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| Mummy's Nose from near Overlook |
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| Showgirl Trail |
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| Showgirl Trail |
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| Starting Showgirl Trail from Juniper TH |
It seemed like old times today when twenty club members of all levels showed up for an easy paced 5 mile hike at the Juniper Trailhead. This trailhead is located on Angel Peak Place past the Hilltop Campground off of Deer Creek Road. There are a lot of signs discouraging people to take the right fork at the campground but, rest assured, you may drive on down one half mile to the Juniper Trailhead where there is a bathroom located. (I wouldn't try driving any further, though, due to the existence of the secured SMYC located down the road.) After trying not to move too much inside the bee infested bathroom ... didn't want to anger them ... we started down the bike trail named Showgirl.
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| Reaching the Shade |
The beginning of the hike was in the sun but the heat had not started bearing down as yet. We reached the shade soon enough and began a slow stroll through the woods; sometimes in shade and sometimes in sun.
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| Showgirl Trail |
The back hikers saw a buck at one point while the front hikers later saw a gray fox. There is a spring located on the Trough Trail in the area. Wildlife depends on this water source.
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| Showgirl Trail |
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| Left Turn on Showgirl Trail |
After traveling about 1.5 miles on the main Showgirl Trail, we turned left at an interesting dead tree as seen in the photo to the right. This is a continuation of the original Showgirl Trail and it takes you over to a bare saddle where another trail enters from the right. Staying on the original Showgirl Trail we continued left down the ridge top until we came to a nicely shaded dip where we took our break. When we returned to the bare saddle, we veered to the left to get onto the other trail. This led us to the Trough Trail where a right turn led us to the Hike a Bike Trail. Here, we decided to take the "long cut" and go right following the Hike a Bike until we were able to make a sharp turn to the left onto the Camp Trail. This turn is very near the "Dead Tree Turn."
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| Group at Break Area |
A long gentle hill climb took us to the top of the Camp Trail Hill. Near here, there is an overlook that most of the hikers went down to. We took a look-see being very careful on the dangerous edge then returned to the top of the hill.
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| Angel Peak from Hike a Bike Trail |
The Camp Trail led us back down the hill where we junctioned again with the Showgirl Trail. A left turn put us back on the track to return in our own footsteps back to the Juniper Trailhead.
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| Climbing Camp Trail |
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| Mummy's Tummy from Camp Trail |
The hike has less than 600 feet of elevation gain but it is 5 miles. We enjoyed the light breezes and views since the trail was mostly situated on ridges. At a slow pace, the hike is more than sufficient to give everyone a workout and enjoy the morning in the mountains. As we drove down Kyle Canyon Road, we passed many cars going up but we knew we had taken the best part of the Saturday ... in the beautiful coolish morning.
5 miles; 550 feet elevation gain; 3 hours
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| Richard at the Overlook with Mummy Mountain & Deer Creek Road |
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| Line of Hikers starting up last Hill |
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| Arriving at the Juniper Trailhead |
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