Solo Hike In The Fog

I had a mysterious and glorious walk in the fog yesterday!!!

If you know me well, you know I LIKE THE RAIN.

This is probably mostly because I live in the Arizona desert and we don't get much rain.

When it does rain here, it seems like a miracle. 

 It seems crazy that WATER can come out of the SKY!!!

The clouds and rain for a couple of days made me very excited,

so I headed out into it to have an adventure.

Get ready for a bunch of gorgeous photos of the clouds in the mountains

among the saguaros!

I shipped off a couple of curriculum binders (one to the UK - hooray for overseas clients!)

and then headed right out.

There are the famous Four Peaks!

 These dudes were fixing on a faux palm tree that's actually a cell phone tower.

It was only 56!

This little birdie was shaking the rain drops off as I drove by.

Of course, the drive is long enough that I need a restroom before I arrive at the trail head.

This pretty church with the clouds drooping down behind it was beautiful.

The name of the road at the end of this road is Cloudview.

Very appropriate!!!

I arrived at the trail head parking lot and was excited to see how 

the clouds looked from up in the hills a bit.

I had lots of layers, mittens, and alternative hats in case it was very cold.

I always take the hieroglyphic trail because it has a nice finish: a canyon with really super old petroglyphs on the rocks!!!

hieroglyph = picture drawn on a surface

petroglyph = picture carved into rock

Each of these little bobbles had a water droplet on it.

I don't know what these things are, but I'm guessing maybe the count the number of people who go in each trail?  I think cameras for sure.  Maybe they watch wildlife!

These little cholla ("CHOY-uh") appreciated the moisture!

See? - They're raising their arms with joy!

 Ever wonder how the inside of a cactus pad looks?

It looks like this!!!

(I didn't break it - it was already broken.  I just took a photo.)

This gate keeps in/out cattle!

I didn't see any cattle.

I headed up into that fog.

The trail leads right into that canyon between the hills.

This is looking back at where I started. 

Usually this bright green lichen is yellow or brown.

As soon as we get a little bit of rain, it perks right up!

Look at the pretty pink of this cactus!!!

We have one of these in our backyard, but it isn't this brilliant yet. 

Getting closer to the top, I saw puddles!

I got a little mud on my shoes, but not much.

There are the petroglyphs.

This little friend found me because I was having a snack and he wanted some.

I felt like a happy little girl because I found a sucker in my backpack!

The desert has many interesting plants and textures.

 Time to head down . . . 

My thermometer said it was under 60, but I was still sweating due to exertion and humidity.

There's the parking lot.

You can see the tushie end of the Cubie if you look carefully.

As I got closer to the end, it began to rain!

Everything was polka-dotted.

The clouds dipped a bit lower and got darker.

On the way home, I passed Silly Mountain Road.

And then I had a lovely afternoon editing YouTube videos

and a great evening watching the Olympics.

I was pretty sleepy very early, though, and I slept HARD after such a busy day.

Enjoy the nature around you wherever you are!