Tag: moon

Tosche Station

The moon sets over a building near the 114th Street entrance to McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 30, 2020. Original: _CAM8649.arw

The moon sets over Tosche Station, I was supposed to meet my friend Luke here to pick up some power converters but he had a couple of new droids to take care of. I forget what this building actually is, I think it’s a utility building of some sort, but it reminds me of Star Wars and thus makes me smile. It sits at one of the neighborhood entrances to the preserve, closest to my favorite saguaro, there’s no parking here but we live close enough that my wife can drop me off when she’s available. That saves me some time hiking over from Brown’s Ranch, while I love that section of the trail it lowers the probability of me getting seduced by woodpeckers.

I’ve been meaning to photograph it for a while, I almost did the other morning when the entire scene was bathed in red but I wanted to get out to the saguaro (which was bathed in pink when I arrived). I couldn’t resist a quick shot a few days later as the moon set, I only took the one as I wanted to see if I could include the moon in a scene with the saguaro and since the moon wasn’t standing still, neither could I.

A Little Nod

My shadow points towards the southern edge of the Granite Mountain with the moon about to set, the sun starting to rise, at McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 3, 2020. Original: _CAM5292.arw

Saturday morning for the first time in two months I had enough energy to get up early for a hike in the desert. With the sun rising and the moon about to bid good day I used a gently sloping boulder abutting the trail to add my shadow to the desert’s own, a little nod to my deep appreciation at being back.

The Desert in Bloom

California poppies and Coulter's lupines bloom at sunrise in the Sonoran Desert in front of granite formations along the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

First light falls on the California poppies and Coulter’s lupines blooming in front of the rock formation I call the Guardian. Haven’t had much time and/or energy for hiking the past few weeks but thankful I was able to get out for a few hours last week to see the desert in bloom. This was my first time seeing the Sonoran Desert bloom like this. The picture below is from a few minutes earlier in a slightly different position, clouds in the east mostly blocked the sunrise light but a little bit of red light fell upon the landscape before coming on strong for a few minutes as shown above. I like them both.

We arrived in Arizona a year ago today, how thankful I am we ended up in this wonderful place.

California poppies and Coulter's lupines bloom just before sunrise in the Sonoran Desert in front of granite formations along the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

Merry Christmas

A rock formation resembling a smiling face looks out over the desert at sunrise on the Marcus Landslide Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve

I call this rock formation the Guardian of the Desert, I love how it smiles while looking out over the desert valley. It reminds me of the moai on Easter Island, though this statue was not carved by human hands. I spent this Christmas morning on the trails but the picture is from a month ago, taken at first light on a lovely morning in the Sonoran Desert.

Firsts

A foothill palo verde tree with the moon above it at first light on the Sunrise Trail at McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

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.