A long hike

There is a canyon in Bulldog Canyon OHV area that I've tried to get to the end of on several occasions. I made another attempt yesterday. I took extra water. I took food. I started early (2 pm). I didn't make it. The further I went, the rougher the terrain got. I was accumulating scrapes, bruises, thorns, and rocks in my shoes. It turns out that I didn't take enough water, either. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I stood on a rock and it rolled out from under me? I was careful about that this time. I didn't think I had to be careful about rocks the size of a Buick, though, especially when half of it is embedded in the side of a wash. I had to climb over one of those to get out of a wash. I found a foothold and was on my way up when the part my foot was on broke off. What a surprise. I found a plant with lots of thorns (see below) when I landed on my side on the ground. I also have matching bruises on my shins now. I saw lots of cool stuff, though, and planned my route for the next attempt.

The forecast said sunny and windy. Bulldog Canyon was overcast and calm, though. Temperature was around 80, so it was comfortable.

Here's a bush I never really noticed before. It's covered with flowers now, and they are very fragrant. It smells like cheap cologne. The first time I smelled it, I stopped and was looking all around for a rhinestone cowboy. I couldn't believe that smell could be natural.

I saw a lot of these lizards. I think it's a whiptail of some sort, but I can't figure it out for sure. I didn't see them until they were running to hide from me, so I didn't get any good pictures.

I've been close to this cave a couple of times. Maybe next time I'm out there I'll hike on up to it.

These plants cover the desert now. They are everywhere. I used to think that they made me itch, but yesterday I discovered they are covered with thorns. At least the thorns come out easily. See the full set of pictures for a close up of the thorns.

On the way back to the truck, I followed a wash for a long way. I did that because I was tired of those thorny plants and going up and down and up and down and up and down... My ankles were actually tired from the rough terrain. I followed it too far, though, and came out close to the Salt River, which is further north than I wanted to be.

From there, I headed in the direction of the truck. I wound up on top of a large plateau. I spotted the truck on the other side of a canyon with veritical sides and crawling with rattlesnakes.

The snake was a nice surprise. It gave me a shot of adrenalin that got me the rest of the way back to the truck. I posted a video of the snake yesterday.

Click here to see all of the pictures.

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