A nice hike this morning.....

Our Location: Tonopah, Arizona

An excellent night’s sleep last night, even though I was sleeping before 10 PM I slept until right around 5 AM which is a long sleep for me. Sure is quiet here and we like that very much.
 

That small white rig in the middle is us. I would be looking toward the north east.

 

A few rain drops around 5:30 AM and the lack of brightness even when the night shade was up had me believing that it was going to be an inside but how wrong I was as I found out later. The sky was overcast and grey with warmish temps until about 15 minutes before 9 when it appeared the clouds were breaking and the sun would make an appearance. Good because we both wanted to get out and walk. It was about 7 or 8 minutes to 9 when Riley and I locked the door and headed off in different directions. Riley headed off down the road toward the main paved road and I headed off back toward the mountains. 

 

I'm looking toward the north west. I basically turned around from taking the other picture to take this one.

 

 I climbed and clamoured over various dips, drops and humps to find myself looking down into the valley that I had enjoyed last year. The views were amazing and I was surprised at the various changes as the sun went behind some clouds and popped back out again. The sunshine made a vast difference in the various hues of green. I took a lot of photos today but don’t worry I’ll save some for a rest day when there aren’t many and drop a few in at a time.

 

I walked back home along that road you see down there. I would have turned left at the end of the fenced area had I taken the road into this area.

 

I am looking a bit more north north west in this photo. That thin pale line is the road I walked  to get home.

 

I’ll spare you all the details and just say I was an hour into my walk when I dipped down into the big wash and few more smaller ones as well until I just ran out of trail. I looked around for a path but didn’t find one, it just seemed to end and I so turned around to head back to the Igloo. Cross country offered some interesting views and challenges but I managed quite well and enjoyed the time I spent hiking this morning.

The clouds came and went and at times it was almost like a fog in some places.

 

Who says the desert is brown and boring?

Back home at the Igloo just a little after 11 AM I was surprised I was back so early. However for the return trip I walked on the road/trail and so I moved along pretty well and stayed on task until I could see the Igloo off a bit in the distance and veered through some washes to get home faster.  

 

Some big holes up there.

 

Some very interesting changes in the landscape.

 

I had some breakfast as I hadn’t had anything before I left except my hot drink. Spent some time reading and just enjoying the rest. The wind picked up a tiny bit and while not cold it was cool so that we didn’t want to be outside exactly as it wasn’t just quite comfortable. One of those too hot in the sun, too cool in the shade no matter how you’re dressed kind of things. So we compromised, we came inside and opened all the windows, door and vents. That seemed to do the trick.  

 

They never look far away but they really are quite far. Can you see all the Saguaro Cactus down there?

Looking back out the way I came in, along that winding path.

 

As I was enjoying a salad and my book we noticed a fella in a pick up towing a big cargo trailer (made into a rig) slowly creeping along and of course he pulled in beside us, stayed for a few minutes and then backed out and continued a bit further down the way. Soon however he was back, pulled in, shut down and looked like he was thinking he was home. He eventually climbed out of his truck and walked over to chat. He asked if we minded if he parked next to us, to which my reply was no unless you plan to run a generator all day or a lot, then we would mind. To that he smiled and shook his head saying, no way, I have a ton of solar and only run the generator if it’s been cloudy for days. I don’t like the sound of them either. I assured him we didn’t mind in that case and that we too run a small generator if we have a number of cloudy days in a row. He then mentioned that he had a friend coming with a small A frame camper but the two would stay down as far from us as they could. I introduced myself and Riley and he in turn said his name was Michael. We welcomed Michael to the neighbourhood. He hadn’t gone far when I remember the spot in the back and so I stepped outside explaining that I wasn’t trying to scare him away but told him about a fantastic spot a bit further back and explained we hadn’t taken it ourselves only because someone was in it when we arrived but they had pulled out the this morning. I explained how to find it and once again assured him I wasn’t trying to send him away.  

 

The vegetation varies greatly. Can you see that dirt track about the lower middle of the photo, that's the trail I walked where it dips way way down into a wash.

 

Within a few minutes his friend arrived and the two of them walked back to the site I had mentioned. Meanwhile I had decided if they didn’t take it I’d seriously consider packing up and moving to it ourselves. It wasn’t long until I heard Michael calling out to us, they decided they would take the spot, it was perfect for them and he mentioned something about parking the ‘rigs’ big ones on one side and small ones on the other side. I wondered if perhaps we’d dodged a bullet of being surrounded by others as well. Within a couple of minutes it was just us once again and while we can see them back behind us the distance is comfortable. We shall see if more rigs show up in the next few days. 

 

I took this roadway but it turned into more of a path later on.

 

After that I simply spent the rest of the day preparing lunch, reading and puttering around. The late breakfast and the salad pretty much did the trick for me but I cooked a nice Pork Loin with potatoes and carrots around the roast and a side of stuffing for Riley. However I did enjoy the orange jello.
 

Almost directly north. I love the many colours.

 

No sunset tonight as the clouds kind of moved back in, and we can feel the temperatures dropping a bit as the predicted cold front comes our way. Oh well it’s not really going to be cold but colder than we’re used to, however we will not be shoveling anything and we will not be putting on our heavy coats and mittens so I think we’re safe. 

I made my way back to the green hump you see in the middle of the photo. I was at the foot of that hump but the trail just ended.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

The view out our door tonight.

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb