Peoria, Arizona.

A few weeks ago, we visited a new (to us) location to hike. The Sunset Mountain Trail in Peoria winds its way around a mountain preserve in the confines of the city. The trail is only about 4 miles (6.4 km) long, but it presents natural views and some interesting glimpses of the city that surrounds the mountain. There are some very expensive residences in the neighborhood and several private trails lead up from the residential areas to join the main trails on the mountain. Fortunately, near a city park and school is the Sunset Mountain Trailhead where parking, a playground and a restroom facility provide family space. The morning of our hike, there was a bit of a glitch as we didn’t know exactly where the park was located. In the future, we’ll remember that the Copperhead Church is just west of the parking area and that you can’t enter from the westbound side of the street. A U-turn is required to enter the park going east. On this day, there was plenty of available parking and we were soon on our way up the trail.

About the photo: Captured on my Samsung S7 cell phone, the panoramic photo was originally two images stitched together in software rather than using the panorama function of the camera. I have found that the panorama function in the camera can cause extra spacial distortion in the image so I prefer to stitch multiple single images together in post processing. In most browsers, you can click on the image to enlarge it for viewing in greater detail. The rule for Cellpic Sunday is simple. The image must be captured with a mobile device.

John Steiner