Horton Creek - Tonto National Forest

I began my hike on the Horton Creek Trail at 8:04 AM. I wanted to escape the desert heat. It was 114 degrees in Mesa today, but the trail which is near Payson, was in the mid 80s. I hiked 7.3 miles round-trip to the spring. Horton Spring emerges directly from the base of the Mogollon Rim at an elevation of about 6,600 feet. The water flows from the moss covered limestone creating the perennial headwaters of Horton Creek.

First Water Creek - Superstition Mountains

I started my hike at 1:40 PM. From my parking spot on AZ88 to First Water Creek took me 17 minutes. It was 101 degrees at the creek. Then I hiked about a quarter mile up the canyon and that took 15 minutes. Next I took my clothes off and got in the water and continued up stream to a deep pool that was perfect for swimming. My hike was 1.5 miles round-trip, and it took me 2 hours.

First Water Creek is an intermittent desert drainage that descends from the interior upland valleys through a rugged, craggy volcanic gorge before terminating in the lower canyon submerged and influenced by Canyon Lake's fluctuating reservoir levels. It has a high flash flood potential.

First Water Creek - Superstition Mountains

I began my hike to First Water Creek at 11:27 AM, and it was 97 degrees. Quickly it became 101 degrees as I hiked closer to the canyon. It took me 29 minutes to reach the bottom of the canyon where it was 99 degrees. The first pool I went skinny dipping in the water was chest high. After about an hour I found another larger and deeper pool a short distance down the canyon. Then I spent nearly an hour skinny dipping there in the narrow canyon. Then after nearly two hours of being in the refreshing canyon I headed back to my van. It was 2:28 PM when I got there and 103 degrees.

First Water Creek is an intermittent desert drainage that descends from the interior upland valleys through a rugged, craggy volcanic gorge before terminating in the lower canyon submerged and influenced by Canyon Lake's fluctuating reservoir levels. It has a high flash flood potential.

 

James McMurtry - The Rebel Lounge, Phoenix

James McMurtry

Humphry's Peak and Acute Mountain Sickness

My body was really struggling once I got above 11,000 feet elevation. It took me 3 hours and 32 minutes to reach the saddle at 11,787 feet. After resting for 23 minutes I began hiking again. In a short time I was again out of breath and had to stop. Beyond the saddle I frequently needed to stop. At 12,350 feet I sat down on a boulder on vomited. I was experiencing high-altitude brain hypoxia. The drop in oxygen causes the body to prioritize oxygen distribution to the brain and lungs, slowing digestion and causing nausea. 

 

Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point) - Mexico

I spent the day at Playa Hermosa and Playa Bonita. I arrived in the morning at low tide, and high tide came in the afternoon. High tide is the best for swimming. This area is part of the Altar Desert, one of the driest, and hottest areas of the larger Sonoran Desert. Geologists estimate the gulf formed 12 to 35 million years ago due to a clash of tectonic plates that caused the Baja California peninsula to drift westward from Mexico's mainland. The area now containing the gulf subsided, allowing ocean water to flow in from the south.

Rocky Point has some of the most extreme tides in the world. The Sea of Cortez is a long narrow body of water. As the gravitational pull of the moon and sun pushes massive volumes of water north, the narrowing gulf acts as a funnel, forcing the water upward and causing extreme water fluctuations. The highest and lowest tides occur every month during the new moon and full moon phases, when the gravitational forces of the sun and moon align. There are typically two high tides and two low tides each day.

The maximum depth of the gulf is roughly 10,000 feet. Located in the southern portion, particularly in the Guaymas trench, the deepest parts are caused by complex plate tectonics. The northern portion is much shallower, typically less than 200-600 feet deep. It's profound depths are characterized by hydrothermal vents, specifically in the Guaymas basin.