My stone adventures continue on my recent visit to Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale, Arizona. I couldn’t believe the beauty of this state! It was as if the desert landscape of the Looney Tunes cartoon with The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote had come to life!
On our first day, we hiked the 1.75 mile trail on Pinnacle Peak, the granite summit that rises 600 feet from the Sonoran desert floor. Our hike wound up and around the gorgeous granite boulders and unique formations.
Let me give you a little insight into how this granite summit was formed. According to Geocache, Pinnacle Peak is “largely composed of granite. The crystallization of slowly cooling molten rock deep in the Earth formed this granite over 1.4 billion years ago. The natural forces of faulting, erosion, and uplifting of overlaying rocks have uncovered this granite. Some of the common minerals that have formed this granite are quartz, biotite mica, and feldspar. The minerals formed an interlocking pattern as the magma cooled. Water and ice, combined with the forces of gravity and the passage of time has decayed and removed some of the minerals, leaving it in the rounded boulder shapes you see today.”
While hiking along this geological feast for the eyes, the landscape featured the most beautiful Sonoran desert vegetation such as the Saguaro Cactus. (When you think of what a cactus looks like, you’re most likely thinking of the Saguaro.) Another cactus along the way that I thought was fun was the Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus. It was deceivingly fuzzy looking.
Oh! And did I mention the cool wildlife? We spotted large lizards with striped tails, Jack Rabbits, quails, and chipmunks, (luckily no rattle snakes). Pinnacle Peak is an amazing combination of stunning geology, flora, and fauna.
It was an extensive and pretty hot hike, but when we got to the highest point of the trail, the views were stunning. For a stone lover like me, it was the perfect activity and an experience that will stay with me forever.
