Calloway Forest Wildflowers

Saturday, we took Alex for a hike in the Sandhills.  We took US-1 south to Southern Pines and then NC-211 past Aberdeen to Calloway Forest Preserve.  This area of longleaf pine forest is being restored through prescribed burns to support the red-cockaded woodpecker and other rare species dependent on the longleaf.

The land was given to the Nature Conservancy by the NCDOT in 1981 and is now part of Rockfish Creek Game Land.  A wildlife road runs through the preserve and makes for a great hike.

The spring wildflowers were really blooming in the forest.  Bull nettle has small white flowers, but I kept a distance from this stinging plant.

There were lots of blue sky lupine blooming in patches throughout the area.

There was also a lot of vetch growing.

Although many sides roads split off, we stayed on the main trail, eventually reaching a loop.  Going right, we hiked the loop counterclockwise and saw many more wildflowers.  The thin canopy from the pine trees allows a lot of sunlight to reach the forest floor.  Grayhairy wild indigo is a yellow species of indigo that we saw blooming.

Near where we turned around, there was longbranch frostweed flowering.

Looping back around, there was an interesting section where the left side of the trail had recently been burned and the wiregrass was just starting to grow back.

On the right, it had been a while since the last burn and the wiregrass was much more grown out.  The wiregrass was the only thing popping up on the burned side.

Hiking back, there were more wildflowers, including some we has missed on the way out.  Piedmont staggerbush makes small white bell-like flowers.

Grassleaf roseling is related to the spiderwort.

By the time we made it back, it was starting to get pretty hot out.  So we made the drive home as Sandy had to work in the evening.

Hot Day in Phoenix

Saturday morning, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel then made the short drive to the Mormon Trailhead parking for South Mountain Park/Preserve.  By 9 in the morning, it was already hot, but at least it wasn't humid.  The Mormon Trail heads straight up the mountain, but it wasn't too steep, just a steady uphill.

As we got up higher, there were great views of Phoenix and the valley.  Ocotillo was flowering.

Although the mountains surrounding Phoenix were steep, the valley was almost perfectly flat.  We saw a number of lizards on the hike, including some "carrot tail" chuckwallas.

They seemed to be enjoying the 90 degree weather.  One was eating brittlebush flowers.

When we got to the top, we took the National Trail to Hidden Valley Loop and went left to hike in the clockwise direction.  There were lots of saguaros in the valley.

Shortly, we came to the natural tunnel through the mountain.

There were some petroglyphs on the wall at the entrance.

Past the tunnel, we had to scramble up the rocks to the next section.  Around here were a lot of desert blister beetles.

The produce a chemical toxin if handled that is a blistering agent.  Many of them were mating.

Just before Fat Man's Pass, we then saw some people coming down a very steep and difficult section.  When they got down, we noticed a much easier way to get up and down.  Then we reached Fat Man's Pass and had no trouble squeezing through.  We finished up the loop and started heading back.  On the way, we stopped to climb up the small peak along Mormon Loop Trail that had more fantastic views of Phoenix way below.

There were lots of creosote bushes flowering in the desert.

Then we continued back to the car.

Our next stop was Mystery Castle.  The castle was built by Boyce Gulley who moved to Arizona in the 1930s from Seattle after being diagnosed with tuberculosis.  It was built almost entirely with local and recycled materials.

When we arrived, we paid and waited for the next tour.  There were nice views of Phoenix from here.

The eclectic nature of the building made for very interesting views.

The first area we toured was the kitchen and was relatively normal.

We had to go outside to go to the next area.  All of the furnishings were so unique and out of the ordinary.

It was easy to see how random things were used as construction materials.

There were 13 fireplaces in the castle.

The last area we toured was a lower level beneath the gift shop.  It was a little cooler in here.  There was even a little crypt down here.

After the tour, we got lunch and then headed to Papago Park and the Double Butte Loop Trail from the West Parking Lot.  We followed the trail past Little Butte to Eliot Ramada for a short break in the shade.

Next, we got on Big Buttle Loop.  It was quite hot by now, so we climbed up to the butte and took a rest in the shade.  A little Anna's hummingbird was perched on a branch up here.

There were really nice views and it was nice to cool off in the shade.

After a rest, we headed back and drove over to the Hole in the Rock.

It was really crowded but we hiked around to the back.

But it was too crowded to stay long.

From here, we headed back to the hotel.  Embassy Suites had a happy hour with free cocktails so we took advantage.  Then we had dinner at the hotel and started packing for a very early flight home.

Canyoneering Parker Creek

Friday morning, we checked out of Roosevelt Resort Park.  Since they don't serve breakfast on weekdays, we headed to Ma's Kitchen for a hearty breakfast.  Then we made a short drive to the diversion dam and met our canyoneering guide, David from Phoenix Wilderness Adventures.  From here, we followed David into Tonto National Forest on AZ-288.  It was a beautiful drive and we could see the ecosystem change from desert to forest.

Along the way, David pointed out a rare crested saguaro cactus right alongside the road.

In the Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest, we parked at a pull off across from Forest Road 488 and got our stuff together.  When ready, we started hiking along FR-488 towards Parker Creek Canyon.  At Sand Tank Canyon, we we put on our wet suits and descended to Parker Creek.

The first part was just creek walking and pretty easy.  The first real obstacle and waterfall was a water slide.

We could have gone around but it was a lot more fun sliding down.  We were pretty deep in the canyon now with the walls towering high above.  And soon the rappelling began.  The first rappel was adjacent to a smaller waterfall just downstream of the slide.

There was a rock stuck at the top of the waterfall, so I called it Stuck Rock Falls.

Shortly past this, we rappelled down another 20-foot waterfall that I'm calling Upper Parker Creek Falls.

It wasn't huge bug very scenic.

After this point, we creek walked a ways further through the beautiful canyon with the sheer walls towering above.  The next waterfall was probably 25 feet and I'm calling this one Middle Parker Creek Falls.

Not long after was the big one - an 80-foot waterfall.  I called this one Lower Parker Creek Falls.

As David was setting up the ropes, I noticed that there were a lot cacti growing in the basalt cliffs.  They were really beautiful and looked like manicured cactus gardens.  But not too much time for photos as we had a big one to head down.  It was really fun.

At the base, we got out of our wetsuits and started making the climb out of the canyon through a very steep draw.

It reminded me of the Devil's Slide in Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  There were lots of wildflowers blooming in here.

Soon, we made it to the top.  I was shocked looking at my phone that we had been in for over 6 hours - I guess time flies when you're canyoneering.  Hiking back, we got some awesome views of the canyon from above.

Lots of cacti and wildflowers blooming along the way.

And the views of the surrounding mountains were great.

Back at the cars, we said good-bye to David and started making our way back towards Phoenix.

We stopped for Mexican for dinner at De La Cruz right at sunset.

There was an awesome sunset view from the parking lot.

I just love all the saguaros.  After some pictures, we had fajitas for dinner and and then drove to Phoenix and checked into the Embassy Suites.  It was a very nice room, but we were tired and went to bed soon.