Four Trailblazers are ready to brave the elements {photo by Li}

Li, Alan, Bruce, Debbie.

On a cold December 17th day four hikers departed the Siphon Draw trail parking area. After a while on Siphon Draw we turned right onto the Jacob's Crosscut trail heading toward Gold Canyon. After hiking for about 1 1/4 hours we turned left to head up the canyon south of Flat Iron.

Turn to the Superstitions.

Leaving Jacob's Crosscut there was no trail at the beginning but eventually we found a string of occasional rock cairns leading a thin trail heading up the valley. We passed several dry waterfalls with only some pools of water. We did see some petroglyphs at one waterfall.

Dry waterfalls under Flat Iron.

As we continued on the trail, cairns disappeared and the hike became a bushwhack.

Be carefull some plants whack back.

We encountered a couple arches along the way and had fun taking pictures. As we worked our way up the slope became steeper and rockier. Eventually we started to head toward the base of the famous Flat Iron.

Happy be here.

Some hikers were so happy to get there they kissed the rock face. The area at that point was relatively flat with a stunning view all around so we finally had a well deserved lunch break. The climb up from Jacob's Crosscut took 3 1/4 hours including many photo stops. While having lunch, Debbie spotted two brave climbers going up a vertical slot of the face of Flat Iron.

Some climbers on Flat Iron.

After lunch we hiked over and down several rock formations out to the very knob point of the so-called Ironing Board. We had fun looking over the edge at Siphon Draw below. Definitely a thrill. The view was spectacular.

Gals looking down the valley.

Guys looking down the valley.

After some picture taking we headed to a trail that would lead us to the center of the Siphon Draw. We intersected Siphon Draw where Siphon Draw crests above the slick basin by a red rock area.

Once there it was time to head back to the cars. There were a fair amount of hikers going up and down Siphon Draw. Some looked ill prepared and had no idea how far they had to go. Hiking down Siphon Draw seems to take forever to get to the parking. Maybe it's because we had such an exciting and fun adrenaline rush doing the hike. The entire hike took just over 7 hours. We all took time to enjoy it and take photos. All agreed it was an A type hike even though it was 7.3 miles and 2,246 ft. of elevation gain.

Looking down at Siphon Draw.

Arch with a couple of gals.

Arch with a view.