(if you’re still seeing this post after several days, it means I don’t have internet)
Despite some encounters with cholla and a minor crash or two, the MSC’s McDowell Sonoran Challenge went extremely well! There were a few stewards (including me) taking photos out at different points of the course so we should end up with a good variety.
A heavily overcast day was just what I ordered for my blurs 🙂
Click on image for a slideshow
Faces I spotted while waiting for the MSC hiking group at the Tom’s Thumb trail this past Saturday morning.
Hiked over 700 ft elevation gain to Inspiration Point in the Preserve today. Windy up there!
Encountering a group of Equestrians was a real treat. The trail is really narrow so they were brave.
The Hare of the Lost Dog (Wash Trail, that is) is a BIG guy! I’ve seen him before but he was always crossing the trail at an incredible speed. This time a hiker noticed him sitting so it was a treat to get a better look. He was quite a distance away but not too far for my trusty Canon SX10 🙂
A Hare is different from its rabbit cousins. Their ears are much longer and their heads more elongated. One of the main differences is that the Hare nests above ground in a shallow depression while all rabbits nest under ground. For more differences and photos, click here.
Finally, here are a couple shots from our McDowell Sonoran Conservancy hike this morning. Specifically, we hiked the Ringtail loop off the Lost Dog Wash Trail. It was the last guided hike of the summer so I shot the first image into the sun with the iintention of showing how hot it’s getting here!
Check the hiking schedule for the fall and come check out all the new trails!
I’ve been hearing about Tres Amigos ever since I first starting hiking with the MSC so I was excited to finally have a chance to photograph them. What makes them unusual is not that there are three standing so close together but that they are in perfect alignment….as if they had been planted. The general consensus is that it’s a fluke but maybe someone planted them about 200 years ago? Either way, they make a wonderful photo op. We’ve been having stormy weather for a few days so I thought these three friends would look great with a kind of antique look.
Only a small group took a chance that we might get to enjoy MSC steward Dan Gruber’s excellent geology hike but it was not to be 🙁
This morning’s MSC hike featured Alice Demetra giving expert insight into medicines the ancient peoples made from desert plants. A brave hiker volunteered to wear a Prickly Pear bandage to see how long it would stay in place. It worked really well. (Thanks, Christian!)
Hiking boots for horses? Who knew?! We were introduced to this interesting tidbit on this morning’s MSC photo walk. Donna, his owner, told us that her horse doesn’t have metal shoes so these boots protect his feet from the stones on the trails. This encounter turned out to be a great photo op for the group especially since the horse was a ham who seemed to love posing for us.
The McDowell Sonoran Conservany (MSC) conducts public hikes every Saturday and Sunday. Typically, one hike is educational (thus shorter) and the other is more exercise oriented. Today’s was educational covering the history of Brown’s Ranch. Hike leader, Len Marcisz, spoke of some very colorful characters! Along on the hike was MSC Steward Alice Dimetra (above). She gave a lesson on two yuccas and how every bit of it was put to use by the native peoples of the past.
