Sixteen resplendent hikers turned out to climb this gorgeous hill on a picture postcard day in the southern Goldfields.

Hill 2685 is a big climb up from the horse trail.

Let’s see. How do we get down from here?

“We don’t need a cairn to mark the place where we leave the trail,” Ted explained. “It’s here at the pass, and there’s a saguaro with long arms to mark the spot.”

Our climb is a zigzag route which follows ridgelines all the way to the top, while avoiding any dips down through washes along the way. There are boulders and prickly plants but overall, it’s an easy off-trail climb. The views just get better all the way up.

At the top we have a grand panorama of Bulldog Ridge to the west, Dome Mountain and peak 3269 to the north, the Four Peaks, golden hill 2726 and Hat Top Hill to the east, Blue Ridge and the Superstitions to the southeast, Apache Junction and the microwave tower to the south. Cameras ready?

Explorers visit the Pyroclastic Cave.

Peaks 3195 and 3075 grace Bulldog Ridge.

We make better time on the way down than we did climbing up. Soon we arrive at the horse trail and the saguaro with long branches. We turn left and walk north down the trail to Bulldog Canyon.

Our route through Bulldog Canyon begins as a primitive road which turns into a trail and sometimes leaves us walking on sand and cobblestones in the streambed. There are glorious views of Peak 3269, “an all-day climb” Ted assures us. Soon the cave comes into view.

The cave, nestled in a hillside of foliated rocks is on the north side of Bulldog Canyon, is a quarter mile upstream of the white slickrock area. Some of the hikers want to explore it while others wait in the canyon. Our off-trail climb up to the cave is rocky and steep, but pretty short. The cave has several rooms.

The cave explorers make their way back down into the canyon. Everyone starts walking downstream, where we enter a region of white slickrock with a gorgeous view of the peaks to the west on Bulldog Ridge.

The trail takes us across Bulldog Canyon one last time, then we hike upstream through a wash to Forest Service Road 10. From here it’s an easy walk back to the trailhead. Everybody goes at their own pace.

From the road there are fine views of Blue Ridge with the Superstition Mountains in the background. A boulder on the south end of Blue Ridge is known as Bulldog Peak, because it’s supposed to look like a bulldog. We’ve seen the boulder from many different angles, but have yet to notice any bulldog.