Another week of mostly at home due to Covid-19, September 6 - 11, 2020

On Sunday Sept. 6, we drove to the FUTS parking lot at the intersection of Lone Tree Road and J.W. Powell Boulevard.  There is concern about the loss of the lot due to some of the proposed construction projects.

Our hike from there through the woods to the Bow and Arrow Trail had some nice views of Mount Humphries and nearby mountains.

There were also plenty of pretty wildflowers including these Mexican Hats.

By the middle of the week, smoke from the epic wildfires in California had moved into our area and caused the morning sun to be viewed by the naked eye as just an orange ball.

On Wednesday, while on the Sinclair Wash Trail, we came across this deer who was not at all concerned about our proximity - in the video you can hear me talking to her and she could care less.

I continue to be surprised by the many colorful wildflowers still in bloom from the rains in August.

On Tuesday afternoon, we had a drink to celebrate Ben and Martha signing documents for their new home.

On Wednesday the 9th, Paulie got evaluated for some rehab.  This included being fitted with a life preserver that had a shark's fin, and then walking on a treadmill while she was in water up to her neck.

 

 

 

We had freezing temps Wednesday night, killing off our tomato plants.  It was 27 degrees when I walked the dog and the frost turned the tops of black cars to white - an early season frost.

On Thursday the 10th, we explored Wupatki National Monument.  We walked four of the five short trails they have.

 

The main remains include this large building that had about 100 rooms, with two nearby ball courts.

And I also visited the nearby blowhole - the sound of the rushing air is quite loud, as can be heard in the video.

Another quiet week around the house.  Covid-19 numbers are decreasing in Arizona and things are slowly starting to open up at limited capacity with people wearing face masks and maintaining appropriate distance.

Lesser Known Parks near Flagstaff, Sept. 2 - 5, 2020

Most people think of the Grand Canyon when they think of Arizona - in fact, Arizona is often referred to as the Grand Canyon State.  Grand Canyon National Park is about 90 minutes from our home in Flagstaff.  Closer to us are three national monuments, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater and Wupatki.  We are also within 90 minutes of Tuzigoot, Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's Well, three more national monuments.  But there are local and state parks, and Coconino National Forest trails that are always much less crowded and often just as nice as the big name parks.

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, we visited Picture Canyon Natural and Cultural Preserve - this was our fourth or fifth visit.  It has a nice 4.5 mile trail that circumnavigates the park.  It is a city park with nice trails.  After passing a historical site and a waterfall, we came by this area where rain had caused a tree to slide down the hill.

With the recent rains, there are still many wildflowers in bloom.

There are also many interesting downed trees and snags.  This tree makes a bridge over a small stream.

The park is called Picture Canyon because there are many petroglyphs on the cliffs.

On Friday, Sept. 4, we went another city park, Buffalo Park.  We have hiked there many times.  This time, we hiked through the park and out to the north side where Lower Oldham Trail leaves the park.  We followed an unnamed trail along one of the buried natural gas pipelines, and it took us down a large hillside.  After a bit more than a half mile we came to an intersecting gas pipeline and this trail is named and designated as Pipeline Trail.  We followed it and then went onto an unnamed parallel trail that was in the woods next to some cliffs that have been used for rock climbing.  We eventually reached the Lower Oldham Trail where we took a break, then back to and through Buffalo Park for a pleasant 3.8 mile hike.

On Saturday, Sept. 5, we made our first visit to Kendrick Park Watchable Wildlife Trail.  It is 20 miles northwest of Flagstaff and we loved it.  We were one of only three cars there - one lady was painting a picture of nature, and there was one other group of three people.  The park includes a quarter mile paved loop that is handicap accessible.  The other trail is a 1.5 mile loop and is flat and easy to hike.  And they have excellent educational signage there.

We saw many birds, including stellar jays.

We learned a little about the history of the area.

We did not see any large animals, but we could see the damage from the 1996 Horseshoe Fire in the photo above (the hill with no trees, two photos up).

As the sign says, it was probably a lightning strike that damaged the tree below.

Because there are cattle and wildlife in the area, they have special fencing for a protected area for new aspen trees.

By comparison, here is an area where there are older aspen trees and pine trees that were downed to allow the aspens to grow.

Elk chew aspen tree bark and rub their antlers on the trees.  The photos below show some of those scars.

Sap suckers drill the bark of mature ponderosa pines to feed on oozing sap.  You can see the holes on the tree below.

Abert's squirrels abound here.

There are nice views of Mount Humphreys in the distance on a beautiful day.

There was a different large fire on the other side of the highway. 

When we finished, we saw that they would be having a wedding there later that afternoon.

This was a lovely park, uncrowded even on Labor Day weekend.  We shall make return visits.

Memories of a Bald Eagle from Aug. 14, 2017, posted Sept. 1, 2020

After our DBG Tuesday Docent discussion on birds last week, I was in the right place at the right time to shoot a video of a heron and share it with the Docents.  That reminded me of another time when I was in the right place at the right time - in Ketchikan, AK, visiting our daughter in 2017.  We were on the Aleutian Ballard and by pure luck, I was able to shoot this video of this majestic bald eagle.