Tuesday, February 19, 2019

More Cold Hiking

Welp, we have yet another hard freeze warning for tonight.  There will probably be another one Friday and Saturday nights.  Have I mentioned that this is the WORST WINTER EVER??????  No?  Well it is.  What's made it particularly bad is the almost daily wind and the persistence of the cold temperatures.  We went to the gym yesterday, it was so cold.  That's saying something, we hate the gym.  Today it's all we can do to put our clothes on because our pecs and lats hurt so much.  Anyway we did get a hike in today, wearing ear bras and gloves.  Totally sad.

The two vertical arrows are from our last two hikes.  When it warms up a little we want to repeat the right most arrow and see if we can get on top of that ridge.  Today we got on a new to us trail and headed toward the really big rocks, pointed at by the angled arrow on the right.


On the way we saw a jojoba plant who is developing fruit.  This is a female plant.  The male plant has little yellow flowers.  The female has almost no visible flower.  Wikipedia has a good article with pictures.  If you look dead center you can see the immature fruits of the plant. 


What we thought would be a flat trail turned into an uphill trail as we approached the big rocks.  As we left the sheltered valley, the wind picked up and our discomfort increased.  We turned around and went home.  There were still chores to be done.


Again we're covering the tender plants that are not from here!


It was interesting, we saw three adults and one juvenile mule deer when we were hiking.  We later saw them in the back yard of the people hosting happy hour.  They were absolutely brazen, standing in the yard, nibbling at the new growth, and looking at the people in the house.

5 comments:

  1. If this isn't too brazen, how old are you two. If too brazen, don't answer. In my sixties, up to my seventies, I could do this sort of walking. Now, I haven't got back up to walking around the block. I love you pictures and descriptions, and hope you conquer the ridge.

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    1. I am 66, and Jim is 72. We have definitely lost some leg speed, but it's still good to go outside.

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  2. I am sooo not happy with this winter. I know we aren't suffering like a lot of the country, but I'm still miserable. No hiking for us and no plants to cover. Just four old dogs at our house. (2 two legged, 2 four legged)

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  3. It has been quite the winter! Luckily for us we don't mind going to the gym, and I'm starting to get used to playing pickleball when it's only in the 40s as long as the sun is shining. It's going to be a real treat next week when it gets back up into the 60s!

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  4. It's just too darn cold here! I can't believe this is really Arizona. Love your flagstone patio.

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