Another wonderful day ......

Our Location: Near Tonopah, Arizona

 

(Today's photos are from yesterday's hike)

 

A nicer morning today, warmer by far than the previous week and looking better as we check out the up coming forecast. Blue skies, sunshine and a wonderful day ahead. What more could one ask for? 

 

I climbed up this slope yesterday.

I bet you're tired of looking at this view but I'm not.

 

After our morning chat and hot drink Riley headed off for her walk while I finished up my blog reading. After that I too headed out the door while chatting with my friend Linda back in Lively, Ontario. Snow, rain, cold, etc, the usual winter weather, we then moved on to more interesting stuff and eventually we were all caught up after about an hour. Always nice chatting her, we seem able to pick up right where we left off after each chat ends.

 

The plateau is up there in the low area between these two peaks.

My sleeping giant way over there in the back ground.

 

I was sort of following in Riley's footsteps but then after a certain point veered off to an area I wanted to check out. However today I was sticking to the desert floor to give my knees, hips and feet a break from the steep slopes. It worked pretty well with only a few very steep washes to get through. I wanted to find out how the motor home in the last number of days photos managed to get where it is at the base of the mountain. 

 

 

Barren and yet the green  makes it seem like an easy slope to climb. Very deceiving, it's rough, steep and difficult.

 

The slope over there is very slippery with loose gravel and small stones.

 

I found the road, and headed off toward Courthouse Road to see which BLM roadway it had traveled to reach this spot. I was about 2/3 of the way to Courthouse Road when I was hailed by a fella in a Mercedes Pleasure Way. He came out to chat and we ended up chatting about a number of things for about 45 minutes. His name is Brian and he's originally from Nova Scotia but spent the last 30 years in Toronto. He's new to the full timing since July. He's been enjoying his first adventure and been making a lot of friends. Nice fella. 

 

The plateau is behind that whitish rock but a bit lower down.

 

Yep, that's where I'm headed. Up there.

 

Finally I managed to get away and headed off cross country toward the Igloo. I figured Riley might be wondering where I had gotten to. It wasn't long before I was hello'ing the Igloo and making my way inside. I was gone a little under 2 hours but spent a great deal of that time in one spot, standing still. I put in around 3 1/2 miles on my outing. Most of it on the desert floor which I think helped my knees but not much else. I checked the time and noted it was just shortly after 1 pm when I walked in. 

The make up of these hills is so very different as you can see in the photos. 

I'm looking down, it's very deep. That saguaro on the bottom left is about 20 feet tall.

Lunch was a nice sausage/veggie quesadilla. We both enjoyed it but would change it up a bit next time as we always seem to think of things we could have added that would make it better. By the time we'd cleaned up after lunch it was already getting to be pushing 3:30 pm. A couple of inside chores and before we knew it the air was cooling down and we had to shut up the Igloo. The flies are starting to be an issue even sitting in the sun today. Hopefully they go away soon. 

 

Same Saguaro but a bit closer with the small zoom.

I'm going to cross over these places along the top of the ridge to reach the plateau.

 

A chat with daughter Bradey had us catching up on the events of home ownership and life in winter bound Southern Ontario. They are doing well but like everyone else are tired of winter. I think the snow shovelling is getting pretty old really fast. Hopefully things slow down some and winter eases up for everyone in the north. 

A look back when I'm getting nearer to the top.

Yeah, I'm crossing over these ridges, not nearly as smooth as it looks.

After that I chatted with my dad just to see how he managed with the big storm yesterday. They lost power for a number of hours, the roads were closed, plows pulled off the roads, and with the high winds causing enough havoc with blowing snow and howling subzero winds to keep everyone housebound. Not a pleasant day at all. It seems more snow is on the way again. 

Up, up and up some more.

So that was our day here in the great American Southwest with a touch of home tossed in, making us thankful to be out of the winter weather. I hope where ever you were today, and whatever you may have been doing that your day was as excellent as ours. Thanks for stopping by. 

My final climb to reach the top is up that slope but you can see it wasn't like walking on a sidewalk.

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

Deb