Travels With Kerri: February 2008

Coffee Flat Trail

This long, hilly trail leads into a remote section of the Superstitions. I only saw one other group, and they were on horses.

If you are wondering - yes, he made it. Tahoe is an expert jumper, often better than me.

The last five miles of the trail ended in a narrow canyon with steep walls and thorny brush on either side. Since it has been raining so much, the creek was high, and that made the trail quite an adventure. We were crawling around bushes or wading through the creek the whole time.

This is a small stream in Whitlow Canyon. We definitely had no trouble finding water throughout the whole trip.

Coffee Flat

It's February, 80 degrees, and the wildflowers are popping up everywhere. They think it's spring. I saw lots of Mexican gold poppies, lupine, and even the jojoba are blooming.

I often encounter cattle gates like this on the trail. If it's in good shape, I simply lift the wire, and pull the gate open. If it's crappy, I pull, push, and yank. Then, take my pack off and crawl under it just like Tahoe does.

We camped in Coffee Flat Canyon. I made a campfire. I haven't done that in a long time, so it was nice to relax by the it. Tahoe was so tired that he immediately went into the tent and napped on his mat.

This is my nemesis - the squeaky windmill. It was totally still all afternoon. At ten o'clock at night, a slight breeze picked up. That's when the horredous screeching began. It sounded like a tiger was being strangled. I climbed it and shoved a mesquite branch into the blades.

All about trout

Josh & Brandon went fly fishing in the Colorado River this weekend. Here's Brandon with his 19 inch rainbow trout.

They fished near Lee's Ferry and about 15 miles up river.

Their guide took them by boat to see Hoover Dam, and they got close enough to put all the armed guards on edge.

Boulder Canyon

It was another warm weekend, so Tahoe and I went for a hike in the Sup's.

I saw several lizards and cactus wrens, and a hummingbird dive bombed me. I think she was protecting her nest.

Even though Tahoe is not really a water dog, he has grown fond of creeks. He likes to jump around and splash the water.

A wet hike

Tahoe was all over the place, exploring side canyons, pools of water, and running up hills. I think he wore himself out because when we got home, he immediately hopped on his bed and didn't move the rest of the night.

Colorful lichen on a boulder.

The weather has been unusual, raining about once a week for the last couple months. I love the abundance of water in but fear a bad wildfire season this summer.

Marsh Valley Loop

This is all rain water.

I saw lots of morteros (Indian grinding holes) in the rock.

The trail through Boulder Canyon was an adventure because it required bushwacking and route finding. The last time I was here it was bone dry. After I got two pairs of socks wet, I ended up taking off my shoes and wading across six times. Tahoe loved it!