Family Coming to Visit

Hello Family & Friends,

Just a quick note after the long post on Round Mountain --- my mom is coming to visit us in Arizona!  She will be visiting our cousins in Mesa and then heading our way to visit and play in the sunshine.  I am sure we will have a few adventures to post while she is visiting.

Later in the month, Darrel's brother and sister-in-law will journey up from visiting friends in Goodyear (about 2.0 hours away) and want to see our humble abode in the desert.

So in case you don't hear much from me, you'll know the reason why!

Blessings from the road,

Susan & Darrel

Conquered Round Mountain!!

Hello Family & Friends,
On Saturday, 1/11/2020, we headed out the back gate at 39 degrees to crest Round Mountain.  It is one of the landmarks you here me talk about that if you get lost in the desert, look for Round Mountain to get your bearings.  We had never been up the trail so with Bob and Ruger as our guides (as always) we took off.

It was a little windy so the 39 felt cool, but with the sunshine, it makes you feel warm quickly.

Ruger is always first, in the lead and will bark loudly if it isn't the case!

We traveled down Martinez wash and I always love the Saguaros that line the edge.

We have lots of erosion and you see different images every time we travel out.

Lots of rocks in the wash as well.

Ruger was especially interested in the cattle prowling about.

Saguaros lined the trail up Round Mountain -- see the next 3 pics.

We found some tailing piles (with a big hole in the top) -- usually indicates some prospecting!

Another tailing pile

Up the trail with Bob/Ruger in the lead.

Around a bend and more up to go!

The view from the Top (with a few scary climbs) -- the Boyd Ranch road is down towards the bottom.

ZigZaging trail you can see we traveled.

More Saguaros and trails to the East.

Circling around the top looking out.

Looking towards North Ranch -- see the "whiteish" blob upper center, that is our home!

Martinez wash (with cliffs we traveled), lower bottom left.

This is the far point of the top of Round Mountain.

Vulture Mine Peak, another landmark to get your bearings from.

The down was probably scarier than the up (believe that or not), with some slipping and sliding down.  But WE CONQUERED ROUND MOUNTAIN!!!! (Bob mentioned off his bucket list -- he had never traveled up there, and was OK to not do that again!)

We headed towards Box Canyon and took a deadend trail -- it was close to 2pm so we figured we need to head back and arrived back at the Ranch around 3:30pm.  It was a wonderful trip, a beautiful day and very tiring!

So until the next adventure, we are sending blessings from the Arizona desert,

Susan & Darrel

Dead Burro Canyon

Hello Family & Friends,
Dead Burro Canyon (made you just want to read this post, huh??)  -- A couple in the park (Sue & Ernie) invited us to go on a UTV ride to find a canyon that is near the small town of Wenden, AZ -- the location is on the back side of Lake Alamo (yes, Alamo).  We had never trailered the UTV or been to that location -- so we had many new things to learn. 

Ernie was trying to redeem himself as he took another couple there to find it and was unable to locate the entrance to the canyon (also, Ernie named it Dead Burro Canyon because the first time he went there, there was a dead burro in the canyon -- he thought it has been killed by a mountain lion)
NOTE:  Sue was in the ladies pistol class year and they were on the lot across from us last year).

First we had some trailer issues hooking it to the truck, the wiring was too tight and Darrel and I had to spend 1.5 hours getting it to work, we had to borrow Quick links from Bob to make the tow chains connect to the truck and then figure out how to tie down (that was the easiest task).  We were ready to roll on Saturday.

Mornings are still pretty chilly so we headed out around 8:30am and the drive is about 1.5 hours to get to the pull off where you can leave the trucks/trailers and unload the UTVs.  It was a beautiful day with mild temps and no wind -- I asked Darrel if he had the key to the UTV and he didn't have it!!!  Thankfully, we had just zip tied one under the frame (we now understand why??? we add a hide-a-key on everything we own).  What a disappointment that would have been, arrive and no way to ride!

We headed off down the pipeline road and encountered our only wildlife -- donkeys --pretty sure they were burros like at Lake Pleasant --- much bigger so I am calling them donkeys.  I tried to snap a pick but they are wild and took off to the brush -- I could count 3.

Right smack in the middle is a donkey body (you can see the lightness between the shrub)

If you look closely to the left center you can see the face and ears of one.  I wish I had been faster on the camera draw 😐

Next we headed up to old mine shafts and found this deep canyon tucked away.

We were surrounded by mountain terrain most of the day -- still find the saguaros there too.

Ravines were along both sides of the trail.

We are starting to descend into the canyon.  Amazing how much change in the geography.

Some of the formations reminded me of the Who Doos at Bryce Canyon.

Mountains in the distance

We stopped for lunch, Sue, Ernie and me -- along with their dog, Patch!  She loves to ride like Ruger.

Darrel was the photographer and captured the cliff behind us.

We weren't sure if we could make it through the canyon but thought we were explore a little more.

It narrows down considerably as we continued up the canyon.

The cliffs close in.

This piece had fallen off and the wavy patterns caught my eye.

Another image in the rock (remember Colorado and even here in Arizona)

A closer shot --- here's my idea

Mother looking at her baby, woman looking at a book or woman looking in a mirror???

What does your imagination see in this rock formation???

I love catching the saguaros that stand guard at the canyon rim -- ever present here in AZ

Ernie pointed out that the burros/donkeys dig in the soil to find water -- there were several of those along the canyon floor.

Next on the stop was the Magnesium mine and there was a sludge puddle where it had been mined.

Tried to zoom in on the "greenish" pile in the center (remnants of the mining process). 

My last photo of the surroundings at the mine -- the terrain is so varied.  

Darrel and I often comment that I use to think Arizona was just desert but the mountain ranges are abundant (maybe not the Rockies) but amazing to see amid the desert terrain.

We returned to the trucks and loaded (less problems this time around) and headed back to the Ranch.  We were all tired but had a glorious day for the trip and enjoyed wonderful sights.

So I guess we could rename the canyon to just Burro Canyon (that is what us ladies thought sounded better).  We hope to return someday soon and explore a few of the washes that traveled out of the canyon.

Until our next journey,

sending our love and blessings,

Susan & Darrel

What We Did for Christmas??

Hello Family & Friends,
Thank you so much for all the Christmas cards and letters letting us know what you have been up to.  My sister sent me a "care package" and it arrived 5 days late but made it for Christmas.  We talked to many of you through out Christmas Day or texted our well wishes in between activities.

We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our life and we do appreciate you sending greetings and updates our way.  Again, I thank you for reading the blog and plan to continue in the 2020 New Year with our happenings and activities.

Bob and Ruger graced us with a morning visit --- Ruger just had to show off his new coat!

This was his new Wisconsin hoodie!

The hand warming pocket is conveniently located over his "butt", I am not sure that I would put my hands in that location : )

And now he is making his exit -- because I'm not sure he really like his new attire???

We had dinner at the North Ranch Community Christmas Dinner -- our table had 3 couples from the campground (Natalie and Les also work kamp at North Ranch).  One of the gentlemen, Terry was blind and I thought that was amazing that he and his wife were snowbirding from Colorado in a RV.  He also mentioned that he would be getting a new service dog in the next few months, having lost his companion of 5 years from cancer.

We had a nice time and the activity center was filled to the brim with lots of North Ranch neighbors.  We came home and relaxed for the rest of the evening, eating a few of our Christmas goodies.  

We wish you the all the best in the upcoming New Year!

Sending our love,

Susan & Darrel

Holiday Happenings

Happy New Year (early),
Monday before Christmas Bob took us over to the Joshua Tree forest to look for crystals (I think they are from quartz but are really clear), we headed on Bagdad, AZ where there is a mine you can tour.  You have to call and find out when they are touring, so we will have to go back.  And then round trip back on Date Creek road to find the old Date Creek Fort location. 

We started out about 8:00am  -- Monday was cloudy, windy and cool by Arizona standards.  The weather wasn't the best for picture taking with gray skies but I tried to snap a few to show you what we saw on our trip.

This is a Joshua Tree (with Ruger checking out the smells)

They really aren't very pretty "trees" but you can find some with really interesting growth.

The fronds (coming from a land of leaves, I am unsure what to call the foliage), will die off and create the hanging down whiskers : )

You cannot quite see it but as you looked toward the mountains, you could see the Joshua trees popping up to create the forest look.

We arrived in Bagdad and was amazed at how clean the town was -- really tidy and neat.  The diner was closed on Monday.  We didn't want to wait to eat at the Bar and Grill in town, so we bought sandwiches at the Basha's grocery store and ate in the park so Ruger could sniff around (or beg lunch).

We took the back road out of Bagdad and headed to a small town of Hillside -- we turned off on Date Creek road which is a primitive road (meaning that is it dirt, sand and minimally maintained).  It is about 20 miles to Hwy 89 which was our connecting route back to Congress.

We found the turn off to the Fort (after a couple of tries) and then walked the wash and fence line to locate the foundation walls -- there has been a lot of overgrowth so it took a few attempts to find the location.

Darrel found a book with information about the Fort and I guess is was active in the 1860's and held the Yavapai Indians for a time.  Not much is left but you can see the original layout of the Fort.

Bob showed us the rigging to pull water from the wash -- we didn't explore it as it was close to 2pm and the weather was turning colder -- the wind was whipping up and none of us had really dressed for it.

I found this one saguaro overlooking the fort and though it looked like a cross, marking the site.

Ruger kept getting stickers in his paws and we decided it would be a better place to explore from the UTVs as we had to traverse cattle trails to get there.   It was an interesting site to see and want to go back to see if we can find the tin can dump and other treasures that are hidden under the desert growth.

We were thankful to be in the truck and cranked the heat up wishing we had hot cocoa with us.  On the road back we stopped to take pictures of Skull rock ---

Darrel did the honors of capturing Skull Rock as he had to climb a rock to get the best pictures.  

Arizona people seem to find the art in their rocks out here and we have quite a few "painted" images -- like Frog Rock, Elephant rock (which really is just an elephant painted on a flat rock), now Skull Rock and I think there are a few more -- maybe someday I'll do a blog on the painted rocks???

We arrived back home from the the trip a little wind blown and ready for that hot cocoa.  I am ready for the cool snap to retreat back into Canada and warm up Arizona temps again!

Sending Blessings from the Road,

Love,

Susan & Darrel