I awoke Friday morning with that yearning.
You know of what I speak, the yearning to ,,,,,
A different beginning such as B&G, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, coffee, and milk, for breakfast not only that but Breakfast out. ie; I didn't cook it. So to Claire's Café I went which conveniently is next door.
Then, I wanted to go somewhere, somewhere away from the RV, not work, and not HOT. I looked at the mountains and thought, "that's where I want to go"
On the way I decided to stop at Peppersauce Canyon to check out the cave. Now, unofficially and supposedly this cave (which is quite large underground) was a refuge for outlaws back in the day.
It was a hike through beautiful country. Heck, I've been walking 2 miles everyday So I can do this. (did I mention the two miles was on flat ground alongside the road LOL)
I wasn't the only one going upstream through this dry wash. And neither of us had an ATV.
That's two, a sign? Or just glad I had ZOOOOOOM !!!!
Guess it was restricted to thin outlaws.
I don't think the snakes did this, nor the outlaws, or Indians before them. This type stuff really irritates me.
ummm, end of exploring the cave today. Guess I'll take their word on how big it is. But it was a really nice cool temp. in there.
So as they say, upward and onward. Literally.
road narrows or so the sign said, also unmaintained.
But hey I have a Jeep 8)
I ALWAYS follow the tow bar it's my aiming stake.
That's where we were, (we as in me and snakes) this is where we're at, and in a bit ,,,,
The fire damaged top.
Upward and onward is now down, down, down.
In 1906 Tim Barnum was the first Scout Leader in Tucson and during the summer his Explorer scouts would be posted on top of this rock to assist the Forest Rangers by watching for fires. thus the name Barnum Rock
This is lonely tree rock. Or balancing rock next to lonely tree. Or ,,,,
Either way certain scout leaders from Utah are not allowed up there
We would build pretty much impenetrable fences out of this when I was a kid. We'd wire the Ocotillo together in a shallow ditch. They'd grow, flower, and be strong. Nothing got through it
We called these jumping cactus because (I swear) you could be inches from them walking by and they'd jump out and get ya. Actually those pieces would break off just brushing against them. In cactus country you always want to carry a comb.
We'd burn off the thorns on the Prickly Pear on dry years and feed the cattle the flat part. I've eaten many jars of homemade Prickly Pear Jelly
The Prickly Pear is a hearty plant.
When the girls and I lived in Patagonia there was a Prickly Pear next to the wall I wanted to get rid of. (kids and all)
I dug, it came back,
I burned it came back.
I chopped it came back.
We found out we had termites (in a stucco house go figure) and the house had to be tented.
I asked the guy if he thought it'd kill a Prickly Pear. He said oh yeah, no problem so he put the tent over the Cactus, gassed it and the house.
A few weeks later the sucker bloomed. LOL
A lot of cactus are actually agave. I had a teacher in college on a field trip tell me I wrong when I referred to shin sticker (oops shindagger) as a cactus. I invited him to sit on it and then tell me it wasn't a cactus 8)
Don't you like all the desert plant names. They all sound painful.
If you remember a while back I did a post on living in a box canyon on Mt. Lemon.
The rules for my brother (11) and I (12) were pretty simple Get up, do chores, eat breakfast, be back by dark. The world was different then and the miles around our cabin were my brother and my playground. We climb over the ridge behind us, then the next one to go see a couple of friends whose parents worked at the boys camp, we climb up the sides of the mountain and build forts, tumbled huge rocks down a canyon or found holes of water to swim in.
One time we were tipping boulders up at the end of the canyon by the (dry) water fall. We liked to watch then roll and bounce down the canyon wall and hit the big trees along the creek bed. One time we rolled a really big one and heard it cracking tree branches then my Dad saying something like hey boys I'm down here so be careful Your Mom says come eat. Or something like that, well, maybe not those exact words or that exact implied tone.
This was a favorite swimming hole. We'd climb down there and spend the sunny part of the day swimming. It was about 6 miles down the mountain from home so when the shadow crossed the water we knew it was time to head back.
Of course if we heard my parents car horn it was time to hi-ack-ko up to the highway.
If they needed to go down the mountain to town they'd begin honking the horn of the car. If we weren't back by the time they left they'd honk it as they drove. If they got past us we were in big trouble when they got home. usually if we missed them we'd high-tail it home and do something good like haul up some water, chop some wood, etc. to help mitigate the damage when they retuned.
Ever hear that saying spare the rod and spoil the child?
Well my Dad never had any spoiled children, well except the one sister. She may have been the second from the youngest but she may as well have been the baby. LOL
Can you see Lonely Tree by Balancing Rock?
It's right up there.
Oh, and a comb?
Not to look good.
But you could slide it between the Cholla cactus and your body with the splines going between the teeth then you grit your teeth and flip the comb. Out pops the cactus. Much easier than grabbing it with your other hand, then grabbing that one with your other hand, then ,,,,,,
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