Hiking the Babad Do'ag Trail

On Friday I skipped work to take my daughters hiking with a group of neighbors up the Babad Do'ag Trail, which starts at the first pullout on Catalina Highway once the road starts climbing the Santa Catalinas. It was a beautiful, wildflower-filled day, and the 4-mile roundtrip trail was just right. Here are a few photos, and check out all 94 larger photos over in the gallery.

Starting out on the Babad Do'ag Trail, the Tohono O'odham name for Frog Mountain, what we call Mt. Lemmon.

Right away we saw a lot of wildflowers, including these bladderpods.

Higher up, we came across wide swaths of Mexican goldpoppies.

And then we saw such beauties as these covena...

And desert chicory.

The view from the top of the trail: looking east/southeast toward the snow-capped Rincon Mountains.

Friend and neighbor Ingrid Anderson put the hike together. Thanks Ingrid!

My younger daughter was my hiking partner as my older daughter leaped ahead with her friends.

Hiking back down the trail in the lush Sonoran desert. Though the rains and so the blooms have been about a month late this year, neither disappointed!

Check out the full gallery here: http://www.simmonsbuntin.com/images/gallery/2010/apr_hike/