Until today, I thought this was only something I could do during rem sleep. It is now on the top of my list of bizarre activities! They have locations in California, Washington and Oregon: Sky High Sports
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We just moved in Arizona in October 2008 after living the majority of our young lives in the great state of Minnesota. To say the lease, I did NOT miss the Minnesota winter. Being able to step outside in December in a skirt and flip flops never got old. Being able to go camping on a whim in February couldn’t have been nicer.
The local new reported this week that June has procured record lows, sporting an unusual 14 days straight of below 100 degree weather. My friends from Minnesota would baulk at 100 degree weather, but that is simply because the 100 degree weather they know is generally accompanied by muggy humidity which sends the heat index much higher and makes for a very uncomfortable inabability to self cool when outdoors. In Arizona, when the thermometer reads 100, it feels more like 85-90, especially in the shade because of the dry atmosphere. The human body’s cooling system is definitely better equipped to handle dry heat and very ill equipped to handle freezing temperatures.
Evening view from our back porch in Phoenix, AZ
So the “nice” June weather here has allowed more afternoon activities and perfect evenings. What the weather man in AZ doesn’t know is that wherever I go, great weather follows 
And in the wake of my departure from Minnesota, that state had one of the harshest winters in a long while. Just sayin…
In the past I have blogged about the Apache Trail but this weekend we packed up our camping gear and headed out on a Sunday afternoon for a one night camping expedition. Having driven the trail before, we recalled a few places where camping could be found just off the road. We set out from Chandler on the 88 and found a place to park just a few miles after the dirt road begins. To find the location, drive down the step ravine incline. At the bottom there is a river and a bridge to pass over the river. Just 1/8 of a mile past the bridge there is a parking area to the left (West) of the road with some boulders to prevent you from driving further in to the land. Park there and follow the trail to the river. Just after crossing the river there are many places for camping with sandy ground, good clearing and sometimes you might get lucky and find an abandoned fire ring made of rocks.
Make sure you do not go when rain is expected, as the trail drive can be difficult and there is a good chance for washes to come roaring down the lowlands and raising the level of the water. We pitched camp here and just soaked in the scenery around us.
Out there the night sky lit up like nothing I’ve ever seen before! I’ve been camping many times but this was something else! Our bellies full of potstickers and hot cocoa, we sat by the fire until the night became a blanket around us and the stars shone their brightest. The bubbly stream, singing frogs and breeze ruffling the trees lulled us to sleep in our tent.
In the morning we hiked up the river and found even more good camping pads and secluded caves. Then we packed up and headed back, but not before noticing a few crushed vehicles that glinted on the steep slope just below the high apache trail. Two trucks had taken the plunge from the harrowing road and were left to rust:
On the way back West on 88 we stopped at Tortilla Flat for some famous Prickly Pear Ice Cream. The unique fruit flavor of the prickly pear was a welcome taste after a warm hike through the river. As we rounded a sharp corner after Tortilla Flat, we came upon a rescue scene pulling a Jeep up from the cliff. The entire top was flattened from its recent roll down the hill. We only hoped that the occupants made it out ok. Get one tire off the road and you are done for. This is definitely the place to be cautious. Even though we were fairly certain no wild animals would bother us, we kept a hand knife on us at all times and slept with an axe and a rock pick at the ready. The thrill of sleeping under the stars with no other humans to bother us was worth it!
This past weekend we drove from Phoenix, Arizona down to the Catalina Mountains just north of Tuscon in search of Trilobites in the soft grey limestone. We found the collecting site from Gem Trails of Arizona by J. R. Mitchell It was written in 2001, so some of the accuracy in the ‘freshness’ of gathering sites may be outdated. However, we went with high hopes of finding something and if not, at least having an adventure!
2/15/08
After a few hours on the road, we reached the Catalina Mountains and struggled to accurately follow the hand drawn map in the book to a little town called Oracle. We passed the road titled “Biosphere” with a bit of hesitation, seriously considering pausing our fossil hunt for a side trip to the unknown ‘biosphere’, but giddily declined: the possibility of fossils waiting to be found too tantalizing to let linger.
Turning into Oracle we passed a few small town icons: the one gas station, cows along side the dirt road, and abandoned houses. The dirt road winded up and around hills finally reaching the base of a large hill (or small mountain… I’m still not sure which one it was). Our little 4 door crawled up the dirt switchbacks, rounded the top of the hill-mountain. I held my breath as we drove over a washed out part of the dirt road that revealed a steep cliff overhang just inches from the driver side wheels. Parking at the base of the hill on the other side, we walked 100 paces to the wash where said fossils were supposedly waiting to be found and adored in a collection by adventurous fans.
When we turned into the trench, a hillbilly family was occupying the entrance with their well worn Ford Truck. They moved timidly away from us. We gave a kind hello and asked if they had found anything, seeing them picking about with a metal detector. We passed them quickly after they gave a few grunts in our direction, the woman continuing to search and her son swinging about in the trees, breaking them and tumbling into the ditch. Many people search for gold nuggets in the bottom of washes, as they usually settle there. If they had found anything they certainly were not sharing information with us.
The soft grey limestone dotted the sides of the deep trench-like wash. A pine like tree grew alongside the cactus in the wash and up the hillsides, making it easier for us to climb up the steep bank to hack away at the stones. The limestone had evidence of eager hunters before us. We searched for 3 hours. Nothing. Except one little thing… a baby lizard. We found him next to a scorpion huddle (they huddle under rocks together to keep warm).
The sun was setting, so we drove home passing along the way the part of the road that was threatening to wash out down the cliff, this time I was the one inches from the edge starring down the rocky, cactus-laden slope. We plan to try a new spot each weekend, so be prepared for a little Arizona adventure sprinkled into whatever else I decide to throw on my blog.
Gary, the baby lizard we found, has taken up residence in a home-made habitat inside a plastic spinach box on our kitchen counter. We’ve had to tape it down because our cat Autumn has a particular fondness towards Gary.
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