McDowell Sonoran Preserve – Page 60

Tails to Tell

Last week I saw my first Gila monster but got my best look at its tail as it slowly walked into the bushes. This morning I saw my first western diamondback rattlesnake but also got my best look at its distinctive tail as it slowly slithered into the bushes. Thankfully I didn’t spook it, as I crested a small hill I saw it far enough away that it wasn’t startled and I kept a respectful distance. I had already put my camera away but had time to take off my backpack and get the camera out and take a picture of that beautiful tail.

Morning Glory

I hesitate to post this as not only is it not a good picture but you’re only seeing the tail end (ahem) of a brief encounter Saturday morning. But this brief encounter already joins my pantheon of favorite hiking moments, as the one creature I wanted to see in Arizona above all others, but the one I knew was rare to see, was the Gila monster. I arrived at Brown’s Ranch before sunrise Saturday morning as I have many times the past couple of months, this section of McDowell Sonoran Preserve has been the place I’ve visited most frequently. I hoped to photograph Gambel’s quail up on the saguaros in the lovely morning light but I found something unexpected when I arrived at the trailhead: clouds.

I’m used to clouds. I’m from Oregon. But I’ve gotten so used to blue skies here in the desert that I’ve only been checking temperatures before I hike, not cloud cover. The clouds were thick (for Arizona, not for Oregon), thick enough to snuff out the morning light, and that meant a change of plans. Instead of looking for wildlife along familiar trails, I immediately headed out eastward on the Chuckwagon Trail. I had hiked it the week before with the sun in my eyes so I took advantage of the cloud cover to shoot patterns in the plants and rocks along the trail and had a grand time.

I wasn’t seeing much wildlife, not even a lizard, and jokingly thought to myself that I hadn’t been in Arizona long enough to know who to complain to about that. I hiked further on the trails this time, up to Cathedral Rock, and turned around to try some different trails on the route back. I packed up my telephoto lens as the sun was getting a bit bright, swapped my tripod for my hiking poles, and set off to explore.

I didn’t make it very far. There it was crossing the trail in front of me, one of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen, this Gila monster. As slowly as it walked – walked? waddled would be a better term – and as colorful as it was, it soon disappeared into the desert brush. I grabbed my little Sony out of my camera bag and got a quick picture before it was gone from sight, but there was no time to set the focus on its head. Then it was gone.

We only shared a few seconds together but I’ll remember those seconds for a lifetime. I returned to Brown’s Ranch this morning but the clouds did not. I found my quail on a saguaro, and more besides. The desert is full of wonders, but this wonder, this monster, I hope to meet again.

My Desert Whale

I didn’t expect to see a humpback breach the surface of the water, not in the middle of the desert, but there it was and so it was, my desert whale.

Brown’s Ranch

The Brown’s Ranch section of McDowell Sonoran Preserve has quickly become one of my favorite local places to hike. It’s far too soon to say if it will become my Ridgefield – the default place I go when I want to go out – but it has been a great place to explore and learn about the desert in the spring. I’m assuming it was named after someone named Brown and not because everything is brown, though both would be apt.

Not the Usual Suspects

In my short time here there are a handful of birds I’ve gotten used to seeing on the saguaros: Gila woodpeckers, gilded flickers, house finches, cactus wrens, and curve-billed thrashers. But I sometimes see more than the usual suspects, such as this splash of color that momentarily swooped into view early Saturday morning. He’s a young Bullock’s oriole, he’ll be even more colorful and vibrant in a year. I’ve only see this species a couple of times before, both during my years in Portland, so here’s hoping we meet more often in Arizona.

Head of the Class

A saguaro blossom is the first of its group to flower.

Home in the Desert

As we make our home in the desert it is painfully clear to me as I hike, suited up with bottles of water and protective sun gear, that I will never be at home in the desert, not like they are, the animals who live here. This black-tailed jackrabbit can leap 5 or 10 feet at a time and reach speeds up to 40 mph, but on this morning it casually sauntered off into its desert home.

The Red Flower Is Not a Flower

A male house finch peeks out from behind a blooming saguaro cactus in the Brown’s Ranch section of McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

Chasing Waterfalls

I loved the many waterfalls of the Northwest and knew I was leaving them behind when we moved from Oregon to Arizona, but as I stood under Tom’s Thumb I realized I had found a waterfall of sorts. I didn’t need a slow shutter speed to turn the waterfall into a flow of white. I’m not sure what kind of birds are making their home up there but further around the rock formation prairie falcons were nesting, as the rock climbing route was closed while the falcons were nesting. You can see one of the routes on the right side of the picture, it’s the thin grey line ascending the rock face.

Firsts

First light falls upon a foothill palo verde tree as the moon hangs above, taken yesterday morning on my first hike of the Sunrise Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Life has been full of a lot of firsts lately and hiking has been no exception. This morning was the first time I hiked in shorts since arriving here, as I’m testing out when I want to wear short sleeves and shorts based on temperature, and unfortunately it was also the first time I slipped on the trails here. Nothing serious, just skinned up one of my shins, but I don’t think in two decades of hiking in the Northwest I ever drew blood (to be fair I rarely lose my footing).

But mostly the firsts have been positive. First time seeing animals, first time seeing plants, first time visiting parks, first time hiking trails. The new Columbia sun hat and new Merrell hiking shoes are both working well, Friday morning I wore the shoes for the first time on a flat hike and by Saturday morning I was confident enough to wear them on this hike of the Sunrise Trail, which is mostly constant elevation change. It was also quite windy so fortunately I had the chinstrap on my hat cinched tight or my new hat would be soaring above the desert even now.