Wednesday Apr 25 |
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| Back to work - still short-handed and lots to do. Looking like not much time for any running or biking. And to top it off got back to discover our Titan Arum has got another flower bud coming on strong at 25.5" and growing about 2-3 inches a day right now. And this corm is a good 50% larger (125#) than the 2004 bloom so if all goes well we should have a really nice big bloom in mid May. |
Monday Apr 23 |
| Hiking 3:00:00 [1] | |
| shoes: Kumasi GTX |
| Arizona Day 7 - more short hikes, this time at Petrified Forest NP. Snow in the AM (around Flagstaff), but warmer and windy at Petrified Forest. Then a long drive to Phoenix driving by the site of the '98 Mogollon Rim Rogaine where my partner and I lost by a measly 10 points to PG & Swampfox. Arrived at Sky Harbor around 8 and caught the 11pm redeye to Atlanta, then back home to CT around 12:30pm Tuesday afternoon with a carload of particularly tired kids.
AOWN recap - no coyote (actually one but it was roadkill in the process of being eaten by a raven), no javelina, a bunch of elk, mule deer, muskrats, pronghorn antelopes, california condors, assorted lizards and beetles, the rattlesnake twins from Tuzigoot and numerous birds. |
Sunday Apr 22 |
| Hiking 3:15:00 [1] | |
| shoes: Kumasi GTX |
| Arizona Day 6 - lots of short hikes to explore indian ruins in Wupatki NM and then some hiking in a lava flow at Sunset Crater Volcano NM. Wanted to also visit Walnut Canyon NM but ran out of time.. Sunny and windy again... |
Saturday Apr 21 |
| Hiking 3:30:00 [1] | |
| shoes: Kumasi GTX |
| Arizona Day 5 - Hiking at Tuzigoot NM
AOWN - second hike there was on a short, paved nature trail out along a ridge overlooking a marshy area (former oxbox in the verde river) - on the way back Hayden and I were walking along and watching downslope for coyote or javelina when all of a sudden I hear a really loud rattling at my feet - yikes!! big ass white fangs eyeing my calves less than a foot from me. And at that range the rattle is really loud!! I jumped out of range and Hayden ran back to Ellen, Jackson & Anna about 20m back. We carefully skirted it and went back to the ranger station to report it. The ranger got his stuff and came out to collect it for scientific measurement and noted that it was the first rattler they had seen this year - about 4 footer and freshly gorged on something tasty. Put him in the bucket and wandered back along the trail chatting with Mr. Ranger dude and shortly noticed another rattler stretched out along the trail - this one smaller, but much more aggressive - helped ranger dude put him in the bucket with the other one and two rattlers in one bucket make a hell of a racket... Two snakes in 5 minutes is enough for me....
Later on spent about 90 minutes walking a combination of trails in Red Rocks SP in Sedona.... gorgeous!! |