Visitors today....

 

Our Location: 

Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, AZ

 

A bit coolish this morning but still nice. Riley and I were up and doing a few little errands and chores this morning before our visitors were scheduled to arrive. We needed stamps, fuel, and to dump some garbage which we managed in town. Then it was back home to wait for company, so I did a little strolling around while we waited.

 

Sunset, Nov 9.

The sky is on fire, Nov 9

Our company over slept and was a bit late arriving but made it just before the noon hour. Doug & Yuma came for another visit. Yuma was excited and I think Doug was happy to see us too. 

 

Smoke on the mountain top.

Some day I want to climb up there. (photo taken a number of days ago)

Riley is under the weather with a sinus cold and so didn't want to do much of anything today. Doug, Yuma and I headed off back toward that mountain. It was a  nice walk, we did a little climbing and a lot of looking around. We managed to find some folks to chat with on our walk. Nice folks, from Albuquerque and Kansas I think they said. Very friendly folks. Doug, Yuma and I got back to the Igloo around 2 pm, and considering we left around 12, I think we did pretty good. 

 

Doug taking a photo.

Yuma biting at a fly. 

Doug, Yuma and I climbed into his jeep and did a little sight seeing, walking and um....some rough overland travel. We left shortly after we got back to the Igloo from our hike  and the tires touched home dirt around 3:30. A quick few photos and they were on their way back to the White Lion. 

 

We went up there today. (sorry for the glare)

It's actually pretty big up there. 

 

I think the three of us, Doug, Yuma and I all had a pretty good day doing some exploring and some chatting. Speaking only for me, I'll sleep good tonight and I have no doubt they will as well. In fact when they climbed in the jeep to head home Yuma as laying on the seat with his head down on his paws. I think he was saying " Let's go home now!"

 

Yuma made it up first. 

Then Doug and I made it up. 

The rest of the evening has been quiet and peaceful. The temps were nice today and a slight breeze helped to keep from getting too hot. The flies are ever present and make sitting outside a challenge unless it's cool or there is a breeze. They may be a problem as time goes on. We shall see. 

 

Al, I think you might like that view.

Or maybe this one too.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Uncle Lyle, who celebrates today.  Lyle is married to my dad's sister Shirley.  We hope the day is a good one for you. 

Doug is resting in the hollow.

 

As you can see the hollow is pretty big, we are under the overhang.

 

Just for my own reference my feet moved for 6 miles/9.6 km, they moved for approx 3 hours. Tomorrow may be a day off. I do however have a lot of photos so I won't have any trouble finding some to post if I don't walk. 

Yuma and I went around a corner...

Someone had a fire here.

I hope you enjoyed your visit, thanks for stopping by. All photos were taken with my phone.  More of today's photos tomorrow.

 

Those are big rocks down there.

Jeeping now, past MM 13, on the left. We've camped way in the back before.

Until next time.....

 

Even the lower levels are high.

Hiking back there, but not for us today.

Take care, be safe, 

There is so much beauty here.

So much green this year.

 

Deb  

On top of the mountain, amazing views, and we like our boots....

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, AZ

I think I'm becoming a lazy sluggard. I just can't seem to make myself get up to take sunrise pictures in this colder weather. I know it's not cold comparatively speaking but I feel cold and I'm having trouble convincing myself to roll out, pull on cold clothes and turn on the heat before going outside. Turn on the heat and go outside. Now there is a brilliant idea, isn't it? Hahaha....

Our new hiking boots. We gave them a trial run today...

I am usually awake in plenty of time to catch the morning sun coming up and I kind of have a conversation with myself about getting up and out of bed, but they just don't seem to be rah-rah enough to make it happen. Riley offered me a good a kick in the pants to get me motivated but I declined. Ever helpful that young woman is, for sure. 

This view is from lower down on the mountain side....looking back toward the camping area...

 

At 8 am I was dressed, downstairs, teeth brushed, hair combed, you know the drill. Had the heater and water turned on, along with getting post started by 8:10 am. 

That is where we hope to reach....

We've climbed part way up the mountain you see in this picture, to about where all of those green bushes are...

We have no plans for the day, laundry has been bantered about as we are pushing our two week time. However I have a feeling that will be a chore we will need to tend to in Apache Junction when we arrive. I'm not sure either of us are motivated enough to do it before we leave. 

 

Some of the vegetation and rocks we encountered on our way up....

Riley asked if we are having left over sausage soup for lunch and my answer was," unless you want to cook something else." We're having left over soup. It's very good soup, we've never used ground pork sausage before, usually we just take sausage out of the casing to make soup. This pound has a nice mild flavour, not too spicy for us. I was pleasantly surprised at the small amount of grease that remained when  I fried it up. I dislike greasy soup and always rinse and pat dry any ground meat I've fried.

 

We're closer...that is not bare rock, it's covered in small pebbles...

We finally hauled our butts out of our chairs and decided to try our new hiking boots today. We set off with a destination in mind, to reach the top of the mountain I climbed the back side of the other day. We've climbed between half and three quarters of the way up one of the mountains in our plan, and wandered around the ankles of the other one. We headed off cross country and I had to come back because I forgot the camera. Gosh, can you say blonde?

We're heading up there past those long tall Ocotillo Cacti, over those rocks.....

Off we went, through some slight washes and bigger ones too, finally making our way back to the spot we'd been a few days ago. We climbed what we thought looked like the easiest route. I'm telling you there wasn't an easy route, it just looked easy. We took our time, and climbed over rocks, around cacti, and under the brilliant blue of the overhead sky. It was cool in the shade but nice and warm in the sunshine. The mountain side is bathed in various shades of colours. Bright greens of Palo Verde trees, creosote bushes, darker green of various cactus, and ground covers. Browns too as some of the many rocks or boulders appear to have that deeply tanned colour one gets from being in the sun often. Others are a softer brown, more milk chocolate  than dark rich caramel. Whitish colours are also very abundant where rushing water has wiped away all forms of vegetation and sediment leaving behind bare rock. That rock has gouges in various places, like haphazardly placed foot steps, but those are full of small pebbles that roll easily under foot. The angle of this bare rock is very steep, making walking tough. While the edges of these water ways are framed with jumbles of rocks, big, small, medium, flat, curved, sharp edged, smooth edges. Always one must watch for loose rocks that will appear to be solid only to give way once you step on them. 

Look, I made it up here!!!!!!!!  Can you see that smile?

She's telling me that there is no way she would have made it to the top of that mountain....

The vegetation varied as well on this climb. We walked on some 'grass' or new green growth in many places, it was evident around the many rocks. We encountered Ocotillo bushes, big and a few smaller ones too, Palo Verde trees with their sharp claw like branches, and various forms of cacti including small barrel, Teddy Bear, Diamond and perhaps some Pencil cacti as well. The colours of these cacti varied  with greens, browns, living, dead, but all were spiny. 

Looking out over the camping area.....We are just out the picture on the left...

From the top of the mountain....yep, we climbed all the way up there....now we have to go back down...

As we neared the top I don't think Riley believed she'd made the climb. The look on her face when she realized she would actually make the top was amazing. I stopped to let her find her way the last few yards to the top.  I took a picture when she reached the saddle point of the two mountains. (Not the Saddle as in Saddle Mountain but the you know what I mean). She was pretty proud of herself as well she should be. It was an amazing effort and an extraordinary accomplishment on her part. I'm so proud of her. 

We climbed up this side....Doug is back behind the mountain side on the right...we could see him from the top...but only if we moved to where Riley was sitting down or higher...

This is the point on the back side of the mountain that I climbed the other day and had to turn around. Right about where the bare rock starts to show. It's a long way's from the point where I'm standing as I'm using the zoom feature.

The view was stunning. We could see for many, many miles both into the camping area where we're parked and also behind us where we drove with the Dogsled the other day. We could even see Doug's (Miss Adventure Travels) Pinnacle from there.  From our vantage point it looked as it were two hands recessed into the mountain side and holding the mountain top up.
 

The Dogsled was parked down and way off to right a few days ago when I came up this side of the mountain. Below on the right is where the rock "face" is located, with the eyes being caves on the mountain side.

Looking back into the mountains back behind where the jeep road goes...

The rest on the top was peaceful and we enjoyed the view. We decided we'd come back down on the other mountain as it looked a bit easier (we had climbed part way up this mountain before). In fact it was a bit easier in most places and we managed it with only a few tough spots. It was slow,  hot work but we managed without any mishaps. Back down firmly on the valley floor, we headed off home to the Igloo to rest our weary feet and bodies. We both liked our boots and were very happy with the feel and the performance. Heavier than our shoes, high tops and hard soles all make them a bit tougher to use right now but soon we'll be used to them.

Various cacti we noticed on our hike today...

Back at the Igloo we both enjoyed all of the left over soup from yesterday, not one drop left.  It was excellent. Like most soups they get better with age. The flavours have more time to meld I guess. After lunch and clean up it was time for us both to have a rest, no sleeping just some stretched out on our beds type of resting for the remainder afternoon. 

So many places left back there to explore another time...

I finished my J.A. Jance book and started on a James Patterson book while resting this afternoon. Since I managed to start this post earlier this morning, and before laying down I edited the hike pictures, that meant I had less to do tonight. Yeah me. 

I believed that may be the pinnacle Doug was referring to in his post a few days ago....

To me, from here it looks likes hands holding up the mountain top...

Around 5 pm I put on my running shoes, grabbed the camera, headed outside for sunset pictures. It was a quick fall from the sky without any fan fare tonight. I did however get a chance to walk for another hour and a half while waiting for and taking pictures. So I'm pretty happy with my effort today. Feels more like I'm getting back on track with my walking. I've learned to wear the knee brace when I go out walking in the camp area and my knee isn't giving me much trouble at all any more. Again, Yeah me. 

I think that looks like the top of a submarine, those posts or poles look like bristly....

Such view, yes, we climbed up that side ......

I called my dad when I headed out for my sunset taking excursion but he wasn't home and so I left a message. I tried once again when I came back inside the Igloo and he answered. His lady friend Marion is still in the hospital and it looks like she will be heading elsewhere for some rehab. We talked for about 20 minutes or so before I let him go and continued with this post. 

The big yellow ball is starting to show signs of fading for the night....

I'm much further ahead than I normally am at this time due to my efforts throughout the day. So I may try to keep doing that as it seems much less like work doing it this way. 

The sky is a beautiful colour...

That was our day. It was an excellent one, we both enjoyed it and are quite pleased with our efforts. We hope you've had an excellent day as well, if not, we at least hope it had some good parts to it. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to drop a comment. 

Another day almost complete here...

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

Once again, good night from Saddle Mountain BLM.

Deb

Little driving, little hiking, little resting....

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, AZ

(lots of pictures tonight)

It was a bit chilly this morning and I stayed under the covers until the clock said it was nearer to 8 than it was to 7:30 am. So I  missed the sunrise and frankly I was just as happy to stay inside as it was only 37F/2.7C outside. I think I'm becoming a wimp when anything in the 30's is too cold for  me. Gosh I wonder how that happened? I've always disliked the cold but usually I'm not such a whiner about it. 

I climbed to just about the bottom of the top knot on the right....

Can you see the saddle? 

I puttered around doing a few things and starting the water to heat, turned on the heater by which time Miss Riley had her eyes open but was refusing to acknowledge that she was awake. I think she would have been happy to turn over and go back to sleep. However once I mentioned the water was on she managed to extricate herself from beneath her mound of covers (although she didn't have her duvet pulled over her) to stumble out into the kitchen for a few minutes. 

Can you see the face? Those are caves up there forming the eyes...

This cave is lower down on the side, you can't see it unless you climb around the side...

We discussed our options today, Riley insisting she didn't want to walk anywhere at all. Driving was the order of the day. We discussed Buckeye but instead chose to check out the canyon Doug from Miss Adventure Travels mentioned the other day. He and Yuma had some fun in there and it looked like a great place to venture into, so that became our plan for today. 

It doesn't look it but that's a really steep climb littered with rocks everywhere. I made it to just below that topknot .

 

The view to the southwest from part way up the climb...

We climbed into the Dogsled heading back toward the canyons but checked out another road first. It offered some interesting views but nothing that would lead us to bring the Igloo there at any time. It dead ended not far from into the small foothills, so we turned around to go back to the beginning of our own road, but we took the right fork which we've taken before but this time we were going much further. We live on the left fork. 

The Dogsled is over to the right, way off in the distance...

Seen through the gap, that's the camping area here at Saddle Mountain...

 

This trail actually goes on the west side of the mountain just outside our door. A few days ago on our hike up the mountain Riley and I could see the location Doug had mentioned where the roads connect and the fence runs along. It was very visible when we stopped on the small plateau and looked west. So if some of the pictures look a bit familiar that's why. 

Can you see the Dogsled?

We live on the other side of this mountain...

 

The road is rough in some places but not bad in others. We drove further into the canyon until we came to place to pull off. We hadn't gone too far but I was enjoying the views and I thought perhaps we could walk the rest of way as it looked to be getting more narrow the further we went. Riley didn't want to walk, not even on the road so I told her I'd be back in 30 minutes. I should have said 45 but oh well, I couldn't call her, no signal in the hills. I was back in 30 minutes. 

Looking through the same gap as before, see I-10 out there ?

Marble Bunt Cake Mountain...

Since Riley wasn't with me I had no issues with getting off the roadway and I never made it back into the canyons that Doug had mentioned. Instead I climbed almost to the top of small dip in the mountains but ran out of time to make it to the top and be back within the specified time. I did manage to see some interesting things on this rapid climb though. 

Layers and layers of mountains...

The desert floor is pretty clean here... not a lot of rocks...

These mammoth statues offer many things to those that come, that dare to drive or walk in their shadows, and to those brave enough to set feet down upon their sides and venture upwards they offer treasures long forgotten or perhaps unknown. The treasures I've seen through the camera lens views that leave one in awe, they defy words worthy of their beauty. A treasure that I have been granted to witness first hand. How can one not be humbled by such a gift?    

That is I-10 out there in the distance...

Looking out over the camping area of Saddle Mountain...

I climbed high enough to see some of the campers here on our side of the mountain through the gap. It was a sight to see and I wished I had more time. It would have been nice to make the top, I'm certain the views would have been spectacular. However I had to hurry back down to make the appointed time. Next time I'll go back by myself and take my time to reach that peak, maybe go a bit deeper into the canyons as well. Today we barely touched the outer edges. 

Not as many campers as there was on the weekend...

Can you see the green of the fields?

I hurried back down to make the appointed time and strolled up to the door at exactly 11 am. Riley was waiting patiently playing on her phone. I don't think she would have minded me being late. We opted to turn around there and head back home. The road didn't get any better the further we went so heading back was the choice this time. 

The other night's pictures were taken from down by that big rock. From the bottom of the mountain it looks far up but from up here, it doesn't look nearly as far. That slope is quite steep and rock strewn in reality.

From down on the level again....

We were back home at the Igloo around noon hour. Finding some books on our doorstep as we had given some Canadian folks a bag of books a couple of days ago and she returned the bag with a new selection for us. Some we've read but that's okay, we'll eventually find someone to trade with again. 

If this had a clock it would be perfect in a town square....

Such a beautiful view of this  mountain...

We decided since there was little wind we would burn the cardboard boxes our chairs came in. We emptied the fire pit of previously tossed in wood (someone left it full before our arrival) tossed in some paper and started our fire. It took about a half our to burn all of the cardboard, tossing in a few 'sticks' that we'd removed to help finish the burning process. About an hour later I poured water on it to ensure it wasn't going to flare up as the wind gusts were picking a bit, not much but I didn't want to have any issues. 

Lunch today for me was left over soup and small piece of ham steak. For Riley I bbq'ed a ham steak, a veggie packet of asparagus, green beans and mushrooms, along with some potato wedges. She enjoyed it and cleaned up her entire plate so it must have been good. I enjoyed the veggie soup and we have enough left over for one more meal. Although I've already started to prep everything for sausage soup tomorrow. I'll just brown the sausage in the morning before tossing it into the slow cooker with all the other ingredients. It can cook all day while we are out. 

Taken as the sun was setting...

We are the white unit in the shade of the mountain you can see...

I had a nap this afternoon, as the climb tired me out. Only about 45 minutes but that was enough. We kept the door and windows closed most of the day as it's a bit cool with them open. So tonight on my way to take sunset pictures I bundled up but I think it was a bit much, I ended up taking off at least one layer. Better to have it to take off than not to have it and wish for it. 

Read my book for a while before heading off to take sunset pictures. Once again I headed cross country to the hill just outside the door. I've climbed it a number of times but haven't seen any evidence of the big horned sheep others have seen. Tonight I was up and down and back up trying to get a good view of both the path I think they might take and the sunset. Finally I gave up and chose the sunset instead. It was a pretty one tonight. Although I didn't get too many pictures. 

I was trying to chat with my dad while I was up on the side of the mountain but there was too much interference. I hung up until after the sunset, walked home and called him then. We chatted for about 20 minutes, discussing a few things and catching up. 

I had to move inside while still chatting as the air was just too cool outside. It was 7 pm and the temperature was 55F/12C and falling fast. Hopefully this will be our last cold night. After that I donned my jammies and started editing my afternoon/evening pictures and writing this post. 

That was our day. A bit of a driving tour, a bit of a hike, chatting with dad and a sunset. A mixed bag of sorts I think. Tomorrow we have definite plans to head into the town of Glendale and for a our first ever visit to a Cabala's store. Some new hiking boots are in order. We have a few other things we need to do in town as well but that's for tomorrow. I think we'll stick to that plan as it will keep me off the mountains for the day. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. 

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

Goodnight from Saddle Mountain BLM...

Deb