At the Top

This is the group that made it to the top of Picacho Peak last Friday.

The view of the valley below.

This is how they got up and came down...the cables.

Sometimes on their butts

Curt in his "can see from a mile or more" green florescent shirt.

Another view of the valley on the backside of the peak. Can you find Curt?

Thanks, Doug for sharing pictures from the Picacho Peak State Park.

The state of Arizona is in such bad financial shape, they have closed all the rest stops along the interstate highways (Jan.1, 2010) and are planning to close most the state parks this summer. The interesting piece to that is it will cost more than a million dollars to fence and secure each of those state parks to insure that no one will enter once they are closed by the state. Gee...wouldn't those millions be better spent keeping them open to the people rather than closing and keeping the people out??? Hard to understand. It will be interesting to see what has happened to the state parks when we get back next season.

Signs of Spring in the Desert

While the guys and Sylvia were using cables to pull themselves to the top of Picacho Peak, Sharon and I were looking for wild flowers and other signs of spring in the desert. I don't know the name for these delicate, purple flowers but they were along our trail at the state park.

Some of the cacti are also beginning to show signs of flowering. The three reddish, brown buds will become flowers in the next month or two. I think this is a strawberry hedgehog or maybe a cockscomb hedgehog cactus.

This cactus also had two red buds tucked amongst its needles. I believe this is a desert Christmas cactus.

When we walked up the trail we did not see any open poppies. By the time we walked back down the trail, the sunlight and temperature increase reached the wild poppies. This picture is cool as it shows one poppy open, one bloom about to open and to the right, a tight bud. I don't know if we will see the multitudes of poppies we saw two years ago, but with all the rain (more tomorrow) one would think the roadsides and hillsides would be a sea of yellow and orange. I did notice the blooming lupine as we drove back to Gold Canyon. The ditches and roadside along Highway 60 have many varieties and colors of AZ wild flowers. It is beautiful this time of year.

More tomorrow.

Picacho Peak Hike

Eight of the hikers headed to the top of Picacho Peak State Park this morning. The park is about 50 miles south of us, near Tucson.

There they go, 2.1 miles and 1300' elevation.

They walked through the shadowed area, from right to the left at the base of the mountain, then back to the right along the base of the mountain to the saddle. They used cables to pull themselves along in areas on the backside of the saddle and mountain.

The top of the Picacho Peak was the goal. We were able to see them at the edge before they reached the top. I took a much shorter, safer, scenic hike. Those pics tomorrow.

The Unique and Unusual

This is a view of the switchback trail we climbed yesterday to get to the Upper Ruins at Tonto National Monument near Roosevelt AZ. It was a 600' up and down climb. Seemed like a lot more!

Above this cliff dwelling wall, there is a nook higher up on the rock wall, where a couple of owls live. This is what the owls leave behind. Not a pleasant thought, but it does add color and interest to the cliff dwelling.

Also above the cliff dwelling was a hive of African killer bees. The longer we hung around the dwelling and their territory, the busier they became. This hive was just knocked down a couple of weeks ago (you can see the honey color residue to the right of the combs) and has grown this much since. I was happy to leave it and the bees behind.

If one looks closely, you can see a hand print left in the mud plaster on the wall of this room in the cliff dwelling. Our tour guide shared how a new coating was applied and everyone in the family worked to "paint" the wall. This dwelling was last occupied around 1400 AD.

This is desert mistletoe. It needs a host plant to grow and in turn eventually kills the host. You often see a tangled mass of usually brown vines, in the shape of a large ball, growing in a tree. That is a sure sign the tree will die in a few years.

A dead saguaro next to a live, healthy saguaro. We learned many saguaros also need a host plant to protect it as it gets its start in life. And often as the saguaro grows in girth and height, it will destroy the host. Older saguaros often have a "tree bark" look on the outer layer, especially the area nearest the ground. I always find the interior of a dead saguaro interesting with its 17 or so wooden ribs, and not a single trunk like a tree.

Another First!

Today I joined the Canyon Vistas hikers at Tonto National Monument, about 60 miles east of us.

I was there 2 years ago, but hiked to the Lower Ruins. Today, I did a 600' elevation, 3 mile hike to the Upper Ruins.

Ranger Ed was our very knowledgeable guide.

This is a view of Roosevelt Lake from a support post hole in a room of the ruins.

My ankle is pretty sore tonight, but I am so pleased I was able to make the climb up and back down, which was harder. More pics to come in the next few days.