Hiking Challenge

Thank you to everyone who left such sweet and caring comments on my last post.  It meant a lot!  I'm still missing our sweet Salsa a lot but it's getting a bit easier with time.

I've always tried to respond to all my comments via email but I've been having trouble lately with most of them coming back undeliverable.  I've thought about posting replies under the comments but, if you're like me and generally just visit a post once, you'd never see any replies posted there.  So, I hope ya'll see this just in case my emails don't go through.  Hugs!

For today, I thought I'd post a few pics of the most recent hikes in my 52 hike challenge.  I've been keeping up pretty well.  The heat has arrived though and that will make it more challenging.  I think I'm behind by a week right now and we're supposed to have weather around 105+ this week and next.  We're planning to head down to San Diego one day to do a hike near the ocean where it'll be a lot cooler.  An idea I have for another hike is to leave before sunrise and get to the mountains very early to hike before the heat arrives.  We'll see how it goes.

My daughter moved home and that provides us both with a hiking partner for our challenge (she's doing  the 52 hike challenge too...in fact, she was the inspiration for me to do it).  We took her adventure cat, Sonora, on a hike with us a couple of weeks ago.  My daughter has trained her to walk on a leash.  When Sonora gets tired she rides in the backpack.  She seems to enjoy taking in the scenery from there as we hike along.  She's a unique and amazing kitty!

We had some "May Gray" days and took advantage of the coolness on this hike.  We hiked in and out through the fog and watched it blow by.  It was beautiful!

This hike is uphill to the top of a hill with amazing views where we can often see the ocean.  Some sections are quite steep as you can see in these photos.  It makes for a great workout!

We do this hike fairly often and it's interesting that there are always flowers blooming but we never know what kinds we'll see next because they're always changing.  Here are some we saw on this hike...

We had weather cool enough one weekend to do the Eagle Rock trail again.  It was so much fun to take our daughter to this beautiful area.  And, that she got to hike a part of the Pacific Crest Trail! There was a creek, huge old oak trees, and expansive views. That's me in this photo.

A couple of weeks ago, we took our daughter to hike around a beautiful mountain lake that we discovered last year.  It was so pretty that we were excited to share it with her.

It was so full this year from all the rain that the trail on one side was closed.  It was awesome to get so much rain this winter.  We needed it SO badly!  I hope we'll be as lucky next winter!

I found some wild iris' on this mountain trip!

We hiked the Santa Rosa Plateau again last week and were surprised to see large patches of purple flowers where the vernal pools had been just a short time ago.  Beautiful!

We saw bushes with brightly colored berries along our hike.  Some glowed in the sun like jewels!

There was one spot on the trail with a few flowers I'd never seen before.  They're so interesting with their freckles and fuzzy edges!

What's the weather like where you are?  Are you having to work your plans and goals around heat or rain or even tornadoes?  There sure is a lot of crazy weather these days!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

How was your weekend?

I hope ya'll had a wonderful weekend!  We sure did!  We decided to head to Arizona for a long weekend of camping and visiting with our daughter who moved there last year for grad school.

We packed our camping trailer and brought our furry kiddos with us for a weekend of fun!

Salsa always loves to go bye-bye!  And, she loves her boots!  They protect her feet from hot pavement and keep stickers from getting stuck in the fur and between her toes.  That makes it so we don't have to spend long amounts of time picking stickers out with tweezers!  We've done that!  It's not fun for her or us!  Here she is happily resting by the trailer after a walk...with her boots on.  Such a cutie!

Our daughter spent the entire weekend with us camping.  We loved that!  And, so did Salsa!  She's always happy to have everyone together.  And, she cherishes every bit of time and attention she gets with our daughter.  Just look at that smile...

Our cat, Penelope, is becoming a great traveler!  I'm so proud of her!  And, she loved the warm weather on this trip.  She's so often cold.  So, this trip was great for her.  It was for us too.  It's been a bit chilly at home.  Especially for my hubby who works down by the beach where it's been cold, damp, and gray.  It was great to thaw out!

The campground was surprisingly uncrowded for a holiday weekend.  That was nice!  It was quiet and made it better for seeing wildlife.  And, we saw a lot of wildlife this weekend!  One of the first things we noticed when we got there was hundreds of tiny Arizona Round Tailed Ground Squirrels!  They were everywhere!  They're super tiny...about the size of a little chipmunk.  They're really cute!

We saw a couple of coyotes and we heard packs of them every night.

We were hoping to see Javelina and we were lucky to see two of them on an evening bike ride.  Unfortunately, they ran away so fast that I didn't get any pictures.  We didn't see any more of them the rest of the weekend.  But, we did hear them at night a couple of times.

We saw a mountain lion one evening.  At least, that's what it looked like.  And, the rangers said one had been spotted and reported the week before.  It was crouching down in the grasses a couple hundred feet from the road.  I only had my cell phone with me for pictures.  I snapped a couple and tried zooming in for a better look.  The pics were super blurry but the coloring and ears looked like it was a mountain lion rather than a bobcat.  I've never seen one before and figured I never would.  So, this was a little exciting.  It was a little scary.  And, it was also a little sad because being that close to people is unusual and could mean something is wrong with it or it could end up needing to be moved or something if it keeps going that close.  I'm hoping for the best...that this was just unusual and that it will stay away from now on.

There were a lot of birds....Roadrunners, doves, bright red birds, tiny birds....and lots of pretty singing.  There were lots of quail too.  They're SO plump compared to the ones near our home.  We saw this one watching out for his flock in the riverbed.  It's a little blurry because he was far away.

As always, I was on the lookout for wildflowers.  I found some beauties!  Check out the blooms on this cactus.  Gorgeous!

There were lots of these on big bushes/trees...

The weather was quite warm in the afternoons.  But, the early mornings were nice and cool and we made sure to get out to enjoy it.  We went on a couple of bike rides along part of "The Loop".  It's a series of connecting bike paths along riverbeds and roads that run through and around Tucson.  It's very impressive!  I love riding and walking on The Loop because there are no cars and the views and wildlife are a lot of fun to see along the way.  The Loop is very popular and busy.  I wish we had such a thing where we live!  This is my daughter riding onto one of the bridges that crosses over the river...

There was a little surprise along the portion of The Loop that we rode on....a little labyrinth.  Of course, we had to walk it both days that we rode by.

Our daughter has gotten into archery and had just gotten a new bow.  We went with her to a range to see her shoot.  We also tried shooting.  It's surprisingly different than my husband and I ever would have imagined!  It takes a lot of strength and it's quite complicated!  Hubby loved it.  I'm not sure yet if I like it or not.  Here's hubby shooting alongside our daughter.  I love this picture!

We ate at camp most of the time.  But, we did go out a couple of times for lunch.  We tried a new-to-us restaurant one day.  It had great reviews and their website sounded like it was great.  We drove up and it looked like a dive!  But, it's popular and we couldn't even get a parking spot the first time we tried to go there.  The next day, we went right after they opened and had no trouble getting a parking spot.  It was very good!  It's called Tacos Y Tequila.  And, that's just about all they sell is tacos and drinks.  The tacos are interesting, unique, and delicious!  Their house margaritas were quite good too!

We enjoyed lots of relaxing, reading, knitting, and, most of all, being together!  It was such an awesome weekend!

Floral Friday - Wildflowers

There's field in a neighboring town that surprises us from time to time with bursts of color.  It bursts with bright orange poppies almost every spring.  You can see pictures I posted of that a few years ago HERE.  Sometimes it blooms with a lot of yellow flowers.  This year, the poppies were very small and didn't last long.  Then, shortly after the poppies went away, it exploded in purple/pink flowers.  We were lucky to have noticed them one evening as we were driving by.

Gorgeous!

The field is along a busy road and I have a feeling a lot of people don't even notice the flowers.  The flowers usually grow further back, away from the road, and behind some little hills.  When I post pictures of it, locals ask where it is because they've never seen it.

Buildings and housing developments are slowly closing in on this beautiful space.  It may not be there much longer.  We're enjoying it as long as we can!

I'm not sure if I've ever seen these flowers before.  If I have, it was just a few here and there and nothing on this scale.  I tried to find them in my wildflower book.  The closest I can find in the book is "Dagger Pod" but the description says it grows in areas much further north and not in Southern California. I'll stop in at the visitor center at a nearby nature preserve sometime and see if they know what these pretty flowers are.  Although, the name doesn't really matter, I'm happy just seeing them!

These photos were taken with my cell phone.  I was hoping to go back with my camera to get better pictures but this must have been the height of their blooming because they weren't nearly as colorful when I went back.  Oh well.  Hopefully, they'll bloom again next year.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Celebration Road Trip - Adventure in Escalante, Utah / Slot Canyons

So much of our anniversary, celebration trip was filled with surprises and the next stop was no exception.  After Capitol Reef, we headed south to Escalante, Utah via Utah's Highway 12/Scenic Byway.  The scenery and roads were filled with surprises...from gorgeous, tall, wooded mountain summits to winding roads that ran along ridges with drop offs on either side...

(Click on any photo to see them larger)

...to steep grades...sometimes 14% (this isn't one of those sections but it does show the rolling road)...

...vast and incredible landscapes...

Amazing!

I could see this from the passenger seat...dropping far below the road...

I snapped a photo of a vulture soaring above us when we stopped to take in the view...

After a couple hours of driving, we pulled into the Shooting Star RV Resort in the tiny town of Escalante.  We'd made reservations because there aren't many options in the area and we wanted to be sure we had a place to stay.  It turned out that there were very few people staying in this park.  They gave us a choice of sites and we chose one that was all by itself and nestled in oak trees.  Nice!

The park is interesting.  Their main attraction is Airstream trailers that can be rented like hotel rooms.

They're far apart and each one has a deck, a barbeque and chairs for taking in the gorgeous views.

Another feature is their mini drive-in movie theatre complete with vintage cars that can be rented to watch the show.  A fun idea!  We never watched any of the movies though because they weren't showing any we wanted to see.

The park has brand new owners.  When they bought it, it came complete with the vintage cars.  There's even one that runs and they use it for errands.  I think it's super cute!  The owners have a lot of great ideas and vision for the park and they have a lot of work ahead of them.  Sounds like fun!

Some of the yellow daisies I'd been seeing along roadsides were in the park.

Yay...I finally got a picture!

These plants were growing in the park too.  Pretty!

Our main reason for going to Escalante was to hike and explore some of the many slot canyons in the area.  So, early one morning, we loaded up our packs, hopped in the SUV and headed out "Hole in the Rock Road".  It was a 28 mile long trip (one way) on a rough dirt road to the trailhead of the canyons we'd picked out but the scenery was gorgeous!

Hubby got such a kick out of this sign that he had to stop and take a picture.  We can't figure out why they would call it "Cat Pasture" but it conjured up some silly ideas.

We eventually turned off onto another dirt road and drove a couple more miles.

Then, it was time to hike down into the main canyon and wash...

Luckily, there was a little bit of shade along the way as it was already hot.

There was a wash/riverbed at the bottom that several the slot canyons feed into.

There had been some substantial storms a few days earlier that had washed clay into the canyon.  The gray clay seemed like something new and different to that canyon as the sand below it was red.  It must have been quite a storm and washed that clay from somewhere quite far away that normally doesn't reach this area.  Wow!

Much of the hike through the wash to the slots was covered in dried clay that was curled and crunchy.  It was fun to walk on and hear it crunch beneath my feet.

Some of it looked like a mini moonscape...

Curly...

Really curly and thin...

We followed the directions we'd gotten from the Escalante Visitor Center and easily found the first slot canyon we'd planned to explore, "Spooky"...

Wow!  The wavy walls are so cool!  Beautiful!

The canyon quickly narrowed as we made our way into it...

Sometimes we had to duck under large boulders to get through...

It eventually got so narrow that we had to walk sideways to squeeze through...

It was very skinny, got pretty dark in some places, and the walls were bumpy.

It lived up to it's name...it was a bit "spooky".  And, I did get a bit nervous when it got really skinny and darker.  But, it was so much fun that we followed it all the way to the end...or as far as we could easily go.  Then, there was a section that required a tricky climb.  We passed on that.  Not sure what's beyond that or how much further it went.  Here are a few more shots going through Spooky...

After coming out of Spooky, we sat in a shady spot and enjoyed our lunch.  Then, we were off to explore another canyon.  This one is called "Dry Fork" and it's usually dry but after that storm a few days earlier it was definitely not dry.  The clay had washed through and left a thick, mucky, slippery layer.  Luckily, other hikers had already gone through and left a nice trail that made it much easier to explore.  What a spectacular canyon!

Like Spooky, it was shady and cool...a welcome relief from the heat.

It was a long canyon and we came across lots of interesting changes.  Including some pits of clay that were like thick pudding and impossible to avoid.  It added to the adventure and fun though.

It was interesting to see how high the water had risen in the canyon during the storm.  The clay/water line was sometimes waist high...

 ...and sometimes shoulder high...

Some sections were so narrow at the bottom that only one foot would fit...

The clay was amazing.  It was so pure and creamy...almost like the clay you buy for ceramics.

It sure made for dirty shoes and pants!

We saw quite a few lizards in the canyon.  We think so many were out because the rain seemed to have brought out more insects for them to eat.

I felt bad for this little guy.  It had clods of clay dried on it's feet and couldn't climb.  I wanted to help it but it was so afraid of us and I'm not brave enough to pick them up...yet.  Hubby thought it would be fine and that the clay would probably chip off.  I hope so!

We searched through books of lizards for the area and even asked rangers but had no luck finding out what kind of lizards they are.  No one had heard of pink lizards.  We can't even find them on Google!  We were wondering if they change color and were pink/red to blend in with the sandstone.

We only saw one of these guys.  I think it's a Collared Lizard.  Cute!

This one had rangers stumped and we couldn't find it in local books either.  It was eating a Whiptail lizard.  It was scurrying away from us carrying a lizard almost as big as it was.  We've never seen a lizard eat another lizard but I guess it's not uncommon for some types.  We later found one in a book that looked similar and think it's a "Long Nose Leopard Lizard".  

Here's an enlarged photo to see the interesting pattern of spots and stripes.

Kinda creepy!

The third canyon we explored that day is called, "Peek-a-boo".

It's in that slit in the rock...

It was the first canyon we'd come across that day but it seemed a little busy at the time.  So, we decided to go on to Spooky and come back to this later.  

We tried getting up into it after lunch but it proved to be quite challenging.  I only made it to the first level up and wasn't comfortable going any further.  Hubby made it to the next level but said it looked too tricky to get beyond a section of water to get into the canyon.  But, he got this picture while he was up there.  Amazing!

It's best to be safe and not push the boundaries of our comfort zones on stuff that could be dangerous.  Especially because we were so far out in the middle of nowhere and had absolutely no phone signal if something were to happen.  So, we moved on to Dry Canyon.  After coming out of that, someone told us they'd figured out a way to get into Peek-a-boo from the top and gave us directions.  It was a short little hike and voila...there it was...the opening...

Yes...it is very skinny!

This canyon was worth the wait.  It's short but spectacular!

It was so much fun maneuvering through various sections.

Going down...

Around...

And, through...

The view at the end was spectacular!  I gasped when I slid into that final section and saw this...

I sat for a moment and took in the beauty.  Including a reflection in one of the water pools...

Of course, I took photos of some of the flowers we saw throughout the day...

I've never seen these before.  Interesting!...

Whispy!...

We saw a lot of these tiny, purple daisies on our trip.  In some light situations they're almost neon...

Little...

Like fireworks...

We even came upon a Geocache that day...

It was hot and I was pretty tired from a day of exploring but we still had to hike up and out and back to the truck.  But....WOW!...what an awesome day!  We had SO much fun!

It's amazing to think that what we explored that day was only a tiny sample of all there is to see and explore in the Escalante area.  I think we'll definitely be going back to Escalante again!