12 hikers attended the day hike The Wind Cave at Usery Mountain Park. [photo by Rod]

Bruce, Randall, Thomas, Gene, Houston, Jon, Diane, Li, Terry, Ron, Tom.

We lead off with our traditional hiker’s parade.

Wind Cave Parade!!

Wind Cave hikers Parade!!

The first half is a gentle climb.

Gentle Upslope

Then the pace picks up as the trail switchbacks across the face of the mountain up to the cave

Onward to the top

Upward we go

There is a fabulous view of the valley from the top; you can see Camelback and San Tan Mountains as well as the surrounding cities.

Panoramic View

We stopped to take a break, admire the view and each other’s company.

View

After a brief interlude we returned via the same route.

Photographer