead. Gateway is known as “The Gateway to The McDowell Sonoran Preserve”.

The recent rains have enriched the desert landscape which now boasts many varieties of plant and creature as evidenced by Adrian and Bill’s beautiful photos.

We started out on the Desert Park Trail, which begins just across the road from the parking lot. This, combined with the Horseshoe Trail, forms a half circle to meet up with the Gateway Loop Trail.

GLT forms the “stick” for this lollipop configuration. The GLT is where most of the elevation gain takes place in about a mile. We turned around at the junction with Windgate Pass Trail, and after a short rest, followed GLT back down and continued until the junction with Saguaro Trail. At this junction we decided to follow a short 0.3-mile Saguaro Loop Trail returning to the Saguaro Trail which leads to the Gateway Trailhead and completes the circle of the lollipop.

On this, the hottest day of the week so far, we enjoyed being in the shade of the hills with a slight breeze, and as planned returned to the trailhead before the heat set in.

We were treated today by Rodney, who shared melons and cucumbers from his garden for each of us to take home.