The Surprise on Friday's Hike

It was 85º when they finished Friday's 5.5 mile hike to Massacre Grounds. Too warm for most of them to be out and about, so it may have been the last organized hike for the season.

I have found a new program for editing photos. I had fun playing with Curt's photos from the hike. Enjoy.

 Chino looks pretty cool in her doggie shades

 No shade along this trail

 Some interesting rock formations on the backside of the Superstitions

 Love the balancing rock

Lots of flowering Engelmann hedgehog cacti 

The bees were busy

 Another balancing rock formation

 A large Engelmann hedgehog with many buds in the early stages of blooming

 And the surprise...a Gila monster
"is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. A heavy, slow-moving lizard, up to 2.0 ft long. Though the Gila monster is venomous, its sluggish nature means that it represents little threat to humans. However, it has earned a fearsome reputation and is sometimes killed despite being protected by state law in Arizona and Nevada."

 

"It is estimated that the Gila monster spends 95% of its time underground in mammal burrows or rocky shelters. It is active in the morning during the dry season (spring and early summer); later in the summer, it may be active on warm nights or after a thunderstorm. It feeds upon small birds, mammals, frogs, lizards, insects, and carrion."

Thanks Norm for the second photo of the Gila Monster. And thanks to Wikipedia for the biology lesson.