This week, Amy asks us to get narrow-minded… er, ah…. well, that’s not exactly the way she put it. What she wrote was, “Travel has taught me that once we go through a narrow path, alley, and/or road with a little patience, at the end it always opens up to pleasant surprises. The experience certainly has broadened my horizon allowing me to see the world through different eyes. Thus, I choose “narrow” for this week’s theme. We hope you will join us and share your photos with us.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

As a hiker, I’ve encountered many narrow trails like the one in the opening photo at Estrella Mountain Regional Park near Goodyear, Arizona. Toothaker is a relatively flat trail most of it’s nearly 4 miles (6.4 km) It’s rated Moderate because of some elevation changes near the trail’s end. At the higher elevations near the end of the trail, the hiker is rewarded with better views of the park.

This narrow trail is in White Tank Mountain Regional Park. Mesquite Canyon Trail is only about 5 miles (8.1 km), but it has portions that causes the trail to be rated difficult. It also has a relatively large elevation change that adds to the difficulty level. On spring days, with wildflowers in bloom, the trail’s beauty is especially well worth the effort to navigate.

One of my favorite trails in the Phoenix metro is the Hidden Valley Trail. At one point in the trail, two giant boulders create a narrow passage that is quite inappropriately known as Fat Man Pass. Having negotiated this pass myself, I know it can be done by someone who is much heavier than the person depicted in the photo. I did learn, however, that the narrowest point is about five feet above the ground. I got wedged there for a few moments, compressing my chest making it a bit hard to breathe. Pulling back and lowering my stature a bit allowed me to squeeze through. The reward for navigating the pass features other challenging hiking maneuvers and a refreshing walk through a natural rock tunnel.

Moving south of the Phoenix metro, a visit to Tucson’s Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a zoo, a natural history museum and a botanical garden. One of the Arizona native cats on display is a bobcat that stays cool and in the shade of this narrow ledge on those hot Arizona days.

Thanks again to Amy for allowing me to share images from some of my favorite places in Arizona.

John Steiner