Ash Creek

The trail began in an aspen grove and then turned into thick ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. The first section of the trail descended quickly about 600 feet until we hit the creek in the canyon. We had the whole place to ourselves; I didn't see one other backpacker during the two days I was there.

Many old rusted relics were abandoned lined the creek. Tahoe is checking out an old boiler (I think).

All the pine trees had cute little new leaves on the tips.

Ash Creek cascades down the canyon with hundreds of tiny waterfalls.

Wonders along the creek

This cactus was absolutely beautiful, blazing orange on the rocky canyon wall.

I saw many of these collared spiny lizards. They like to hang out on the boulders, sunning themselves. There were 5 of them on this rock outcropping.

This is one of the few meadows along the trail.

Much to my surprise, it sprinkled that night. I leaned out of my tent, and tried to enjoy the sunset without getting too wet.

Waterfalls

There were several nice swimming holes along the creek.

One section of the trail was really steep and slippery with a tall granite wall like this. Tahoe and I both slid down it about 12 feet into the creek. I landed on my butt in the water, but Tahoe managed to land much more gracefully.

Tahoe the wonder dog! He is an awesome jumper and can clear most logs.

When we got back to the car, I was putting my stuff away, and I looked over and saw this.

Mt. Graham

This was my first time visiting Mt. Graham. It is called a "sky island" because the mountain is set in the desert, but it there is alpine forest on the top, complete with Douglas fir and Englemann spruce trees.

The views from the top are amazing; I could see a hundred miles away.

This is one of the few places I have found New Mexican raspberry bushes. The flowers are really fragrant.

Riggs Flat Lake

This little known lake is located near the top of Mt. Graham within the Coronado National Forest. To get to it, I had to drive up a long, windy mountain road which reminded me of the Hana Highway.

The trout is stocked with brook and brown trout. I also saw a couple wild turkeys.

Nifty knitting

I taught myself how to knit hats. I started with baby ones. Then, Josh came home with camoflauge yarn, so I had to make him one.

He looks good!

Happy Mother's Day

Mom enjoyed the company of her granddogs, except Frank who couldn't come.

Lucy sought the safety of dad's lap.

Mom decided Maggie needed her own chair at the table because she couldn't see a thing from the floor.

Tahoe stole one of Lucy's bones from her stash of toys and guarded it the whole night

Kickin' it

This is a pretty typical day for Cowboy.

Sometimes he licks his empty food bowl...then Tahoe's...then the girls' bowls.

Que?

I recently bought the new MSR Hyperflow water filter. It is the lightest and fastest pump on the market and filters 3 liters per minute! But that is not the most interesting part. It comes with 9 sets of instruction booklets in languages including Arabic, Italian, Japanese, and some language I can't even decipher.

Pest control

When Boulder is not stretched out on a smooth, flat surface, she is chasing bugs. Most of the time they are invisible bugs, but last night she was stalking a scorpion (in our living room!). She must have learned her lesson because she wasn't getting too close to it.

HS Canyon

This trail led past rugged walls of Supai sandstone. There were lots of huge manzanita and alligator juniper trees.

This trail is not often used, so it was really overgrown, but it was also quiet and peaceful.

Look at all these wildflowers.

Tahoe was a tired boy. He plopped down in the dirt until I set up the tent, and then spent all evening hogging my mat.