Waddell, Arizona.

Last week, I featured a view of the Willow Canyon Trail in the White Tank Mountains Regional Park. This week features another shot captured by my cell phone on the hike. It was a relatively clear day in the Phoenix Metro. One of the reasons we chose a home on the western edge of the metro is that the inherent haze and smog of the city tends to stay in the valley.

The nickname ‘Valley of the Sun’ is an apt description. Most of the Phoenix metro is surrounded by mountains with the White Tanks on the western edge and the Superstitions on the east. Though the image looks quite hazy, it is actually a pretty clear day. Only on clear days we get to see a view of the mountain range that’s east of the Superstition Mountains which are about 80 miles (129 km) from the White Tanks. The tallest mountain on the left side is known as “Four Peaks”. It is a 97 mile (156 km) drive from the western edge. On many days, that mountain isn’t visible through the haze. The tallest of the four peaks is Brown’s Peak at 7,659 feet (2,334 m).

Also visible in the image is the iconic Camelback Mountain located near downtown Phoenix. It’s the single peak on the right side of the image. Camelback mountain is about 47 miles (76 km) from the White Tanks. The diagram below helps focus on the mountains mentioned.

In the image, the near edge of the valley is north of Goodyear and Litchfield Park, two western suburb communities. Further east is Glendale and Peoria. Where I stood to capture this image is northeast of our house in Buckeye. Our house is on slightly higher terrain than in the valley. The rule for Cellpic Sunday is simple. The image must be captured on a mobile device.

John Steiner