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| Lawn Mower Saddle Trail |
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| Lawn Mower Landmark |
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| Rubber Ducky Yucca |
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| Lawn Mower Hill |
The Lawn Mower Route is a nice 6.5 miles hike that is best done at a faster pace. Two of us left from the Late Night Trailhead this morning taking the Mustang Trail around the right side of the hill behind the parking lot. When the trail sideswipes the Black Velvet dirt Road, the Mustang Trail crosses the road at a steep diagonal angle. On down, there is a signed junction. Look for the wooden signs in this area very low to the ground. We followed the arrow that pointed in the direction of the Rubber Ducky Yucca. This is a right turn. At the next junction, the left fork will take you down into the ducky ravine. The Rubber Ducky Yucca is famous to locals as we attempt to keep the yucca filled with rubber ducks faster than the rangers can remove them!
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| Dropping into Rubber Ducky Wash |
This was, perhaps, Mike's first visit to the tree and my first in a few years. We took our photos and moved on.
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| One of a Few Ducky Signs |
We followed the Ducky Trail through the ravine, through a couple of huge gateway boulders and on to a trail junction where we found the sign above.
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| Windy and Black Velvet Peaks |
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| Overlook on Lawn Mower Saddle Trail |
The second right after the ducky tree is the Lawn Mower Saddle Trail. We turned right here and climbed to the top of a long hill. At the saddle, we turned to the left and continued up to a high point overlook. (See photos to right and below.) The trail descends while wiggling "bike trail" style and ends up going down a wash that was made with a rock bed of limestone. Next, we continued into the desert terrain where we found places to sit for a break. With a 360 degree view from our "theatre in the round" seats, we just watched and listened to the desert. It was a quiet day! The temps had begun cold but quickly warmed up with the rising sun. After the break, we continued down the trail and took a right turn that would carry us around the end corner of Lawn Mower Hill.
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| View back over Lawn Mower Saddle & Hill |
The main trail that we encountered next was the Spanish Trail on which we took another right. The nearby SR 160 provided traffic noise that was not real welcoming!
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| Trail down through Wash |
Our route hurried up the Spanish Trail and hopped over to the wash and trail that runs along the base of Lawn Mower Hill. The bright red relic of a lawn mower jumped out from the landscape as we approached the trail we could see climbing the hill.
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| Desert View |
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| Wash in Front of Lawn Mower Hill |
This was definitely Mike's first look at the lawn mower! Up the hill, we climbed, arriving on the Lawn Mower Saddle a few minutes later. A left turn on the Saddle Trail put us on Wounded Knee Trail. This trail traverses down around the "crown" of the hill until we junctioned with the Ducky Trail below. A left turn put us back through the Gateway Boulders and on up to connect with the Mustang Trail. From there, the Mustang Trail took us back to the trailhead. It may sound complicated but the pattern is easy and the landscape views are beautiful. It was a great morning on the trails of North Cottonwood Valley. Ducks and Lawn Mowers! For what more can you ask!
Stats: 6.5 miles; 800' gain; 2.75 hours
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| Starting down Wounded Knee Trail |
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| Wounded Knee Trail |
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| Finishing on Mustang Trail |
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