(big pics)a mornings hike

[Mike]

for the past month or so me and my bro have been getting up early (9:00) and goin hiking at South Mountain a few miles from my house. this time i finally remembered to bring my camera. Its a six mile hike and it goes through some cool places. we were lucky enough to have it rain a little (just as we came up on a cave-tpye thing so we could stay dry) and all the plants started looking good.

there are a few flowers in bloom. this one was sharing space with a dead Ocotillo.


there were alot of these growing in little patches under the shade of boulders or other bushes.

i couldnt decide which pic to post so ill post both.


heres some green lichen just for fun


and real quick i took a pic of this little flower on a bush next to the car.



heres lookin back on our trail as well as a few others. mountain bikers were constantly passing us.


heres a place called hidden valley. you can see a little bit of the trail down there. one of my brothers is up on a boulder on the right.


and heres me.


well i hope you enjoyed them. i havent found any snakes yet lol...maybe someday. i havent been looking very hard.

p.s. did these pics take a long time to load for anyone? am i not supposed to have so many pics in one post?

[Ironhead]

Took a bit to load...But worth the wait. B.. E.. A..UTIFUL Country.

If I took pictures right now outside, all you would see is brown..Only green is some of the pine tree's.

[JLC]

*deep sigh* I really miss Arizona. (We lived in Tucson for about six years.) The desert is soooo beautiful! Thanks for sharing those pictures. I loved' em! Be sure to get some of the cacti in bloom!

[Mike]

i wanna go down to tuscon and see the blooming cactus. lol...blooming cactus. anyways...the only cactus where i am are saguaro, barrel, and cholla(jumping cactus). i tried to gently pick up a piece of cholla cactus of the grounf today. you cant even tough them without getting stuck. and then they are barbed so they dont wanna come out. ack. i knew it was gonn ahappen but i did it anyway. hehe.
anyways...ya ill get some cactus flower pics for ya when the time comes.

[JLC]

Saguaros are really pretty in bloom, if they're having a good year. I've got a pot of baby saguaros that I've grown from tiny seeds. (Did you know their seeds are about the size of fat fleas??? My baby cacti are about 8 years old now...the biggest ones are about 2-3 inches tall and nice and fat.

If you get down to Tucson, you HAVE to go see the Desert Museum...that's like my all-time favorite place in the whole state of Arizona. Someday we'll get stationed out there again, and my kids will hopefully all be in school so I can do some volunteer work out there.

[BallKingdom]

That sure is rocky....heh....heh

I once climb a mountain in Canada, man that was tall. And the last half mile was so freaking steep if you fell you're screwed. Finally at the op on side was the cliff like side, then a mass of big rocks making another side. Hiking is fun...

[CTReptileRescue]

beautiful, Thanks for posting. I'm feeling so snowed in up here in CT, we can't wait for spring!!
Rusty

[Wizill]

awesome pics mike. simply awesome. looks like herp heaven.

[Mike]

lets hope it IS herp heaven once it wamrs up. my bro found a lizard on this hike....good start i guess. lol

[Marla]

Cool, thanks for sharing. I think it would be great if everyone could share a photo or two of where they live or their favorite field herping / nature walking area. I'll bet we have a lot of diversity in that.