Desert Hikes

 

While in Arizona we did a lot of hiking.  Funnily enough I think my favorite hikes are the ones where we started the hike from the house with no driving involved. The house is surrounded by miles and miles of undeveloped desert.  A great place to explore.  

The desert is such a bizarre place and all the plants and rocks are so different than from what I am used to in rainy and wet Alaska.  Also there is no vegetative cover so all the rocks are just exposed on the surface.  Amazing geology!  

It was also fun to show the kids all the places I used to explore when I visited my Grandparents back in the day.  

Patrick

Old Mine Shafts

 

On our last full day in Arizona the kids, Jack and I went for a short hike near the house.  I wanted to show them a nearby spire where I once had wrist rocket fights with my brothers.  It looks like an old volcanic cone and pokes up like a mesa.  When I was a kid we called it the 'citadel', and I think all of us brothers used to imagine ourselves as cornered 'Loius L'Amour' heros fighting off the bad guys from the top.

So we climbed the citadel and took in the view from the top.  Kind of a scary climb and I'm impressed that I used to scamper up the thing as a 13 year old.  But on the hike we also visited a number of old mine shafts.  The citadel obviously was associated with some hydrothermal activity and there is a copper/silver mine at its base.  I had forgotten how big this mine once was - and with my 'archaeological survey goggle's' on I found the old road to the mine and the cement pads for the shaft elevator gear.

The kids were super intrigued by the mine shafts and adits and on the walk back to the house we visited another 2 old copper mines.  Neither shaft quite as developed as the one near the citadel.  I realized that the place is littered with old mines - in Alaska all of these old mines would be considered significant archaeological sites.  I wonder if the same thing is true of Arizona.

Patrick

top of the citadel

On top of the 'Citadel'

Silver/copper mine shaft

Stuey at the adit entrance

The Sonoran Desert

 

Palo verde trees, greasewood, saguaro cactus with Vulture Peak in the distance

Where we went in Arizona is right at the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert.  This is the desert that covers most of the American southwest and is associated the 'fork-like' classic American saguaro cactuses.  Our place is situated at the base of the foothills that mark the northern boundary of the desert.  Once you climb up into the foothills all the saguaros cactus disappear and you start to see cottonwoods, grasslands, and, even higher up, pinyon pine.

Where we were staying you looked out of the flats of the Sonoran desert - all catclaw mesquite, palo verde trees and saguaro cactuses.  Look the other way and you saw low mountains and foothills.  It was a very interesting place to be - right on the edge of 2 ecotones.

Patrick

Saguaro cactuses

Cholla and Saguaro Cactuses

Close up of buckhorn Cholla

'Teddy bear' Cholla - this is the Nasty one!

Looking north up into the foothills - this is literally the edge of the desert

Prickly pear cactus

Close up of Saguaro spines

Very pretty but MEAN! Cholla cactus

Arizona Vacation

 

Last night the kids and I got back from an Arizona Vacation.  We spent Thanksgiving with my sister and her family at my Grandparents old ranch out in the desert near Wickenburg.  Lots of time by the pool, books, desert hikes, great food and best of all no Wifi.  Closest wifi was at the downtown McDonalds.  

Jack's friend from Berkeley joined us and taught us an amazing card game, that became sort of the evening theme.  In the game it only matters who loses and that person is called the 'bad word' hole - hence the name of the game (which is not repeated here).

I'll post more about all the activities and themes of the trip over the next few days.  But the pictures and captions below give a pretty good overview.

Poolside Barbecue - we collected mesquite from the surrounding desert for firewood

On top of the 'Citadel'

Crew on the top of Vulture Peak

Steep climb up a ravine near the top of Vulture peak

Desert hike near the house

XC Skiing

 

The weather around here has been perfect lately - clear and cold.  We have not gotten much snow, but the snow we have on the ground has stuck around. There is snow at the golf course and snow on all the little lakes around town that are now frozen hard.  So no need to climb a mountain to get in a ski.  I'm in Heaven.

Tomorrow the kids and I are off to Arizona for a family Thanksgiving.  And as usually happens when we leave the island in winter - there is supposed to be a big snow storm and snow all week.  Oh well - we'll be poolside and enjoying the sun.  

Hopefully when we get back there is a deep base of snow on the mountain.  And I hope our plane flies - fingers crossed!

Patrick

Sunset Ski

 

With the snow at sea level I've been cross country skiing at the golf course or ice skating for the last week and a half.  So yesterday when Nora and I took the dogs up Pyramid I realized that it had been almost 2 weeks since I last went up there.  There still is not a very good base for skiing.  But as Nora put it, 'I love powder'.  

There was not a breath of wind and the sun was shining.  The temperature was in the 20's but with the sunshine and no wind it felt very warm.  And these days with the sun so low in the sky sunsets come early.  The light was golden on the snow.  

Climbing down the mountain after our ski we descended down into the shadows.   Down by the car it was already evening, but you could look up and see the snow on the mountain all lit up and golden in the sunshine on high.  Then as we drove back home the sun set just as we got to town.

Patrick