PETROGLYPHS - THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF BLOG POSTS

These carvings on stone have been here for thousands of years, and will be for thousands more. These blog posts, well...

This is the view from our campsite - the petroglyph mound is in the middle, to the left of the tallest mountain

This is the mound as you approach on the trail - almost all of the rocks on the west side of the mound have carvings

Some of carvings cover entire rocks

MOVING ON, AND CARRYING AN ARACHNID WITH US

Here's the last sunset we saw at Kartchner Caverns State Park:

Our next stop was Catalina State Park, just outside of Tucson. And I mean, just outside. There was a Walmart and a Red Lobster within walking distance of the campground. We decided to press on, as we were looking for a bit less civilization. We found a nice secluded campground: Painted Rock Petroglyph Site. We arrived near dusk and chose a nice campsite ($8 a night, can't beat that with a stick!). As soon as we parked, we saw this guy on our window above our bed. He was about 2 inches in diameter. I captured him in a tupperware container and took it outside. Good thing, because if he'd fallen down behind the bed, we would have had to stay at a motel!

Petroglyph photos soon!

FULL MOON UP; FULL MOON DOWN

We watched the full moon come up last night over the distant mountain range. Glorious. And just to put the icing on the cake, I went out the back of the Chinook at about 10 o'clock and heard a rustling in the shrubs. I shined the flashlight on two green, glowing eyes. A big coyote stared me down, about 15 feet from our back door. The only thing that would've been better than sighting a coyote on a full moon would be if he'd  howled at it!

This morning, we watched the orange sunrise out of one window of the Chinook, and the glowing moon set behind the mountains out of the other window. I've never seen anything like that before. Probably won't ever again.

We set out from Kartchner Caverns State Park this morning and stopped in the nice town of Benson, Arizona to do laundry and get lunch at the Old Benson Ice Cream Shop (where they have 60 flavors of soft-serve ice cream). Darell had a "Glacier" with chocolate chunks, brownie pieces, and chocolate mints, which he reported to be "the best ice cream I've ever had", and I had a waffle cone with a scoop of Praline Pecans 'n' Cream and a scoop of Pistachio Almond. Ice cream for lunch. Awesome.

THE GUINDANI TRAIL

We hiked the 5.5 mile Guindani Trail the other day - the trailhead starts at the base of a mountain, carries you back around it and down into the Guindani Canyon through a riparian habitat, and then ascends, for a very strenuous mile to the top of the mountain, popping out at a gorgeous summit view of the butte and peak visible from the campground. The descent is gentle (we needed gentle by then!) and you can see for miles. The riparian habitat is home to many animals, birds, and insects, and the flora is different from the desert cacti and shrubs (but it includes them, too!). It's the water. Wherever water runs (through the canyon, for example), life thrives.
These are views of the trail as you come around the mountain and drop into the canyon:

 Down in the canyon:

These solid black grasshoppers have red underwings, and they look like flying flower blossoms when they jump!

Morning Glory buds, and twining vines

A Morning Glory, with a visiting ant!

We startled a bevy of quail as we ascended the mountain, where there was low brush, juniper and oak trees, and even some pine trees that drop pine cones on the trail. Guess I was so awed that I didn't get any photos! When we reached the summit, we turned a corner and saw this:

 

  We ate lunch at the summit and then headed back to the campground:

That's teeny Darell on the trail

A CLOUDY SKY, A SLICE OF PIE

Last night's winds were fierce; the Chinook rocked like a boat! All was well this morning, though, with all the beautiful clouds of yesterday gone. It's still windy and a tad cold here, so today we hiked only as far as the Visitor Center, or the Discovery Center (as they like to call it), where we '"discovered" the "Bat Cave Cafe" and I had a bowl of Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup with parmesan cheese that was worth the trip no matter where you're traveling from, and Darell had a huge slice of Blueberry-Peach Pie, with ice cream and whipped cream;. It was picture perfect to look at, and was reported to be "superb"! Pie here is more fleeting than butterflies, and therefore, harder to photograph. So, here are some clouds:

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MOVIES

It's cloudy and windy here today; we are ringed by mountains and the dramatic cloud formations above them are spectacular. But not a great day for hiking, so we went to the movies! We saw Thor: The Dark World 3D.  A nice treat for those who like their Science Fiction mixed in with their Fantasy mixed in with their Mythology mixed in with their superheroes. I know I do.

WE'VE MOVED ALONG

Well, we've moved along from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, but we'll be going back! We're wanting to head east before the really cold weather strikes the high elevations, so we set out from Organ Pipe.  After 3 (count 'em 3) Border Patrol Checkpoints, we are now at Kartchner Caverns State Park, near Benson, Arizona. The big attraction here is the Caverns; two different cavern tours are available, and you take a tram to a half-mile hike within each cavern. There is also a very nice campground (electricity and long, hot showers - Oh, boy!) and some great trails. We'll pass on the cavern tours this time around, but yesterday we went on the Foothills Trail (2.5 miles around the hills wherein the caverns lie). The trail is a loop, with a half-mile spur that takes you to the top of one of the many mountains here.

This is the view from our campsite, before we even began hiking

Distant mountain views on the first part of the trail

 The spur trail to the top of the mountain was steep, but well worth it. We ate lunch at the top.

That flat-topped butte mountain is the same one viewed from our campsite, and the triangular peak to its right is in many photos to come!

This sign post marks the second half of the trail, after you descend from the spur trail

 And then, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset when we got back to the campsite: