[matt@expaz]

Last Sunday we tried a couple of spur trails off the Charouleau Gap road that although I'd been past them a bunch of times, I'd never tried them before. I shouldn't have waited so long! What a wonderful time. The weather was nice: overcast, sprinkling rain and breezy for most of the day. Couldn't have asked for better weather in August.

These trails are just east of Kiss Rock (which the hole was recently filled in again on). We went on the northern trail first (FR4496). The desert was green, lush and full of wild flowers.

There were wonderful view of the Biosphere and Catalina on the rocks along this trail

The road was in pretty good shape and easy, not as brushy as I thought it would be. We passed a couple of tanks (ponds). Both were green and thick with algae. Luckily, this wouldn't be what we found later on.

Close to the CDO wash, the road becomes a little more rocky and the saguaro were really beautiful.

The trail ends at the CDO wash (hits private property). We turned around and found this desert tortoise walking down the road on the way back.

Cat-Dog was so funny, she was scared to death of the "moving rock" (you can see video on my website).

After returning to the Gap Road, we headed south on FR4432. This short spur trail was awesome. Beautiful scenery and a fun trail to boot. The trail leads to a beautiful pond.

Cat-Dog had fun wading in the water. Next to the pond was a small set of rock pools.

The trail ends on top of some large rocks with great views into the valley below. All in all, a wonderful trip.


Click here for the full trail report (on FR4432), including maps, area history, GPS coordinates, photos and videos...