After a detour up Buttes Pass to find a shady spot for lunch, we backtracked in San Felipe Wash to the entrance of Blow Sand Canyon, and followed the canyon trail to its end at the Goat Trail.
Blow Sand Canyon is a really nice little trail. There are some narrow and some really sandy spots, and eventually it climbs to a ridge trail where it intersects Goat Trail. I had driven a portion of Goat Trail before, starting from its western end at Buttes Pass Road, but did not go very far. I really like the Blow Sand Canyon area, and definitely want to go back and spend more time there.
Goat Trail is a fairly easy ridgeline trail with some spectacular views of the surrounding area. There are a few blind crests in the trail where all you can see is sky over your hood, and a few slippery spots leading up to those crests.
Goat Trail ends at Buttes Pass Road, and we took that north to Hawk Canyon to check out wildflowers. There are still quite a few in bloom, thanks to all the wet weather.
Apparently the Desert Five Spot is somewhat rare (at least according to the guidebooks), we saw lots of them in Hawk Canyon, just as we did last year.
View from the top of Buttes Pass looking north towards the Badlands.
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