4 posts tagged “hiking”
Slowly...but surely...I am turning Carol into a mountain woman. Click the photograph and come on over and read about it.
Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was 65 degrees with the humidity around 28%. We had a bit of rain in the last few days so the desert seemed to be far greener than usual.
I also noticed that the skies were the clearest that I have seen since we have been out here.
Today hike was at the Spur Cross Recreation Area which is a part of the Maricopa Park system. Today we hiked around 2.5 miles on the Spur Cross Trail and the Metate Trail. The Metate trail was fabulous as it criss crossed Cave Creek (the actual creek...not the city). I am certain that this area is home to many species of animals because of the fresh water supply.
With all the under brush available I suspect the Javalina are plentiful in the area.
We continue to explore the area and are fabulously in love with Scottsdale and Arizona.
I also noticed that the skies were the clearest that I have seen since we have been out here.
Today hike was at the Spur Cross Recreation Area which is a part of the Maricopa Park system. Today we hiked around 2.5 miles on the Spur Cross Trail and the Metate Trail. The Metate trail was fabulous as it criss crossed Cave Creek (the actual creek...not the city). I am certain that this area is home to many species of animals because of the fresh water supply.
With all the under brush available I suspect the Javalina are plentiful in the area.
We continue to explore the area and are fabulously in love with Scottsdale and Arizona.
Today is New Years Eve. We started our new day out by visiting the "north campus" of the Scottsdale Bible Church. This church is a "planted church" because of the huge growth that has been seen in the mother church. We enjoyed the service but I suspect we will stay with the mother church because of the facilities and the core music program is there also.
After church we went home and had breakfast in the country club in our development.
From there we decided to go on another hike. The Terravita community has a trail system that is over 7 miles long. Today we did the 2 mile marked nature trail. Today it is a beautiful 55 degrees with 59% relative humidity (I know that from my home weather station...a Christmas present from sister-in-law Beth). Just in case you are wondering....the barometric pressure is steady at 27.94. That means SUNSHINE!
The photographs above were shot from our excursion through our neighborhood. We still can't get over the fact that we were outside hiking on the last day of December in short sleeves (the sun keeps you very warm even though it is only 55 degrees).
The rest of the day will involve relaxing, Jerry will be coming over later. We are grilling tuna steaks on the grill after which we will enjoy a bonfire and a jump in the outdoor whirlpool. Ah...this is living!
Thank you God for all your blessings this past year.
After church we went home and had breakfast in the country club in our development.
From there we decided to go on another hike. The Terravita community has a trail system that is over 7 miles long. Today we did the 2 mile marked nature trail. Today it is a beautiful 55 degrees with 59% relative humidity (I know that from my home weather station...a Christmas present from sister-in-law Beth). Just in case you are wondering....the barometric pressure is steady at 27.94. That means SUNSHINE!
The photographs above were shot from our excursion through our neighborhood. We still can't get over the fact that we were outside hiking on the last day of December in short sleeves (the sun keeps you very warm even though it is only 55 degrees).
The rest of the day will involve relaxing, Jerry will be coming over later. We are grilling tuna steaks on the grill after which we will enjoy a bonfire and a jump in the outdoor whirlpool. Ah...this is living!
Thank you God for all your blessings this past year.
Today we ventured off to hike the Clay Mine Trail in the Cave Creek Recreation Center which is part of the Maricopa County Park System.
This particular trail was a fairly easy trail, clearly marked with just a bit of elevation climbing. Nothing strenuous enough to get the heart really pumping. Our trip today was somewhere around 2 miles round trip.
One of the things that is striking to me, in hiking Arizona, is the huge differences in the landscape in just short distances. Today's landscape was quite a bit different from yesterday. Our elevation was not quite as high, I would guess somewhere around 2500 feet.
As we began our walk we noticed what appeared to be decayed tree stumps all over the place. Being a novice to the area, I began to wonder if we were witnessing petrified wood. Upon reading the article that I highlighted for you, it seems that petrified wood is created underground and the photographs in the article looked nothing like what we were seeing today.
It is hard to see from these pictures that I took, above, but it was uncanny how much this area looked to be an old forest with old stumps left behind. When you touch the material is was clearly rock, but fairly brittle.
The temperature was a beautiful 68 degrees today with a south wind blowing around 10 miles/hour. We found a nice place to sit and contemplate the valley, our lives, and just listen to the sounds of silence. I absolutely love quiet. There is so much noise in our lives these days that when you hear quiet....it is so relaxing.
We came across The Clay Mine about 10 minutes into our hike. It is now fenced in to keep people out of the mine. I took the shot through the fencing. Evidently this mine produced a talc like substance that was peddled as a patent medicine many years ago. Who knows, perhaps it was sold on the Well Fargo Wagon!
Tonight, Carol's cousin Judyth is coming to spend the night and early in the morning we are going to look at granite for our kitchen. Carol hooked up with Judyth a week ago and hadn't seen each other in many years. Evidently Judyth was a maid of honor in Carol's first marriage. She is an interior decorator and moved to Arizona a few years ago from the Cincinnati area.
Well...that's all for now. Now....it's your turn to write. See that e-mail button on the top write? Click it and say hi.
This particular trail was a fairly easy trail, clearly marked with just a bit of elevation climbing. Nothing strenuous enough to get the heart really pumping. Our trip today was somewhere around 2 miles round trip.
One of the things that is striking to me, in hiking Arizona, is the huge differences in the landscape in just short distances. Today's landscape was quite a bit different from yesterday. Our elevation was not quite as high, I would guess somewhere around 2500 feet.
As we began our walk we noticed what appeared to be decayed tree stumps all over the place. Being a novice to the area, I began to wonder if we were witnessing petrified wood. Upon reading the article that I highlighted for you, it seems that petrified wood is created underground and the photographs in the article looked nothing like what we were seeing today.
It is hard to see from these pictures that I took, above, but it was uncanny how much this area looked to be an old forest with old stumps left behind. When you touch the material is was clearly rock, but fairly brittle.
The temperature was a beautiful 68 degrees today with a south wind blowing around 10 miles/hour. We found a nice place to sit and contemplate the valley, our lives, and just listen to the sounds of silence. I absolutely love quiet. There is so much noise in our lives these days that when you hear quiet....it is so relaxing.
We came across The Clay Mine about 10 minutes into our hike. It is now fenced in to keep people out of the mine. I took the shot through the fencing. Evidently this mine produced a talc like substance that was peddled as a patent medicine many years ago. Who knows, perhaps it was sold on the Well Fargo Wagon!
Tonight, Carol's cousin Judyth is coming to spend the night and early in the morning we are going to look at granite for our kitchen. Carol hooked up with Judyth a week ago and hadn't seen each other in many years. Evidently Judyth was a maid of honor in Carol's first marriage. She is an interior decorator and moved to Arizona a few years ago from the Cincinnati area.
Well...that's all for now. Now....it's your turn to write. See that e-mail button on the top write? Click it and say hi.
