We got Sunshine and Snow

I was told few if any Cubs players would be out at Fitch today, so that gave me a chance to enjoy the abundant sunshine and a high temp of 75 degrees. It is near perfect weather here in the Valley of the Sun. Up north and east in the AZ mountains the high temps would be in the 40’s and in honor of the Winter Olympics I could go snowboarding or skiing. A few hours drive from the valley you can reach Sunrise Park or Arizona Snowbowl ski resorts. Sunrise located in the White Mountains has between 70 and 103 inches of snow right now and Snowbowl just north of Flagstaff has had 243 inches of snow so far this season.

However, Usery Mountain Park is only about 10 minutes from my house (20 minutes from Hohokam Stadium). The park offers 30 miles of spectacular trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Hiking, being closer and cheaper, won out.

While driving into the park and looking for a good trail to hike…I saw a sign, (cue angelic music) and knew the choice was already made for me. Merkle Trail, was it coincidence or fate? For those of you who don’t know or aren’t familiar with the name Merkle check it out on Wikipedia. The incident known as “Merkle’s Boner”, (obviously the lexicon of the day has changed) is part of baseball lore. Suffice it to say without this “bonehead” play by N.Y. Giant Fred Merkle most likely the Cubs don’t win the World Series in 1908. I thought about titling this blog “Valentine’s Day Boner”, but figured that may be taken the wrong way.

At any rate it was a great hike and fun to be outside on a fabulous day, enjoy the photos.

Cubs Pitchers and Catchers report on Wednesday with scheduled first workout on Thursday…spring training is upon us!

Prickly Pear with Superstition Mountains behind

Downtown Phoenix buildings in background

No getting lost with signs like this

Superstition Mountains as seen from Usery Park