DYAR SPRINGS HIKE - APRIL 13

A beautiful spring day in East County today.

Our good friend Tom, from Maryland, was in town and we were off on a hike in Cuyamaca State Park located in East County here in San Diego. Tom spent his formative years in the North Peak area of Cuyamaca and had never been in this area. It was fun to share the hike with him. We had a beautiful clear day with light winds and spring wildflowers blooming. (This is the same Hike I did in February, and now Spring has come to the back country.)

CHAPARRAL YUCCA or OUR LORD'S CANDLE

GROWING UP

STINGING LUPINE

WOOLY BLUE CURL

NEED HELP ON THIS ONE :-)

TRAIL VIEW 1

TRAIL VIEW 2

TRAIL VIEW 3

TRAIL VIEW W/ STONEWALL PEAK IN DISTANCE

CREAM CUP

CREAM CUP

HENBIT

PRICKLY PHLOX

ARIZONA CAMP 2015 - ARIZONA-SONORAN DESERT MUSEUM – MARCH 24-26

ARIZONA-SONORAN DESERT MUSEUM – MARCH 24-26:

We planned on going to this living desert museum for two days. After checking the fee structure we became members for the year, and decided we would probably go for three days. This “Museum” consists of all living things found in the Sonoran Desert. A great many of the birds fly free here and enjoy the environment – phainopepla, cactus wren, curve-billed thrasher, sparrows, Gambel’s quail, flickers, ravens, pyrrhuloxia, and hummingbirds. They also have a very nice hummingbird aviary as well as a walk-in aviary, both of which provide a shady environment for a break from the desert sun.

Each morning we were there at the opening bell and stayed well into the afternoon. We took a couple of breaks, one being after the first raptor show which started at 1000, to enjoy a free (to members) iced coffee and a small pastry at Phoebe’s Café. Another respite was a visit to their art gallery at this time featuring student work. The students are from the art classes provided at the Museum.

Mammals found in the Sonoran Desert include the mountain lion, Mexican grey wolf, coyote, javelina, big horn sheep, mule deer, grey fox, bobcat, ocelot, prairie dogs, and ground squirrel. 

SATIATED GROUND SQUIRREL

JAVALINA

GREY FOX SUNBATHING

MOUNTAIN LION ON THE PROWL

BIGHORN SHEEP

BOBCAT PORTRAIT

PENSIVE COYOTE

MOUONTAIN LION LOOKING

They also have various reptiles on display including rattlesnakes, and a number of lizards.

SONORAN SPINY-TAILED IGUANA

EASTERN COLLARD LIZARD

 The plants here are growing in their native habitat and seem to be thriving: saguaro, claret cup, hedgehog, barrel, fish hook, cholla, and beavertail cacti; a number of variety of mesquite, palo verde trees, penstemon, ocotillo, and several agave. There were many more plants, too many to photograph, and too many to list them all here.

FAIRY DUSTER

CLARET CUP CACTUS

CRESTED BARREL CACTI

BEAVERTAIL CACTUS

Probably the biggest single draw here is the Raptor Free Flight Show which takes place twice a day. To get a prime location for viewing and photography of the birds one has to get to the gathering site 30 to 40 minutes before the show. They fly a variety of birds – chihuahuan raven, barn owl, great horned owl, Harris’s hawk, greater roadrunner, ferruginous hawk, gray hawk, peregrine falcon, and prairie falcon. and local red-tailed hawks.

FERRUGINOUS HAWK

GRAY HAWK

GREAT HORNED OWL

PRAIRIE FALCON

HARRIS'S HAWK

We thoroughly enjoyed the experiences at the Museum. It is a wonderful way to learn and experience the many facets of the Sonoran Desert. They have many docents to help and educate you about life in the Sonoran Desert. There is a lot to learn and explore here. We would recommend a visit to anyone visiting the area.

HUMMINGBIRD ON NEST

CACTUS WREN AND NEST

CACTUS WREN POSING

ARIZONA CAMP 2015– SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK, WEST: MONDAY MARCH 23rd

SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK, WEST: MONDAY MARCH 23^rd

The morning was spent around the campground. We enjoyed an early walk of bird watching - cactus wrens, curve-billed thrashers, Gambel’s quail, and phainopepla, to name a few. 

GILA WOODPECKER

PHAINOPEPLA

CURVE-BILLED THRASHER WITH A SEED

GAMBEL'S QUAIL

We also chatted with a couple of dog owners and got our “dog fix” for the day. 

After lunch we were off to the Visitor Center at Red Hill in Saguaro N.P. 

RED HILL, SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK

We took in their video, and got info on the Bajada Loop Drive. We took this loop and enjoyed the wildflowers, cacti, 

SPINEY BLOOM

HEDGEHOG CACTUS

and finally the petroglyphs at Signal Hill. 

SIGNAL HILL SPIRAL

SIGNAL HILL PETROGLYPHS

We visited this site nineteen hears ago. The petroglyphs are still there, but people have defaced them by chipping away layers of rock and taking some of the drawings. It really is a shame that we as a group can not leave things like this well enough alone to be enjoyed by many more generations.

Before dinner we went out for a sunset walk and photography. We found a suitable area and I enjoyed my photography, but the skies were clear so there was not a real sunset sky.

A SAGUARO FOREST

SAGUARO - LIVING AND DEAD

SUNSET COLOR ON SAGUARO FOREST

In the evening we joined Bernice Lewis and her group for some star gazing hosted by some of the campground hosts. The Orion Nebula was stunning in the field of view of an 18 inch Obsession telescope.

ARIZONA CAMP 2015 – ON THE ROAD: March 22nd

ON THE ROAD: March 22^nd:

We went on a camping trip to Saguaro National Park the last week in March. Our tentative plans were to hike in the National Park and enjoy the wildflower show, and visit the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum which is nearby.

We left early on Sunday morning as the campground was first come/first served with regard to getting a campsite. Another factor was that this was in the area of Spring Break for some schools. The staff at Gilbert Ray Campground in the Tucson Mountain District were very helpful and suggested a couple of sites for us to look over. We found one that would provide some shade both in the morning and afternoon, and was close to the bathroom.

Campground neighbors -

SPINEY CHOLLA

CACTUS WREN

After setting up camp we decided to go for a much needed hike along one of the various trails. Well, none of the trailheads seemed to be signed, and the trails were difficult to ascertain. Finally we stopped at a group site for assistance. As we talked with the lady leader we all looked at each other and thought: “Gee, you look familiar”. Well the lady finally asked if my name was “Nancy”?  It turned out this was Bernice Lewis who had been an Artist-In-Residence at the North Rim in 2009. She and her husband were out from Williams College in Massachusetts with a college group to do some volunteer trail work for a week in the Grand Canyon.---What a small world it is!!

After chatting for a while, we took off on our hike. We found a trail, unmarked, and followed it to the East where it joined with Kinney Road. We then turned around and headed back to the West and went beyond where we had joined this trail hoping to find another trail which was on the map but not visible to us. Darkness was approaching when we finally returned back to the original trail and got back into camp as darkness descended on the campground. It was a good hike but could have been better without the stress of darkness coming and a poorly marked trail.