Today is Thursday, March 4th. I got up this morning and met Edith for our birding walk around the campground loops. We saw quite a few birds, including some Lesser Goldfinches, lots of cactus wrens perched atop saguaros, a couple of cardinals, a White-Crowned Sparrow, a beautiful hummingbird with an irridescent red throat, a Gila Woodpecker, and tons of grackles. We watched one of the cactus wrens fly into his (or her?) nest in a cholla, and, with the binoculars, could see his tail sticking out and his head peeking out to look at us. Very cute! I will try to get back and take a picture with the sort-of-telephoto and see if I can get a decent one.I also learned to identify the chattering call of the cactus wren.
Afterwards, Steve and loaded the dogs into the Samurai and set off to find a trailhead. I remembered seeing by Canyon Lake as we drove in yesterday. It was about 2 miles back up the highway, right across the road from the marina. We parked the car and set out. What a beautiful hike! Good trail, varied terrain, and gorgeous views in every direction. At one point, a huge saguaro cactus had fallen over and was blocking the trail. Luckily, it had fallen a LONG time ago and has lost all its spikes--climbing over it wasn't as crazy as it looks! We talked to some people we met along the way who have hiked it before. They said it goes on for miles and miles into the Superstition Mountains. We hiked for two miles, to a little spring and pool, before turning around. With all the rain the area has had lately, the desert is really green, and there were lots of little wildflowers everywhere. Too early for cactus blossoms, though.
Back at camp now and heading out of the canyon back to Apache Junction to check on phone messages and post this. I’m going to call Chris and see if he and Sharon are interested in driving up on Saturday or Sunday and doing the Boulder Canyon hike with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment