To Sycamore...

Canyon via Perkensville

We've been wanting to do this trip for quite a while, and finally got a chance on Sunday...and a very happy Mother's Day to all as well...

Yes, I realize that this may have been a bumpy and long road for one such afflicted as myself, but you see...I was feeling much better by Sunday (until the afternoon as we were coming home that is...meaning the worse was not over. sigh.) So, we met Tom and DaNece, Scrappy and Lola in Chino and all headed out to Sycamore.

There was a ton of haze still all over, but we concentrated on the springtime desert flowers instead...there was millions of purples, fuchsias, peach, reds, yellows and whites all around...Probably the most stunning being the fuchsias of the cacti...which was all but killing us as we went bumping by, promising to try to stop and capture some on the way back.

I'm glad we didn't dilly dally much, as it was already heating up (and yes, it's raining and cloudy today with some surrounding mountains getting an inch of snow) and even found ourselves speeding by the cabin we stopped at before trying to get to our final destination in good time, just in time to wave and promise a quick stop off on our way back...


We hiked for about 3 hours all told...and it was quite warm. I kept expecting that this part of the canyon would be like the other part I've hiked and we'd soon be in or near some water. This was not to be, I mean, perhaps it would have if we'd hiked farther in...but it was darned hot which makes for some tired hikers and dogs. I'm not sure how early one would need to show up to really treck in...It was still quite beautiful, Rich remarked it was like hiking in Sedona only without all the people all around. It really is amazing back in there, and every time we drive back it makes me want to stay and camp for a few days and really allow myself to explore the area.

We ended our hike in at a weird old fence enclosure...probably used to contain cattle? That's what these are usually for. Anyway, it was a very cool structure that had looked as if it's about given up the ghost and decided to lay down instead.

With the AZ heat, could you really blame it?





I don't know if it was because I am feeling under the weather that the heat was affecting me so much, or if it's more like Rich said, and we need to reacclimate to it? Whatever the case, it was quite the relief to wake up this morning to rain and cloudy skies...I know it's going to be darned hot soon.

...And we did stop a bit for some pictures of prolific blooming cactus...I got a lot of tease for that phrase...but come on...


With blooms like those how can you not consider them prolific?

I mean, they doth utter wordy protestation in their own cactus language and it is indeed best communicated through the incredible use of fuchsia...and quite prolifically too (I might add)

So there.