It's been a beautiful couple of days here in Surprise, AZ. Great weather, great hiking, great tent companions. We've spent equal measures relaxing and hiking.
I'm sure it's just a weed to locals, but I love this globe mallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea) and its yummy orange color.
Re-reading The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich is just the right thing to be doing.
Yesterday we hiked up Willow Canyon. But when we reached the mile two marker, we realized we weren't on Willow Canyon Trail at all, but were on Mesquite Trail. Ah well...I swear we did the same thing last time we were here. Either the signs are confusing or we're not too bright. Anyhoo....we did not have time to do what would have been a nine mile loop, so we turned back. It was a lovely hike nonetheless.
I hope we get a chance to take this hike again - it is a cool series of switchbacks that lead up to some great views.
And when we are not up for climbing a mountain, there are lots of excellent options just around the perimeter of the campground.
We have a few more days here before we head over to Apache Junction, east of Phoenix. I'd be fine with spending the rest of the trip here in White Tank Mountains, but there are indeed other places we want to visit.
Not a bad view on the walk to the showers in the morning!
Really beautiful. I can almost feel the sun soaking into my bones looking at Mary in the hammock.
Glen, I heard that people with rockus cleptomanicus fill their pockets with those cactus babies to cure themselves of the habit. :-)
You certainly capture the beauty and wonder of your surroundings in your photos. Thank you for sharing them! They are a welcome sight!
It's been windy recently in the desert, and so the jumping cholla cactus have been shedding their cute little babies, which are like a cross between a ping-pong ball and a porcupine. The babies are all over the place, and get blown around by the wind. A dog's worst nightmare. This is why I always hike with a multi-tool which includes needle nosed pliers. You don't ever want to sit on one of these by accident. You can't even kick them out of the way. They rule.
Glad you're finally enjoying warm weather and sunshine. We had about 8" of snow Monday evening through to Tuesday evening. Another 9" are supposed to fall Friday evening into Saturday so you're missing all the action!!
Beautiful pic as always. Stay dry!