Pusch Ridge

It was a bit cool this morning when we got up, but things quickly improve in Arizona! We made a run to Wallmart for supplies, and then I took my 3 photos down to the Video Room to enter them into the big Rincon Country Photo Contest! All is ready!

After lunch we had our minds set up that it was time to hike! Judy found a great web site that lists all the hiking trails around this area so we picked one out called "Linda Visa Trail". It was a 1/2 hour drive on the bikes to the other side of Tucson and "Mountain Area"...

We parked in a Golf Club parking lot, and as you can see, the mountains were not far away...

On our way to the Trail Head, Judy found this cactus having a good day!... This is what some rain will do for you in the desert...

We had no idea what to expect from this trail, but it look OK from the Trail Head sign. We started around 1:30 this afternoon.

As usual, I was carrying about 50 lbs. of electronics and stuff... cell phone...hand held GPS...digital camera.... binoculars....Swiss army knife.... bottle of water...yup, I was ready for anything....

The targets for the camera were plenty! Lots to shoot at...

It turned out to be beautiful and the temperature was just perfect for hiking. We soon figured out this was one of the nicest hiking trails we have been on for quite a while. It was like a cactus garden.

This was one of the bigger saguaro cactus we have run across... there were lots of them here.

As you can see here there were a few cactus plants around, you had to be careful wearing your shorts on this hike....ya, OK, I did brush into one with my knee, but there was just a bit of blood... the hazards of being a tourist. You are not supposed to hike in your shorts, but we simply can't help it down here...

Come to think of it, right after Judy took this next picture of me, I hit the cactus.... :-((

Yes, that is snow you see up on the mountains to the left, it would be at around the 5,000 foot level, and don't worry, we did not even come close...

When you take a close look at this cactus, and many of the others, you will see round holes drilled into the arms.... birds hollow out their nest. It does not hurt the cactus, and it forms a scar around the opening to protect itself. There were birds all over here this afternoon, and they all were singing... guess there starting to think about flying back to Canada....?????....

More flowering plants...

Pictures do not come close to describing what we saw today on this hike. The mountains are huge! You feel like a small speck on the map. I never get tired of hiking and taking pictures of the mountains! Today's hike was about 4 miles in length.....(maybe 7 klms.)

Now here is one with a twist....

You would need some special tools to be able to climb to the summit...

This is sort of like getting all your ducks lined up....

Just about back to the trail head, watch out for the cactus!

There was lots of rabbits around, very fast, and did not want to stand still so I could get his picture...

These were a type of pine tree that I have never seen before.....

A great day overall, followed by a hot tub to sooth the old body!

Had a good chin wag on the phone tonight with Tom Reece back in Richmond Hill.... all seems to be well with Tom, he told me he even washed his car this past weekend in his T Shirt.... don't worry Tom, you will be able to get the Vette out soon!

Till tomorrow....