Today we did a short hike at Lost Dutchman State Park in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. It was short because my new hiking shoes were killing me, so after a Starbucks stop, we drove right to REI. They are terrific. After spending an hour talking to a sales person and trying on other shoes, I think (I hope) I found a good pair. They exchanged the hurting ones for me without any problem. If you have read "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Cheryl Strayed (my book group read it), you would read just how far REI will go to serve customers. She contacted REI at one of the replenish points on the trail, told them her feet were in very bad shape, and could they send a pair one size larger to the next replenish point. They were waiting for her when she arrived.
The formations in the photos are the hardened magma of the caldera of an ancient volcano where the ash has washed away, leaving only the rock. It has been so dry here that wild flowers and blooming cacti are few and far between. There was one draw that had some brittlebush and another blooming plant, but that was the extent of what we saw today. The scenery was pretty anyway.
