FALL COLORS

 

 

  

Our maple and aspen from the loft window.

We had two fall color experiences this year.  The first was to the White Mountains, a three-hour drive east of Flagstaff.  For some unknown reason we have never explored this part of Arizona much at all.  What were we thinking?  I know what I'm thinking now:  I'll never need to go to Colorado or Utah or upstate New York for fall colors again.  Our timing was just right, and we saw some of the best fall colors ever. 

 

 

There's a footbridge at the bottom of this picture.  We didn't hike it. This year.

 

Much of the area still shows the effects of the 2011 Wallow Fire, the largest wildfire in AZ history. 

 

 

Fall color.

 

The aspen are young, but so colorful.

When we started this trip, I had it on my mind to continue the Finding Water theme.  It started well, but  soon became such an embarrassment of riches I gave up.  There was so much water in every form: large lakes, small lakes, streams, and we crossed the Little Colorado River countless times. 

 

Lyman Lake, a large lake.

 

 

A beautiful creek.

 

A small lake.

 

Another creek.

Our second trip was a drive near the San Francisco Peaks on Hart Prairie Road.  No complaints about color close to home.  Here's a selection.

And that, friends, is the end of the Summer Blog.  Thanks for sharing Summer with me!

 

My Winter season started November 1, and our Fall-> Winter transition was short.  Temps have been in the Winter range for awhile, and we've had a couple of minor snows.  I've not decided whether to a Winter Blog.  If I do, you'll be the first to know! 

SEEKING WATER #4: ON OUR SECOND ATTEMPT TO FIND LOST LAKE TANK.....

 Wood We Find Wood Too?

 

On our first attempt to find Lost Lake Tank, not only did we get a full load of wood, but Ron made note of the location of some more in case we made our way back out there. We did so, but we chose to come in a different way.  Turned out, there was wood all along the way!  Stop, cut, load.  Repeat. Repeat.  Repeat. Ron wanted to get the wood cut first, so we went past the road to Lost Lake Tank to get what he originally came for.  

Then Lost Lake Tank.  The walk was shorter than we anticipated and very enjoyable, as was the tank.

Lost Lake Tank

We had only come to find Lost Lake Tank on this trip.  But were we done cutting wood?  Was the truck full?  Then we weren't.  One more stop topped it off.  By this time Ron was so maxed out he asked me to drive home-unheard of in our stereotypical man drives-woman doesn't relationship! 

                                                                            "Wood feeds the fire which burns it."

                                                                                                   ---Leonardo da Vinci

SEEKING WATER #3: ON THE WAY TO LOST LAKE TANK.....

 

 

We Found Tanks!

We Found Wood!

 

I found a map on-line that showed the way to Lost Lake Tank.  Wait, Lost Lake Tank?  Whoever names these bodies of water, please, please make up your mind!  We packed our lunches and got on our way in good time.  

Ron is very familiar with the area, and knew of one tank we could stop at on the way:

 

Horse Park Tank

 

We continued, and a mile or so up the road Ron's head turned so hard I heard his neck snap.  What could it be?  Oak, of course!  He keeps his wood cutting equipment in the back of the truck and we had no time constraints, so:

Ron forgot his hat (unheard of!) so a kerchief made do.

Additional map study revealed there were two more tanks on our way:

Cowboy Jr. Tank

and

Cowboy Tank

After lunch, we again continued and found the road to Lost Lake Tank. The road was closed to vehicles, and was something of a walk.  With the wood cutting and loading already under our belts, we decided we'd find it another day.  Now we had a choice of how to work our way home.  Boring: not too far on a FS road, then paved Lake Mary Road. Not Boring: stay on FS roads and wend our way back through Munds Park.  Who needs boring???  Not only was the drive beautiful, but the tanks kept coming:

Antelope Park Tank

 

Weimer Tank

 

Mud Spring Tank

Rock Dike Tank

  

Lee Tank

Bert Tank

Estelle Tank

We never imagined there would be quite this many tanks. 10 in all, and every one with water.  This water seeking adventure is causing me to revise my mental picture of Arizona being such a dry state.  In fact, I have in mind "Land of 10,000 Tanks".  Oh wait, have I plagiarized another state's nickname?

 

                                                                        
                                                                    "Water is the driving force of all nature."

                                                                                        ---Leonardo da Vinci

SEEKING WATER #2: ON THE WAY TO POST, ALS AND DEEP LAKES...

 

 WE FOUND FALL!!!

The Peaks, Pickett Lake, and FLOWERS!

Fall has been gorgeous this year.  We had our first eye-popping fall experience Seeking Post, Als, and Deep Lakes.  These lakes are on a little road off the road to Ashurst Lake, which is a real lake.

 

 

Ashurst Lake, from post 1/17/2021

We started the drive through typical early fall foliage, with a plethora of campers enjoying the weather and scenery.  Very suddenly we came upon a bloom of small sunflowers that literally covered the ground as far as the eye could see.  Amazed, we turned on the first side road, where we came upon a bonus lake, Pickett, completely surrounded by flowers.  Please remember you can double click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Pickett Lake

More Pickett Lake.

After a jaw-gaping walk through the Pickett Lake area, we continued on to find the road to the original destination lakes.  Amongst a blinding amount of flowers, we found

Post Lake

and Als Lake

Upon arriving at Als Lake, Ron decided he'd be wise not to continue on to Deep Lake, so we called it a day and turned around, enjoying the flowering abundance all the way back.

 I was so excited about the flowers, though, that I called faithful hiking companion Sue, enthusiastically extolled the amazingness of this flower find, and suggested she and I go back to flower gaze and find Deep Lake.  She agreed, and was suitably dazzled when we arrived a couple of days later.  We made our flower-laden way to Deep Lake.

Sue, flowers, Deep Lake

More Deep Lake

more

and the rest.

You'll have noticed that these were all dry lakes.  From the sign above, you can read that they are considered wetlands, and are important habitat for wildlife.  

You'll have also noticed that these were all called lakes rather than tanks.  I believe that is because they are all natural basins rather than dammed basins like tanks.  

This Seeking Water drive turning into such a spectacular find of fall flowers was a fortuitous delight.  

 

                                                                               "Earth laughs in flowers." 

                                                                                                --Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

THE DUATHLON IS DONE

 

 

 

You can't tell by looking, but the delay in posting is due to my 10-year-old computer taking the BIG DUMP, a new computer purchased, and a learning curve which put Windows 11 Photos last because it was most intimidating.  I've learned enough to be able to post photos now, so I'm here to do a little catching up.

A Duathlon was my first Fall activity, and a good start to the season.  

The first run was easy. I had the whole event in my mind, so I curbed my enthusiasm and saved some energy for the long haul.

I held up well for the bike ride, stopping for water and small snack.  There's some trickiness to consuming enough to keep you going without upsetting a stomach that has temporarily donated all its blood to the heart.  There's a full market of easy to consume energy tablets, gels, etc, but I didn't think of it.  A mini oatmeal muffin from my freezer and some water was my choice, and it did the job.

The original plan was a 3/12/3 distance event, but in light of my previous post about fatigue and recovery, I looked again on-line and discovered all sorts of distances are done.  A common one is the 3rd Leg is half the distance of the 1st, and that's what I chose.  It was a wise choice, too, because as I started the run, my legs very definitely wondered just WHAT THE HECK I was doing!  I gave them some encouragement and they stepped up to finishing the task very nicely.

"Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best."

                                                                                                              — Theodore Isaac Rubin

 

 

 

SEEKING WATER #1: ON THE WAY TO RITTER SPRING....

 

 

 

Housekeeping #1: I've renamed our water adventures Seeking Water.

Some background:  Ron and I have diametrically different hiking styles.  Ron has good orientation and good balance.  Those skills allow him to take off in the woods and ramble and scramble around, Dan'l Boone style.  He chooses trails as a last resort.  I, on the other hand, choose trails as a first resort.  I have poor orientation;  I've been known to get turned around even with a trail. I have good enough balance for most trails, but not good enough to comfortably scramble.  Over the years, each of us has had and continue to have fantastic hiking experiences; just not together.  

Some of the springs and tanks we're exploring are off the beaten trail.  I have to make a choice:  either scramble and live with my discomfort, or don't go.  So far, I'm making a choice to go.  

Ritter Spring & Ritter Tank were our first destinations.  For the reasons described above, it is a place Ron has been to many times and I never have.  It's quite close to home, and accessed from I17.  We took the exit and turned onto the dirt road.  And on the way to Ritter Spring...we were surprised to see tanks right away!  They weren't new tanks; it was a case of seeing what one is looking for. 

Housekeeping #2:  Many but not all tanks have been named by the Forest Service, and appear as such on maps.  It didn't satisfy my descriptive sensibilities to call the nameless tanks "Unnamed" or "Unknown" or "Anon" or "Mud Puddle".  So, inspired by recent hurricane activity and strictly for the purposes of this blog, I've chosen to adopt NOAA's 2022 Pacific Hurricane names for tanks otherwise unrecognized.  You get to figure out which is which.

 

Agatha Tank

 

Blas Tank w/Gypsy

 

Ritter Spring

There's an actual spring with a pipe just above this water feature.  I guess both the spring and this water at the bottom are called Ritter Spring?  Because just up the road is.....

Ritter Tank, once again adorned by Gypsy

Blow Hole Tank

Celia Tank (probably a stretch to name it; I think it's really a Mud Puddle)

Heron Tank (okay, I deviated from NOAA names!)

Darby Tank

Finding so many tanks when we were looking for just one or two really heightened our interest and the fun factor.  Plus we know from past experience that not all tanks have water in them.  A results of a good monsoon season was at work this day.

A drop of water, if it could write out its own history, would explain the universe to us.

                                                                                                                  ---Lucy Larcom