Bulldog Canyon

There has been something on my Geocaching Bucket List, and that has been the oldest geocache in AZ. Hubby and his geobuddy from CA got the cache in 2013, but I wasn't as into caching as I am now. Besides, I was happy when Hubby went caching without me. Since getting the oldest geocache in KS, and adding NE and ND to my list this past summer, collecting the AZ one was a priority for this season. That was accomplished on Thursday.

It was a perfect day to be out and about in the desert. The temps are in the high 60s right now, so walking in the desert wasn't as tiring as it is when the temps are higher. We were not certain how much walking we would be doing as Hubby didn't remember all that well the 2013 mission.

I have been on a hike in Bulldog Canyon, but this was the first time I had been on this road. I hope we can go back again this season as there are more caches farther south. Now that we have the jeep...

Three geocaches were close to the road, so we got those on the way to the oldest cache. We wore our bright orange shirts so we could see each other.

In this area, all seven caches were quite easy to find. The give-away is the pile of sticks or rocks hiding the container, often an ammo can.

Saguaros, bushes and a few cholla in this region.

This cache was called Pennies from Heaven. We made it more difficult than it actually was.

There were numerous pennies on the ground...and we had to check them all.

I wore my gloves when removing the containers from their hiding place. I did not want any creepy crawly things to surprise me.

Putting my geoname in the official log book of the AZ oldest cache ~ Geocache.

There it is, well hidden at the base of a palo verde tree. 

It felt GOOD to be out and about in the desert with a camera. We have done some geocaching since we arrived, but this was the first time the desert was our destination.

Palo Verde trees and staghorn cholla framing Four Peaks.

There is an rare and unusual yellow-green lichen that grows on the rocks in this area. ONLY in this area. It can be seen on the drive to Tortilla Flat. 

You can sort of see the yellow-green lichen on the side of the mountain in this photo. 

Two women were riding horse while we were geocaching. They entered the canyon just ahead of us and left the canyon as we were completing our seven caches. The horse in the rear was more skittish than the spotted one.

Another view of Four Peaks. There is a little snow left on the upper slopes. 

The Great Western Trail is a 3000 mile shared use backcountry route from Canada to Mexico. Arizona's 800 mile portion of the trail uses back roads that traverse rugged and beautiful country with many points of discovery along the way.

Bulldog Canyon's colorful rock formations are volcanic tuff that was deposited during massive eruptions 35 to 15 million years ago.