Yesterday's ride and hike

Yesterday I went to that part of Bulldog Canyon OHV area where I've been spending a lot of time lately. One of the things I like about it is that not many other people go there. I haven't seen any kids tearing back and forth, back and forth on dirt bikes or ATVs yet. Yesterday I saw one car in there when I went in. Didn't see another person for the 4.5 hours I was there (unless you count the boats I saw moving around on Saguaro Lake). Here's the parking lot with only my truck in it. Nice view for a parking lot.

From 2009_02_01

I was looking at the area in Google Earth. There are a couple of roads that branch off from the main road. Then I decided that I don't really know where the main road is. I can't find a map of the area. The road at the entrance does not have any markers saying that it is the road (which is the practice in other parts of Bulldog Canyon). The roads that branch off don't have any markers saying that they are not roads (which is also standard practice, though the yahoos shoot up and drive over those signs until they are unrecognizable). The two roads I was looking at have stock tanks at the end, so they were made by ranchers years ago and not by yahoos looking for a hill to challenge their ATV. Here's the road at the first turnoff I took.

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It was a scenic drive and I puttered along in first gear most of the way, partly because it was bumpy and partly because I wanted to take my time and soak in the views.

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I came across a tree I don't remember seeing before. It's got to be some kind of palo verde.

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Its seed pods look cool.

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There seems to be very little traffic out there, and it must be well-behaved drivers. In other parts of Bulldog Canyon, it's easy to find a place to get off the road and park and hike around. Here there is just road.

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So whenever I wanted to get off the ATV to take pictures, I had to leave it in the middle of the road. Even though I hadn't seen or heard anybody else, it felt funny doing that. I couldn't help checking behind me before I started moving again, either. I wondered how people get around each other when they meet head to head. Just about then, I came head to head with this.

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It was very stubborn and refused to get out of my way, which was OK because I was too busy taking pictures of it to go anywhere. It's got a lot of scuff marks and dirt on the top of its shell.

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Looks like I interrupted its lunch, too.

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It finally moved off the road and I decided it was time to leave it alone.

I saw several pencil cholla out there. I didn't get any good pictures of them, though. It's tough to get a picture of a green plant with a green background.

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I eventually got to the first tank (Bagley tank), which had water in it.

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The road went a short distance past there, partway up that hill in the background of the picture. I parked up there and hiked to the top of the hill to see what I could see. Close to the top, the sides were covered with large, loose rocks. I was seriously worried about starting an avalanche, but most of the rocks seemed to have settled into stable positions. I took my time and made sure the rocks wouldn't move before putting any weight on them.

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It was about that time that I started smelling cigar smoke. It must have been blowing up from a boat on the lake. I'm pretty sure there was nobody hiking anywhere near me. Not much of the lake can be seen from up there.

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The Superstition Mountains can be seen, but the lighting was bad for pictures.

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Here's the only cloud I saw all day. Look closely, on the horizon.

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I went very slowly over the loose rocks on the way down, using my hands sometimes so I wouldn't put a foot down too hard and start a rock slide. Then I drove very slowly back, enjoying the peacefulness and solitude. Then I came upon this.

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Yep, same tortoise. I turned off the engine and sat there without moving for several minutes, waiting for it to move, ready to make a movie. I watched honey bees on a bush next to me, and listened to them buzz. I also listened to the tortoise breathe. It breathed slowly for such a small animal, and its nose whistled sometimes, or maybe it was the food in its mouth whistling. The tortoise never took its eye off me. The only movement it made was an occasional blink. So I backed up and waited some more.

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Still, it watched me.

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And we waited.

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Finally it moved, and I got this thrilling video.

When I got back to the main "road", I decided to see if I could find the other tank. Here it is, with some of my fingers in the corner shading the camera.

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I can't seem to stop myself from climbing nearby hills. I think that's because Dad wouldn't let me do stuff like that when I was a kid. Not that there were many hills around in Houston; which is probably why I wanted to climb one if I ever saw it. Anyway, here's the tank from a nearby hill.

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The sun was getting close to setting, and the temperature was dropping fast. I rode around a little more, had to put on a flannel shirt, and headed home.

2009_02_01

I hear that the groundhog saw its shadow today. Wow, can I stand 6 more weeks of this? Ha ha!