In Kingman: a hike to Castle Rock

January 16, 2020

This is another of those days where we go back and forth trying to decide what to do. We’re leaving Kingman this morning for the 200 mile drive down to Tempe, but we have to time to fit in an activity before we leave the area. One good candidate is to bike on Route 66 again, this time out east of town on the attractive looking stretch between Hackberry and Peach Springs. If we come down this way again some year I’d like to do that ride, if only for the names.

We nix the bike ride though for several reasons - it’s in the wrong direction and would lengthen an already long day; our butts are still mad at us for putting them through that rough ride across Sacramento Wash yesterday; but mostly we’re deterred by the wind forecast, which indicates that we’d be facing a few hours of strong headwinds in the afternoon.

Instead, Rachael has done her research and found a hike for us that starts just a few miles from town. It’s a beaut, too. We enjoy a ten mile walk through Mohave Desert country (we’re right at the eastern edge of this huge desert) and into the foothills that rise just north of Kingman. Totally secluded. We see one other hiker walking his two dogs about twenty minutes into the hike, but after that we don’t see another human before returning to the car almost four hours later.

We see plenty else though - soaring ravens, a rabbit scrambling across a slope on the opposite side of a wash, and Rachael’s sure she saw a family of deer that peeked over the top of the ridge behind us but disappeared before I could turn my head.

Mostly though, we see the land and the vegetation. It’s a rocky walk, across volcanic land that reminds me of hiking in central Oregon except that here we’re walking through prickly pear and cholla instead of sagebrush. Expansive views west to the Black Mountains. Very peaceful, very beautiful. We keep being attracted by some new cactus or juniper snag that seems just a bit different than all the rest. An excellent day.

We get back to the car at three, just in time. After ten miles of rough trail my knees are starting to complain a bit and I’m developing a blister - I should have stopped to get some grit out of my shoes earlier than I did. Three and a half hours of high-speed highway driving later we’re in Tempe sitting down to a fine meal, looking forward to staying here for the next four nights before moving on to Tucson.

As usual, I lag behind to stare at some irresistible cactus.

These guys are really sweet, and surprisingly colorful. And some of them have indents at the end of their blades, giving them a heart shaped look. Valentine cactus.

I think I came back with thirty photographs of this cactus. I’ll spare you though, and just show you a few.

Same plant. It takes on many different colors - a surprisingly broad spectrum. Attractive dead or alive.

I took more than a few lichen shots too. I liked this one the best.

There’s that valentine cactus again. As we climb, prickly pear has gradually become the dominant plant.

We see a few of these here and there too. Like the cacti and lichen, it’s another example where each instance seems unique and worthy of your attention.

I’m not sure what it is though. It feels like a juniper, but I don’t remember seeing junipers with long, straight greenery like this. What is this?

More of the same. Oddly enough, we aren’t getting bored by it. That’s the great thing about hiking - it opens up your senses and you can really get in tune with the beauty of quiet scenes like this.

The view west to the Black Mountains. It’s faint, but if you look closely you can see Thimble Peak and the gap of Sitgreaves Pass. Hey, it just occurred to me that this pass might be pronounced as sit-graves. Maybe that’s why a cemetery was developed there?

The long walk back to the car. Kingman is sprawled along the valley floor below.

This plant just keeps insisting in slipping in here. This one looks quite different than all the others though, don’t you think?

Another plant that seemed worth including. The photo doesn’t quite show though how radiant it looked with the sunlight streaking through it.

I think that’s Hualapai Mountain, across the basin from Kingman.

The Nissan Parhfinder, aka the Blue Whale. I’m thinking of submitting this photo to Nissan for use in one of their advertisements.

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