Foggy start, great hike, and a wonderful sunset....

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, AZ

Awake at 3:30 am I finally gave up the idea of drifting off and started my morning shortly after. Reading blogs, commenting, catching up on Facebook, more commenting. You get the idea. It's taking longer and longer to accomplish this goal each day. I think I'm getting slower and slower at it. 

That shape is the mountain under the fog....

No wind, no rain, just dead calm, not a sound outside until 6:43 am ( I know because I looked at the time) I heard the soft pitter patter of rain on the roof. Ironically I was checking the weather at the time and it said the rain was over except for a slight 26% chance of precipitation, with percentage falling quickly as the day progresses. By 1 pm we will be pushing the high of 66F/18C and no more chance of rain. I guess the desert has had it's drink for a while. 

If you look at the time stamp on this picture and the next, it's the same peak....

We have no plans yet for the day but I'm sure we'll think of something and if not we can always read and sit around outside drinking in the beauty of the area. We'll even set up our patio furniture and get ready for the rest of our stay. We haven't set it up due to the weather and have our chairs tucked under the  overhang on the Igloo out of the weather. 

Just taken a bit further back a few minutes later....that's the Igloo and Dogsled nestled in there...

Outside to take pictures shortly after 7 am and I took over 150 as the entire place was covered in fog, thick rolling, dense, white fog. It was incredible to see and I can't begin to describe some of the sights so I won't even try. It was an excellent morning for taking pictures. However it was damp and a bit on the chilly side with a lot of moisture in the air. No sign of the sun until much, much later. I walked about a mile just taking pictures before coming inside as I was amazed at how the fog drifted and twisted around the mountains and the peaks. 

That's the same mountain top you can see peeking through on the right of center as in the first picture posted....

Inside we had our hot cuppa, and chatted about the day's plans or lack of plans. A phone call and a bit of research had us finalizing our decisions with regards to replacing the loveseat with some chairs. Hopefully that will be accomplished by the beginning of next week. I'll keep you updated when it happens. 
 

The fog was thick and rolling in and out, around the peaks, and lasted until just about noon.....

Riley and I decided we'd go for a hike. In fact it was Riley's idea and so I was quite surprised but extremely glad to agree to such a wonderful outing. Off we went and were gone all morning. I can tell you it was a fantastic hike, and I'm so proud of Riley, she did much more than she thought she could. I will admit we picked a pretty tough climb and we'll be careful not to pick one that is quite so tough next time but often it's hard to know until you're already way up there and starting back down. We went about 2/3's of the way up one of the bigger mountains with some spectacular views of the valley floor. We were gone about 3 hours and Riley rested only a few times. She's determined and I'm so proud of her for putting so much effort into it today. Congrats Miss Magoo!!

So very pretty as it curls and winds it's way around the mountains....

Back home we sort of settled down for a bit to just kind of relax for a few minutes but found that sitting on the door side of the Igloo which is facing into the west was too warm. Hey, guess what we can fix this problem now. Riley pulled out the small step stool and pushed the button for the awning while I dug out our new sunshade. With the awning out and pulled down, tightened into place we unzippered the two sections and with the two of us it took us about a minute to slide the top piece into the track on the roller (since it didn't come with instructions I guessed at trimming the long edge left over), we then zippered the longer part of the shade to the shorter top piece and voila, instant sun shade. Perfect fit, perfect colour and I will tell you Riley sat outside longer today than she has since we've been the southwest at any one time. She really enjoyed a couple of hours out there. She even put on her new hat!!

Isn't this just an amazing shot?

Lunch was BBQ'd today, with Miss Riley doing the hard work of turning the packets. I prepped lunch after we installed the sunshade, and while I was inside making myself a salad Riley was checking out the new sun shade and bbq'ing at the same time. Lunch today was grilled parm potato wedges, acorn squash with brown sugar and butter,  orange zest asparagus, mushrooms, and green beans, along with a ham steak. I will say it was too much food after my salad but it was certainly good. 

How do you describe something like this?

After lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my book and enjoying the sun as I found it a bit cool behind the sun shade. Just around 4 pm Riley decided to come inside and the sun was slipping behind the mountain beside us so removed the lower section of the sunshade, tucked it away into a canvas bag, retracted the awning and bingo, everything was away. Less than 5 minutes to remove it, fold it, and put it away. We're going to enjoy this sun shade!!! 

Views to the east from our hike....

That's us in the center for the picture, single truck and 5'er. It's a very long climb to this point....

Do you see the tall green cactus towering over a small green bush at the top of the whitish line of gravel in the middle of the picture? We climbed about that far today. It doesn't look long but it's a very long way up there.....

Around 5 pm I put away my book and due to our location I need to walk a fair distance to catch the sunsets and so donned my fleece sweater, long pants and headed off in search of a good location. I walked for a long time before the sun was actually ready to set and then had to walk all the way back while taking pictures as well. It was a glorious sunset tonight with some pretty dramatic colours and hues. Very inspiring. 

Our new sun shade.

Different view....took less than 5 minutes to install.

Riley's new hat....as she tucked behind the sun shade...

I chatted with oldest daughter Courtney while taking a few pictures as well. We got caught up with what her and hubby Matt has been doing the last few weeks, their plans for the next while and some tentative plans for the meeting up and spending the weekend together in the spring. Looking forward to that, we missed seeing Courtney in the fall before we left. It just didn't work out as our schedules were just too different. I miss her and am looking forward to a visit. 

The beginning of the sunset tonight....

After ending the call with Courtney I was heading back to the Igloo when this dog comes bounding out from a converted school bus barking and listening to his owner about as well as rock being told to stand at attention. I don't understand people with dogs that they can't control not having the damn things on a leash. I have no walking stick, nothing in which to fend this dog off and the guy is sauntering along like he's got all the time in the world. Telling me he won't bite and that's he's only guarding them. I"m thinking that's fine buddy but get this ******** dog away from me before it takes my arm off. When this owner fella gets close enough he finally realizes that this dog isn't just barking, he's stalking forward and sideways trying to get around behind me. Owner guy runs the last little distance and  had to jump between me and the dog three times before it finally backed off. He apologized and offered some lame excuse but I suggested that all dogs are to be on a leash when outside, his comment was he'll be going back in the bus. Really? That's the answer, put him in the bus?  

It just kept getting prettier and prettier...

I'm not a dog owner, but I like dogs. I have a real problem with people that can't control their dogs in any environment. Not everyone loves your pet, not everyone is happy to be approached by your pet, not everyone would enjoy having their arm, leg, face or other body parts chewed on by your pet, what if there had been a small kid there, I don't want to think what would have happened just because you can't be bothered to put the damn thing on a leash. I'm not talking about the dog that wanders 10 feet from the camper to do his business and comes back when he's called. I'm talking about the kind that doesn't listen to anybody, that show all their teeth and have no intentions of doing anything except drawing blood or worse. We had the same issue at Joshua Tree with a dog. How do I stop this from happening? It's not like I was doing anything except walking along the road, and they weren't even close to the road. Of all the dangers that people worry about while travelling and staying on BLM and dispersed camping land, this is the one that worries me more and more each time I step outside to go for a walk. 

I'm always amazed at the different shades of each colour that you see....

Back home I finally settled down to edit pictures and write my post. We closed all the windows and vents as the night air here is a bit coolish tonight. I wonder if it has something to do with the rain and the dampness in the air. Oh well, tomorrow will be another gorgeous day and we've a few plans in the works to get us through the day, plus I have a project I should get started on or I'll never get it finished. 

Off towards the  north......

I never get tired of the view...

Thanks for stopping by, sorry for the rant. I hope you've had an excellent day doing whatever it is that gets you through the day and if it hasn't been excellent I hope it's at least been a good day. Remember, if we never have a bad day, how do we know when we are having a good day? Feel free to leave a comment. I read them all. 

It's a vivid red line across the sky...and ink black clouds....

Off to the Northwest.....

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 

Goodnight from Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, AZ....

Deb