15 Feb - Exploring Around Mesa

Steve and I have been exploring around Mesa. I wanted to show him some of my favorite places, and we explored a few new places together. There are so many great places to walk and hike in this area, that we barely scratched the surface of all we want to see and visit.

Camelback - Steve and I hiked part-way up Camelback Mountain, in Phoenix, for great views of the city in the valley below.

Lost Dog Trail - We hiked a small part of the Lost Dog Trail in the McDowell Mountains.

Lost Dutchman State Park - We hiked a couple trails in this park, one of which goes up into the Superstition Mountains, so you get a great view of the Goldfield Mountains and Apache Junction to the west, and Four Peaks to the east ↑ . One hike was the day after it snowed in the mountains, and so all the highest mountains had snow on their tops.

Water Ranch Riparian Preserve - We made a couple trips to this park in Gilbert, which is one of my very favorite places in town. One Saturday we happened to catch a tour from an Audubon guide and I saw several birds I'd never seen before. I saw my first pintail duck and my first green-winged teal - they are both exquisitely beautiful - and a couple of gorgeous cinnamon teals. ↑

We also happened to catch a couple male Anna's Hummingbirds flashing their colors at each other, warning each other to stay out of its territory.
[↓ not flashing, flashing → ] Hummingbirds are very aggressive, and very territorial little birds, and I have seen them hit each other so hard when they are fighting over a hummingbird feeder ,that one of them knocked the other to the ground. You can even see on the photo on the left that the little bird looks mean and threatening. Their aggression is out of all proportion to their size. Amazing!

I also got some good shots at the Water Ranch of some of my favorites - snowy egret [at top of page] and great blue heron ↓.

Veteran's Oasis - I'd heard about this park for some time as a good birding spot. Steve and I hiked here and did enjoy the birds. We did get a great view of a roadrunner ↓ .

Apache Trail - The day after it snowed in the mountains, we drove the loop from Mesa to Globe to Roosevelt Lake to Tortilla Flat and back to Mesa. At Roosevelt Lake bridge, there was a reflection of the bridge in the water for just a few seconds, but I was able to catch it before it disappeared ↓. The drive from Roosevelt to Tortilla Flat is one of the most scenic in the country, though the road is primitive and not always even passable in the springtime. It was a treat this day, especially with snow on the tops of the mountains, and I'm glad I got to share it with Steve.

Salt River Trail - I took Steve to one of my favorite places, hiking along the Salt River north of town, near Red Mountain →.

Renaissance Festival - I have been many times to the big Renaissance Festival outside of Houston, Texas, but had never been to the one here in AZ, and Steve had never been to one. We spent a day here, and enjoyed the medieval carnival atmosphere, all the people dressed up in medieval costumes, the royalty walking by, the jugglers. The Falconer's presentation on birds of prey was especially impressive [↑ white African vulture] . Other highlights included listening to a harpist and other musicians, Ded Bob the comedian, and the glass-blower demonstration.