I volunteered to lead a hike called Dacite Mesa on this nice sunny day and planned on going up the West Boulder trail and pretty much straight over three ridgelines to Fremont Saddle.

But luckily one of the hikers, Tom, offered to take us to Robbers’ Roost.

What a treat! When we got to the top of West Boulder Saddle we turned right, but instead of going straight up the first ridgeline took another trail, again off to our right.

The rock formations were fantastic! We stopped for lunch by a huge rock with an indentation in it which Jenni climbed into.

Then we headed east to overlook the area above Robbers’ Roost.

Who would ever know it was there? At this point some of the hikers opted not to hike down and instead hiked over to where they would wait and have a good view of Miners Needle and Cathedral Rock while doing so. The rest of us headed down to Robbers’ Roost through big boulders, of which one sits right on top of the hiding area.

At this point, Tom told me he was going to hike out a slippery escape route that the robbers supposedly used and that I could lead the hike the rest of the way.

HUH?? No way!

Thank goodness he was just kidding. You were, weren't you, Tom?

We turned northwest by a great stone lizard’s head and followed a route marked by cairns on the east side of Dacite Mesa.

Miners Needle and Cathedral Rock soon came into view, and then Weaver’s Needle and the upper part of the Peralta Trail. Our route was almost a trail in places, but elsewhere we had to bushwhack between cairns.

We continued on with our hike along the east side of the Dacite Mesa looking down at the Peralta Trail until we finally arrived at a rock climb down to Fremont Saddle.

Taking a break for a group picture with Weaver’s Needle behind us, we headed down the Peralta Trail to the parked cars.

Until now we had the wilderness to ourselves, but there were lots of hikers on the Peralta Trail.

I advised everyone to go at their own pace. The fast hikers went on ahead while I stayed back with the photographers and enjoyed a leisurely walk down to Peralta Trailhead.

Another beautiful day in sunny Arizona! The creek was flowing and birds were singing on a mild spring afternoon.

And thanks again, Tom, for such a great hike!

Eileen’s hike to Dacite Mesa was a blast! I took lots of pictures among the hoodoos and panoramic scenery from the top of the mesa, and everyone had a good time. Also I made it without suffering leg cramps or falling on a cactus (although another hiker did).