Mountains and clouds

I spent the day at a seminar at a hotel conference room. I didn't look outside the whole day. I was surprised when I left to see that it was sprinkling. It was very windy on the way home and the air was very clear. I had to go get some pictures.

I kept changing my mind about where I would go. I eventually wound up at the end of Idaho road. I started to hike around the side of some mountains, but they blocked the wind and the gnats attacked. The gnats are really bad after all the rain last winter. There were hardly any gnats last summer, but it was a lot hotter then. I'd rather have heat than gnats. Boy, I really wandered off that time.

Anyway, with the clear air and slightly stormy looking clouds, I took about 116 pictures. I took most of them on the way back to the truck. I would take several of the Superstition Mountains, take a couple of steps, and decide I needed to take a few more. I was playing around with shutter speed and aperture, trying to get the clouds and virga to show up better. I put 66 of the pictures on the web album. I hope you don't get bored.

Idaho_2008_05_15

Saguaro flowers

It was unusually cool today. When I got home, the neighborhood smelled like creosote bushes after rain. I love that smell. I decided to go out to the end of Meridian road so I could smell it better. Turns out it didn't rain as much out there. I got a few pictures of saguaro flowers, though.

I got pictures of other stuff, too. Here's a picture of a couple of cholla cacti. There's a bird nest in the one on the right. It all looks like one cholla at first, but if you look closer you will see that the one on the left is a hanging fruit cholla and the one on the right is a teddy bear cholla. The hanging fruit is a dead giveaway, but you will also notice that the two varieties branch differently.

Now that you know how to tell them apart, which is this? There are a couple of staghorn cholla in the picture, too.

I came across something that at first I thought was fungus. Then I started to wonder if it was one of those alien pod thingies. See if you can tell what it is.

Something has been digging a lot of holes out there lately. Here's one. This is an easily accessible area, so notice the bottle shards and .22 shells all over the place.

And, finally, here are all the pictures.

Meridian_2008_05_13

Lindsey sings "Yesterday"

Lindsey made a video of herself singing "Yesterday" for her Grandpa Cook.

The dead dog

I was looking through today's pictures again and noticed that the dead dog sort of shows up in one of them. Not good enough to be gross, but good enough that if you go out there, you will know what area to avoid (if possible). In the picture you will see a blue motorcycle parked behind a paloverde. On this side of the tree there is something red in the, uh, well, what is it? It isn't grass. It's those plants that had rows of tiny yellow flowers and are now all brown and dried up and covered with billions of tiny thorns that at least come out easily. Anyway, back to the dog; the red thing is the blanket in which the dog is half wrapped. You can't see the dog in the picture. So, if you happen to be out there, avoid that area.

 

FWO trail coordinates

I went back to the first water overlook trail this morning to get some coordinates. I may not have the pictures in between located perfectly, but at least I know where the beginning and end of the trail are now.

I saw some of the same lizards that I saw yesterday. I didn't see the collared lizard, though. I saw a zebra tailed lizard with a forked tail. I didn't know about the tail until I got home and was looking at the pictures.

I'm going to avoid that trail for a while. The trailhead is very unpleasant right now. Some moron dumped his dead dog there. I know it was dumped because it's wrapped in a blanket. There are lots of places around town to dump things that you don't want. I can't figure out why people go all the way out there to get rid of stuff. Idiots.

Canyon_Lake_2008_05_11

First water overlook trail

I didn't feel real energetic today, so I hiked the First Water overlook trail. It's near Canyon Lake and ends at a waterfall that drops 90 feet to First Water Creek. Well, there's a waterfall if it's raining. It hasn't rained for a long time. Turns out you would be able to see the waterfall from the trail, anyway. Not unless you went over the waterfall yourself, and that would probably hurt.

I played around with taking pictures with the polarizing filter on and off. It doesn't seem to affect the quality of the pictures. I'm glad. Like Skid says, it must be the combination of the polarizer and the UV filters.

I wanted to geotag the pictures, but there is no way I can figure out where I was by looking at Google Earth. It's low resolution out there and you can barely tell where the road and the creek are. Maybe I'll go out there with my GPS some time and figure out where that trail is.

I got a picture of an eastern collared lizard today. They're very pretty. It isn't a very good picture, though. Whenever I see something like that, I stop and take a picture right away, even if it's into the sun or too dark or there's something in the way or whatever. I want to get at least one picture in case whatever it is runs away. This was a very skittish and very fast lizard. I wish I had a video of it as it ran off. It looked like it was running on its back legs. Little rocks were flying. Here are the pictures.

2008_05_10

Lens trial

I went to Bulldog Canyon today, thinking that I would experiment with various lenses and see which one or which combination was making my pictures look bad. I don't think it was bright enough, though. I can't tell much difference between any of the pictures. I need to go out to the lake on a sunny day again. I think some of the pictures turned out nice, though.

BC_2008_05_06

Buzzards

I also got a couple of good pictures of buzzards today.

 

 

Something's fishy

Today, Skid and I drove around taking pictures so we could compare the results (I have an S3 IS and he has an S5 IS). The biggest difference doesn't seem to be due to the cameras, though. We both had our UV filters and polarizing filters on our cameras. I took one of the pictures below with the filters on my camera and one without. The one without looks much better. Now we have to figure out which filter does what to the pictures.

 

 

Dead batteries

The weather was almost perfect for hiking today. A little on the warm side (mid to upper 80's) but still very nice. Since I was in the middle of a bunch of mountains, there wasn't much of a breeze most of the time, so it was kind of gnatty (new word; notify Webster).

On the way into Bulldog Canyon I pulled over to let a Hummer load of tourists by (the road is only wide enough for one vehicle most of the way). I sat there while 6 Hummers went by. That's the most tourists I've ever seen out there. Maybe it was a wedding party or something. Hope they had a good time.

I studied Google Earth this afternoon to decide where I was going to go. Well, it's hard to tell on Google Earth if you'll be able to cross a small canyon or not. More about that later. I was on my way to a long canyon that I've been meaning to explore for several years. I was getting close to it and was following a wash when it got too rough and full of plants, so I went up the side, but that was almost too steep to walk along. Anyway, I had stopped to take pictures and catch my breath (when you carry a camera, you never have to admit you're out of breath; you just stop to take a picture) when I saw that my camera batteries were almost dead. On a cold day you can get a few more pictures by warming up the batteries, but today the batteries were already warm. I didn't want to go someplace new and wonderful and not be able to take pictures. I turned off the image stabilization to save some power. I didn't know how much further I would be able to go on that difficult terrain, anyway, so I decided to wander around near where I was. That was probably a good idea. I thought I had taken more than enough water but I only had half a liter left when I got back to the truck.

As I was wandering around, I was thinking about taking a different route back to the truck. I had enough water for that, and if it didn't work out, I would be in shade as I retraced my steps. It turns out that it didn't work out. I didn't go far before I came to a small canyon (maybe 25 feet deep) with steep sides. I could probably have gotten across, but it would not be easy and what if there was a more difficult one after that? I turned back.

The scenery was beautiful where I was wandering around. The pictures don't do it justice. You just have to stand there and look around. I made a short video of looking around, but it just isn't the same. I was hoping to get the constant background hum of hundreds of honey bees, but all you can hear in the video is the breeze and my feet crunching on rocks as I turn.

And here are the pictures.

BC_2008_05_03

As I was driving out of Bulldog Canyon (on a different road than when I went in), I came across two groups of people (who were not associated with each other) that had campfires going. I can't imagine having a campfire in a place with so much dry vegetation. Actually, these were more like bonfires. The flames were higher than the heads of the people standing around. Why do people need huge fires when it's in the 80's? Judging by the way they were swatting, it didn't keep the gnats away. Maybe it's for the same reason they buy F250's to commute to work; masculinity issues. Truly bizarre. I tried to get pictures as I drove by, but the camera would only focus on the bugs and dirt on my windows.

Another Superstition hike

Suzanne and I went for a hike out by the Superstition Mountains again today. The weather was much better this time. The temperature was in the low 80's and the wind was blowing. No gnats in the nose. We walked a pretty good distance. We were out there for 2 hours.

On the way back to the truck, we came across a tarantula hawk that was dragging a tarantula back to its burrow. Suzanne was grossed out and had to keep walking while I stopped to take pictures and a video. Here's the video.

There are a lot of pictures of the Superstition Mountains in the pictures. Every time I looked up at them, I felt like I needed to take a picture, so I did. Here they are.

Superstitions_2008_05_01

Deer!

There's a hill just north of Lone Mountain that doesn't look very exciting. I decided I had better go check it out and make sure I wasn't missing something. I also wanted to go someplace I hadn't been before. Since I was so close to Usery Pass road, there was a lot (relatively speaking) of trash around; empty water bottles, broken beer bottles, kitchen sinks, etc.

I was trying to walk quietly, which is hard to do when you are walking on crunchy rocks. I was coming up to the top of a hill and looked around and saw some deer. Here's a video of them.

It was very hazy today. Has been for a few weeks. You can see that in some of the pictures. Here are the pictures.

BC_2008_04_30

Attack of the gnats

Suzanne and I tried to go for a hike near the Superstition Mountains today. I had a feeling it might not be a lot of fun, though, because on the way out there, I could see that the wind had quit blowing. That's a bad thing during gnat season.

It started out nice. As soon as we got out of the truck, Suzanne spotted a red tailed hawk circling not too far away. Then the gnats moved in. She didn't complain near as much as I did, even though she must have snorted at least 4 up her nose. We walked a little ways and I just couldn't stand it any more. Every time I tried to take a picture, they went for my ears. It's like they knew I was too busy to swat. There were some very pretty prickly pear flowers out there. Anyway, since we didn't hike for very long, we drove out to Canyon Lake to look around. There was very little traffic. It was nice and quiet out there.

2008_04_28

I think I'm going to take a shower now. I still feel like I've got gnats crawling on me.

Zebra-tailed lizards are similar to cows

I was hesitant to go to Bulldog Canyon today. I thought it might still be full of the surly church crowd. I didn't think about it being Sunday until later, though. First I drove over to Saguaro Lake Ranch. It looked like I could park there, walk across Stewart Mountain Dam, and easily get to the top of the mountains that are just across the river from Bush Highway. No dice. Of course, I couldn't park at the ranch. That's for customers and that is understandable. There isn't enough room to have hikers parking there, too. And there ain't no way anybody is going to set foot on that dam. Since 9/11, anybody with a back pack that's near a dam is a terrorist hell-bent on the destruction of the American way of life. Anyway, I had a nice conversation with the pleasant woman at the ranch. Maybe I can talk Suzanne into spending a weekend there in cooler weather (they close when it's hot, anyway). They do provide canoes so guests can get to the other side of the river, but they don't let people hike alone. Good grief, I don't know if it's BO or my personality, but I can't get anybody to hike with me.

I thought about the parking areas at the Bulldog Canyon entrances being empty and decided to go there. I saw people on 3 ATV's as I was driving in, and that's the only other people I saw the whole time I was there. Nice. (Hmm, maybe it's my personality.) I headed for Spooky Hill.

I was planning to walk around Spooky Hill and Horseshoe Mountain. As I walked, though, I felt lazy and decided to just climb Spooky Hill. As I approached it, though, I felt even lazier and decided to see what I could find in Spooky Canyon. Next thing I know, I'm up on the side of Horseshoe Mountain, looking down on Spooky Hill. So much for going on a lazy hike.

While I was up there, it seemed that the buzzing of bees was exceptionally loud. Then I spotted a stream of bees spewing out of the side of a cliff. It was a little scary. I made a video. It's shot into the sun, but that way the bees show up better. Trust me, it's the only way you would have seen them after the upload compression. I didn't want to get too close to that hive.

You may be wondering by now how Zebra-tailed lizards are like cows. Down on the ranch (the one in Wharton), you can walk out into the pasture and the cows will run away from you. You can't get very close to them. Richard and I used to throw aerobies out there and try to get ringers on cow horns. We never did, but we figured we would have to use the truck to get the aerobie off the cow horns, because cows don't run away from a truck. I've had trouble getting pictures of Zebra-tailed lizards because they keep running away. As I drove down the road in the truck today, they just stood on the side of the road and watched. What is it about trucks that sets animals at ease?

At the beginning of the pictures, there are a couple of blurry pictures of a red tailed hawk. It came soaring up out of the canyon near where Suzanne and I had parked to watch the lesser nighthawks.

BC_2008_04_27

Traffic jam

Lindsey went out to Bulldog Canyon with me today to see the goatsuckers. We saw a bunch, but we could hardly hear them because of all the traffic. A church was having a father / son campout there and there was a constant stream of trucks going by. I even saw a couple of minivans. I would never take a minivan out there myself. I guess there were enough trucks to pull them out if they got stuck, though.

Lindsey asked one of the drivers what was going on. That's how we know it was some sort of church function. I wish she had asked what church it was. On the way out, there was a guy sitting on the (closed and locked) gate. He sat there as Lindsey opened the lock and the gate. I pulled through and stopped just outside the gate. Then a guy sitting in a large diesel pickup started his truck, as if he was going to drive through. I asked the guys if they had a pass. They dodged the question. If I let people in there that don't have passes, I could lose mine. I'm not about to give up my Bulldog Canyon pass for a couple of yahoos. Anyway, the pickup driver was very upset because I wouldn't let him in. I'm guessing he was one of the church members because he didn't cuss. He was extremely rude, though. What's up with that? He gets mad at me because I don't want to help him break the law and risk losing my pass? What a total and complete moron. The one and only thing I don't like about Bulldog Canyon is the surprisingly large number of idiots I seem to run into out there.

Sunset in Bulldog Canyon

Suzanne and I went out to Bulldog Canyon to see the goatsuckers again. I don't know why they're called that, but that's what the bird book says. I'm glad we saw them last week, because there were hardly any tonight. It was not a disappointing trip, though. The weather was fantastic; mid to upper 70's (and dropping fast) and a nice breeze. We saw an owl, too. It perched on top of a couple of saguaros. I tried to get pictures, but it was too dark. Here are the pictures.

BC_2008_04_23

Red tailed hawk?

I went to Bulldog Canyon (I know; "Surprise, surprise") after work today. I got out of the truck and looked up and there was a large bird (as big as a vulture) circling above a mountain ridge. It had different colors than a vulture, though. I tried to get a couple of pictures, but it was very far away. Suzanne checked our bird book and we think it might be a red tailed hawk. Before you look at the picture and scoff and say, "How could you possibly determine that from that picture?", remember that I have the full resolution picture and you don't. Nanny nanny boo boo.

While I was perched on the side of the ridge, I was looking to the north and noticed something unusual. What's missing from the picture below? Hints: I'm in the Sonoran Desert. They are all over the place (except here). It's rare to see such a large area without any; I think they may have been wiped out here by a fire.

Click below to see all of the pictures. I think I got some nice ones of some rocks.

BC_2008_04_22

Near Picketpost Mountain

Today Suzanne and I went for a hike near Picketpost Mountain. There was a nice breeze blowing that kept most of the gnats away. I got some pictures of Prickly Pear flowers and other flowers that I can't identify.

Picketpost_2008_04_20

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.

BC_2008_04_19

Rattler

I didn't just seize the day today. I throttled it. I'm worn out. I'm not going to have my pictures ready to post before I fall asleep. I did get a video uploaded, though. This gave me a shot of adrenalin that got me the rest of the way back to the truck. Listen to it rattle as it slithers away.

While I'm posting videos, here's Cameron. Do you know what he's saying?

Lesser Nighthawk video

I've been having some trouble with Google Video the past couple of days. Hope this works. If you turn the volume up you might be able to hear the birds.

Flower collage

Here's a flower collage created by Picasa2.

 

Goatsuckers

No, not chupacabras. They are birds with wide mouths that catch flying insects. I saw some at sunset on my last hike. They flap their wings in a unique way. Suzanne came out to Bulldog Canyon with me tonight to see them. They also make unusual sounds. We really enjoyed watching and listening to them. Suzanne found them in our bird book when we got home. We think they are Lesser Nighthawks. I made a video of them and have uploaded it, but Google Videos is experiencing technical difficulties right now so I'll have to add it to the blog later. For now, here are some pictures of flowers and the sunset and some mountains.

BC_2008_04_18

Staghorn cholla flowers

The staghorn chollas are covered with flowers now. Saguaros are starting to get flower buds. I hiked out to a small hill in Bulldog Canyon and took a lot of pictures of staghorn cholla flowers. I might try to make a collage with them some time.

I think the quiet hikes are over for a while. I was surrounded by the constant buzz of flys and honey bees today. I'm considering carrying the electric fly swatter with me again. Some of those flys are just looking for trouble.

BC_2008_04_17

Updates coming soon

I know everybody is anxious to see pictures from the trip. I'm still sorting through them. I spent this evening trying to figure out where some were taken. They are pictures I took from the air on the way home. One of them looks like it might be the location of an underground A-bomb test. I've been trying to find it on Google Earth to see if there is a note about it. I know it's in south central New Mexico. It isn't real big, so if it's in a low res area I may never find it. Anyway, I'll have a blog and pictures ready "soon".

Deer, tortoises, and bees

I'm going to be away from the desert for a few days, so I had to go out for a quick hike after work today. I went out to a ridge I haven't climbed for a while. I piddled around so much on the way up that I didn't get as far as I wanted, but I saw lots of cool stuff.

I saw a helicopter fly over, as usual, but what was unusual is that I didn't take a picture of it. I think helicopters pilots must fly out there every chance they get, because it's so pretty. I wonder what it looks like from the air.

Here's the usual "find the truck" photo. Nobody ever says that they found it. Either it's too easy or they don't even try. I know that Lauren doesn't even try. When we lived in England, they newspaper had a weekly contest. There was a picture of a soccer game and you were supposed to find the ball. I never could. They would show where it was the next week and you would wonder how you could have missed it. I think the picture in the contest must have been edited to make the ball less visible, though. Anyway, lots of people tried to find the ball, and you would hear at least one person talking about it during the week. Maybe the reason people aren't interested in "find the truck" is because I don't offer thousands of dollars in prize money.

As I climbed along the ridge, I saw a few bees flying around a cliff face. I went to investigate and sure enough, there was a colony of bees there. This is the honeycomb that was visible.

There must be a lot more that is not visible, in that hole behind the honeycomb. I made a video of a small cave (with windows!) that also has the honecomb at the end. You can hear a few bees buzzing around the outside, but if you turn up the sound and listen closely, you will hear the hum of thousands of bees that are out of sight somewhere.

I was headed back to the truck, clomping along noisily, when I thought I heard another noisy hiker to my right. It was a deer, though. I started to say that it ran a short ways, but it didn't run. It bounced along, springing through the air with all four feet hitting the ground at the same time and then all for feet in the air at the same time. I wish I could move through those areas as easily as the deer seem to. It stopped and watched me for a little while, then bounced away. I thought I was making a video as it left, but it wasn't running. Drat!

Right after the deer left, I spotted this.

I could think of only one animal that would make a trail like that, and it isn't one that bounces along on all fours. It must have been a desert tortoise. Lindsey and I saw one in this area a year or two ago. I followed the trail around for a while, hoping to find the tortoise at the end. Never did, though. The sun was setting fast and I couldn't follow all the trails.

The next picture is either sad or funny. Some moron acted like he was locking the gate, but all he did was lock a chain to itself. I wonder if his house gets burglarized a lot.

Click below to see all of the pictures.

End of Meridian road

This morning, Suzanne and I went for a hike at the end of Meridian road. It was still comfortably cool (to me, anyway). I saw lots of lizards, but none of them would hang around long enough to let me get a picture. I did get pictures of some flowers, though.

Meridian_2008_04_06

The most dangerous...

I've talked about how those little ground squirrels or whatever they are, are very dangerous because their burrows collapse under your feet and threaten to twist your ankles. I think I discovered something more dangerous though. I parked at the Massacre Grounds trailhead and was headed towards a nearby hill. I stepped on a rock about 2 feet long. It wobbled. I thought I would be able to steady it when I got the other foot on it. I got the other foot on it, and it rolled downhill. I fell to the ground rather ungracefully. It hurt. A sharp rock jabbed me in the left hand, making it ache and throb. My wrist is still stiff. My left leg scraped along the rock as I fell. What a klutz.

Remember the three classic conflicts you learned about in high school English class? Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, and Man vs. himself. I think that last one is going to do me in some day. Until then, I'm going to be more careful about which rocks I step on.

My hand throbbed. I thought about going back to the truck. Well, my hand will hurt there, too. I might as well wander over that way while I'm out here. I'm not going to the top of that hill, though. I think I strained a groin muscle, too. What a klutz.

It hurt to open my water bottle. It hurt to take the lens cap off and put it on. I pressed on. Carefully. Very carefully. Pictures must be taken.

Back before I had a blog, when I used to send pictures out in emails, along with silly stories, I talked about how we sometimes are derailed from our planned paths. If we pay attention, though, we can find new and wonderful things on our new path. As I circled back to the truck on a much-shortened hike, I came across several rectangles outlined with rocks. They are hard to see in the pictures because of all the growth from the winter rains. They have been there long enough to have soil piled up on their uphill sides from the occasional rain. At least a few years. There were also shards of clay pigeons scattered around. Maybe the rectangles were made by the bored children of skeet shooters. Or maybe they mark the final resting places of the Peralta family miners (who were killed by Apaches at the Massacre Grounds, and their gold scattered by the Indians). Hmm, I wonder...

Massacre_gnds_trl_2008_04_05

The Salt River

My Bulldog Canyon pass has expired. I didn't remember that until I was halfway there today. I parked at the Blue Point entrance and was planning to go explore south of the river, but from the top of a small hill I could hear water roaring through the river in the distance. I decided to go check it out. It did seem to have more water than usual flowing through it.

Last weekend, on the Boulder Canyon trail, I saw a couple of large, red and black bugs. Today I found a bunch off them. They were acting like Texas love bugs. No, not splattering all over car windshields. The other thing.

I don't think it could have been a better day for a hike. Beautiful blue sky, temperature in the upper 70's (which is cool when the air is dry), and a gentle breeze.

I made a couple of videos so you could hear the river and the birds. The first one was taken standing on the river bank.

The next one was taken from up on a cliff overlooking the river.

I think some of the pictures turned out nice.

Salt_River_2008_04_03

Crosscut trail

Suzanne and I went for a short hike on the crosscut trail today. It was a beautiful afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze blowing, birds twittering all around. There were two strange things about the hike, though. We didn't see a single lizard, and we didn't see any people. I think that's the first time I've been on that trail without seeing anybody.

2008_04_02