Granite Mountain Prescott AZ Before the Fire June 8, 2013

 

This post comes today with joy and sadness.  Just last week we went to Granite Mountain, Prescott National Forest, AZ for a camping and hiking trip with some friends.  We had a wonderful weekend enjoying all the beauty of AZ desert life and now, it’s all gone.

 

The 4 mile hike up to the summit of Granite Mountain was full of beauty, life, and adventure.  The cactus was blooming, the birds singing, the lizards scurrying, and we were good and tired by the end.  At times the hike up was intense and hot, but you could take a break in the shade for a few minutes until you were ready to start again. 

 

A couple of my favorite shots where of the Mazanita's, it’s a beauty shrub you find in the pines of AZ that has an amazing red bark.  Second where some of the unique junipers that where older than I could imagine, trees that where gnarled and twisted with a unique beauty of their own.  

Ever since my first visit to AZ I have loved the sight of Granite Mountain.  Depending on what time of day and season you look upon her, you will see something different, from the rocks that sparkle like gems as the sun hits it, to the sky a flame with red's and gold's, to the blanket of snow, she changes daily.  I have a deep respect for Nature and keeping things as Natural as possible.  One of the big rules in AZ is whatever you bring in you take it back out; even the trees that fall are left where they lay to keep the forest natural.  On the hike you could see some of the trees had fallen over the path, and they were just cut to clear the path and left where they lay. 

Monsoons are coming soon, with the rains we have a cleansing of some of the damage done and new life can start again.  I hope to take another trip up soon, but afraid of what I will see.  I think I prefer to remember Granite Mountain as I saw it before the fire instead of the scared blacked earth I am sure it is now.

As we were hiking we came across a little Nature teepee someone had made out of sticks and rocks.  This was probably built by another hiker along enjoying the views as well, but left it for us to enjoy.  One of the favorite photos is of this slide of the mountain.  The picture does not do it justice and must be scene with your own eyes, absolutely breathtaking.

As I watched some of the videos today, it brought tears to my eyes knowing most of this will no longer be there.  The fire is zero percent contained and over 7,000 acres have been destroyed.  I know this is part of life, things die and new life starts again.  It just amazes me that we were just there and how much can change so fast.  I find myself truly blessed to have been there and experienced it the way we did before the fire. Thank you God for the beauty you create.  I pray for the residents that are still facing this fire, the Fire Fighters, and the healing to come.
 

 

I Love Arizona and The Diverse Wildlife~~Wordless Wednesday

I have a deep love for Nature, the rustic beauty, the natural landscape and the diverse animal life. 

 

 Wordless Wednesday to see the full article hit link below.

See why I love Arizona over at State by State Travel.   

 

 

Fall Activities Desert Style!

In case you have never been to the desert of Arizona let me share with you a bit of our natural rugged beauty.  My first trip to AZ was 15 years ago and I feel in love with it instantly. 

Our temperatures are starting to cool down but we still have some of the afternoon heat.  One of our favorite things to do is go on Nature trails and hikes.  Monday we decided to stay close to home and take an afternoon walk to collect things to make our Nature Pals.  This was a cute idea my daughter had to make people out of some of the items we find on our walk.  We will make these into ornaments that represent each of us and our beautiful land. 

Tuesday, we wanted to head over to another favorite destination in Tucson, the Sonora Desert Museum.  We have the Family Membership so it is a great play to get out and enjoy some fresh air, local animals, the wild on the lose finds, and much more. 

Today,  one of the beautiful treasures was the amount of butterfly's we found.  The place was covered in them everywhere you turn. 

We started our day over to the Ancient Arizona exhibit.  This is were you start by going down in to the cooling underground cave.  The kids get to see gyms, fossils, rocks, and more.

Michael loves all the dinosaur history, fossils, and information.  The kids could spend half their time in this part alone. 

Some of my favorites Opals and  turquoise. (Left)
On the right you see some of the stalagmites and cave rivers. 









Coming out of the cave we are in the paleontology dig site.  Here the kids can be paleontologist and work in the dirt to find fossils and treasures that lie beneath. 

They have a wonderful station, covered, that has treasurers under all the sand.  On the right the girls are working on the initial areas to find and identify whats on the sign above them.  The kids found all the items!!  

There is also two stations that are designed to let kids hammer and sweep away to find the fossils.  They found a coral fossil.  They recorded it in the book and got to take it home!  They all took turns sweeping and hammering to get it out carefully.  

Most of the Museum is all walking and trails, with natural animal habitat viewing.  While it is a sunny day, I like that they use plenty of plants and trees to provide beauty and shade.  

Then we headed over to the Butterfly Garden to see what was going on.  

 Here we saw a ton of Yellow, Black, Purple, Blue, and Orange Butterfly.  Unfortunately they always flew away before I could get close to get on my phone. 

The plants are always a neat find for me to see how they always use plants that you will find in Arizona.

In the B. Garden they had tons of great information on the life cycle and benefits of butterfly's.  

Next we headed over to the Hummingbird exhibit.  Today was wonderful because they really let us get up close and see they more. These beautiful birds are so delicate and sweet.  I could spend all day on one of the DM very comfy benches and just watch them all day.  

We decided to pass on the animal and just hike around.  We like to change it up and visit different sections when we come.  Here are a few of my pictures of the different ares on our walk.

 The desert has many types of cactus.  Some of the walking trails are paved and some are dirt like you see on the right.  I usually like to tell the kids to wear tennis shoes for hiking, but we knew we where going to be staying on the pavement trails today.  The desert view and walking through the upper left side of the park is a wonderful experience you do not want to miss.  It is a little more hiking though. 

These are a few of the lose and interesting critters we got to enjoy.  We always see some kind of lizards, sometimes snakes, rabbits, and squirrels.    This is a living museum, so you are always watching where you step. 

A few more views of our day.  I love the desert! 

 The sun was shining hard on the sign and it was hard not to get a glare.  You can spend an entire day walking the grounds and loops, seeing animals, bugs, birds, panoramic views, and so much more.  We go all the time and see something new.  In fact the kids wanted to back the very next day.  A big plus is that they have bathrooms and water stations all throughout the park.  They also have a top notch restaurant, ice-cream shops, vending machines, and coffee shops!  In the winter it's great to grab my complementary coffee, as a member, and walk the park.  While we have enjoyed the restaurant we like to bring in our packed lunches and have a picnic sometimes too.

What do we bring?
Hats, glasses, water, lotion, and our kids explorer stamp book!!  

Check them out on Facebook, where you will see more up close pictures of the animals. 

Desert Museum Website