Monday, September 04, 2006

Labor Day 2006

View of downtown Phoenxi from the top of a peak at Thunderbird Park. Petrogliph rock on the waterfall trail. When Dad and Donna came to visit at Easter time, we took them to see the petrogliphs. There are quite a few rocks in this park that have these ancient leavings of the early natives to this area. Here is the ever-dry waterfall in the White Tanks. Maybe someday we will hit it just right after it has rained, and see actual water falling here. This is the tail end of the sunset we watched from the top of South Mountain on Friday night.

This weekend, we have been on three different hikes. I love hiking! Early this morning we went to Thunderbird Park and took Roxy on a new trail we have wanted to try. It was such a beautiful morning! You know how wonderful it smells when you go to the mountains and fragrance of the pines just permeates the air? Well, you have not experience “fragrant” until you have been on a desert mountain right after a big rainstorm. The air is so clean and the bushes and trees on the desert smell so good! It is even better than sagebrush in the rain. There are no words to describe this wonderful smell. It is down right “heady.” For our Friday night date, Rod drove me up to the top of South Mountain to watch the sun set. It gave me a totally different view of the Phoenix valley, as we have always gone to peaks in the north. Saturday morning we hiked at Thunderbird, and on Sunday evening, we went to the White Tanks on a gentle little trail that is only a mile in. We thought it would be a perfect Sunday activity – you know, commune with nature on the Sabbath. When you get to the end of the trail, there is a lovely waterfall. Every time we have gone to the “waterfall,” it has been dry. We just knew that after the HUGE monsoon storm Saturday night, there would be water. We were disappointed, again. Not a drop! Oh well, I guess it did not storm in the White Tanks. However, we did see a beautiful deer down in the river bed and watched it spring off as a jogger rounded the corner and scared it away. We also heard several birds calling and heard an owl hooting. Evening is the time when we have seen the wildlife quietly creep out of hiding. We also enjoyed yet another breath-taking monsoon sunset and I always enjoy seeing the petrogliphs on that trail. Happy Labor Day!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I can't believe summer is over. When we drove through the canyon to Heber this weekend the leaves were already changing. That happens so quickly here. The colors were awesome.