There were 12 of us today; we started together going up the Chaparral Loop Trail (the sandstone is badly eroded in places), then across the ridge and down to the footbridge in Manhattan Canyon. The group split there with some heading back down and the rest of us going up. It wasn't a long hike for either group - 2.5 miles for the shorter loop and 3.5 for the longer - but there was plenty of rough UP to challenge the unused leg muscles.
It was a beautiful day! The group of 7 saw plenty of flowers, too. The most impressive had to be the field of Indian Warriors adjacent to the Black Diamond Trail (same place we saw them last February between the lower junction of Manhattan Canyon Tr and the gate at the upper junction). And birds! lots of vultures and some other hawks. I heard red wing blackbirds, but didn't see them. Bush birds and jays, of course and I spotted a pair of bluebirds (brilliant) by the now FULL ponds below the cemetery.
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