Land of the sharp and prickly

We have been here at Catalina State Park a week.
The photo below was our first campsite in the park.

This photo is from our present campsite. You can't go wrong here- all the sites have great views.

I haven't found much time to post to my blog lately..

I keep telling everyone that I believe that time has changed cosmically in the past year...
I somehow now have a few less hours in a day.... That is the only way I can explain my inability to do all that I used to do in a day.

We have been busy since we arrived in Tucson.
We had a Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp get together.

Fun birding with a great group of people!
We saw birds like this Lewis's woodpecker.

And this Greater Peewee.
(Both photos digiscoped with my ipod)
Actually, all the photos on this post are taken with my iPod.

I use my ToonCamera app, HDR app and the regular camera mode on my iPod.
The tooned photos below taken at Sabino Canyon.

I love this desert landscape!

Birding the grasslands-

Then into the magical woods looking for and finding Great Horned Owl.

The three Dryads-
Recharging after a full day of birding.

Sunset over the grasslands

It was a wonderful weekend- much fun and laughter and wonderful memories to treasure.

The last evening these bloggers and Jeff had a lovely dinner at Kathies. It was our farewell dinner as she is moving back north into the winter colds of Maine.

That evening the three gals above had a sleepover at
Kathies and chatted until the wee hours of the morning.
The next morning Kathie took us to Saguaro National Park East.

The three amigas had a great time walking around the park, looking for birds.

When we arrived at the last picnic area in the park we decided to rest and have a bite to eat.
I think the wildlife is used to people and the crumbs we leave behind.
See the bird?

Remember these are all handheld photos taken with my iPod.

It was a super weekend.
We all parted ways and hope to see each other again!
So there ya have it.
Last weekend in a nutshell of a blog post.
I still have a post from Las Vegas waiting in the wings - who knows if you will ever see it.
It's the time thing ... I wish someone would find all the time I am losing and give it back. ;)

Goodbye to Candycane and Polka dots..

It was our last hike into one of my most favorite areas of Calico Basin..

We left our friends driveway and headed west..

See that smallish home in the center?

I would love to own it..what a fabulous view.

I wonder what bird left this downy feather behind…

It was a beautiful, warm, clear day in Calico basin.

We followed the path around to the area that goes over the mountain.

I could spend days here looking at the different rocks..

A view of Turtle head in the distance..

The hike starts to get steep…

Jeff leaves me in the dust as I slowly walk to the summit..

I turn around to catch my breath and take this photo of the area we came from.

A Rock Wren bobs around the top of this rock..

Jeff hiking up on the left..

I stop many times..Mostly to catch my breath..

It’s a great opportunity to look around and take photos..

Do you see a Gorilla?

Views from the path below..

I have more huffing and puffing to do..

I need to hike way up there..

There has been no rain in the area for weeks..

But..I find this tiny purple flower.

Finally at the top, I find Jeff taking a nap.

I look up behind me and see something up in the rock…

Looks like a great spot to enjoy the scene.

I thought this was a Dark-eyed Junco when I took this photo, as a flock flew past us when we were resting on the rocks.

Now that I look at it I can see its not a Junco. Not sure what it is..possibly a Rock Wren.

Its time to continue our walk off the other side of the mountain and into the wash below.

Turtle head is the gray mountain in the distance.

We hiked there four years ago…didn’t fit that hike in this time around.

Colors..

This is what I LOVE about this area.

As we head into the canyon we hear a helicopter..

It was a Police recue helicopter doing maneuvers through the canyon..

Check out the video I took of helicopter..seemed a little scary doing the maneuvers in this rocky area.

We aren't the only ones watching..check out the group below..

Time to continue on…

Another view of Turtle head mountain..

We work our way down to the wash..

Past striped rocks..

Hello there!

Fabulous sculptured rock..

I adore it here!

Finally down in the wash..

A sandstone hole..

Its lovely and stripy and polka dotty here..

Its also chilly here in the canyon..

We are in the shade..

I look up at the rock in the sun and see someone climbing..

Here he is..

We watched for a while..

Then continue our walk in the shadows..

I am going to walk on and let the rocks speak for themselves..

I hope you enjoy this area as much as I do....

Goodbye Candycane and Polka dot hike…

Thank you…..

Until we meet again…