Hiking Up to Praying Hands Rock

March 20, 2012 - Our days have settled into a nice rhythm. Hiking in the morning, then head over to Sarah and Jason’s apartment on week day afternoons, where we would take the time to do laundry, make cookies or other ‘treats’, and maybe get dinner started. Then we would visit with Sarah and Jason when they get off work, in the evening.

For our morning hikes, we would hike around Lost Dutchman with our backpacks – explaining to everyone who asked that, no, we were not camping out, but just ‘practicing’ for an upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon. We did not feel too weird, because we were not the only ones using the trails for ‘practice’ or fitness hiking.

Most of our hikes have been looping around Prospector’s Point (about 500 ft elevation gain), which we would do twice for the added elevation and mileage – for a total of 6 miles in about 3 1/2 hours.

Today, on our way around Prospector’s Point, we decided to head up a spur trail to Praying Hands Rock. The trail was steeper and less traveled, gaining an additional 300 ft in elevation over a short distance. The morning was beautiful! Clear blue sky, and cool….starting out at about 46 degrees, but warming up. 

 

This is the Praying Hands Rock formation. When you look at this formation from the right angle, it does not take much imagination to see the hands folded in prayer.

We stopped at this first ‘saddle’ …..and took off our packs and took a few minutes to enjoy the view.

The rain a couple of days before had cleaned the air and the mountains were so crisp ….and snowcapped!…..in the distance.

I just loved this face in the big rock. It reminded me of the rock creatures in the ‘Never Ending Story’.

The trail continued up over the next rise and between the rock formations to the base of the Praying Hands.

We hiked the rest of the way up to Praying Hands Rock without our packs.

It felt so good to be hiking a new trail and ‘discovering’……and soaking up the beauty of the morning.

We enjoyed the break, and the view……then hiked back down, picked up our packs and headed on our way.