OUT OF OUR RUT

January, February and March are prime months to visit Sun City Grand...or Arizona in general.  Although we can't guarantee  the weather will be wonderful, chances are it will be better than wherever it is you are.  And so it was for BC's niece and nephew from western Pennsylvania.  Visitors are not only a benefit to Arizona's economic bottom  line, they have a tendency to get their Visit-ees out of their ruts...always a good thing.  Which means, last Sunday morning we were off to explore the White Tank Mountains located just a few miles from our home.  In fact, if our trees hadn't grown so much, we would still have a view of them when we plant ourselves near our firepit at cocktail hour.

We're out to conquer the "Waterfall Trail", a hard-surfaced, well-traveled easy trail...accessible to baby strollers, wheelchairs, small children and dogs of all make, model and design.  It's a friendly adventure.

Life is hard in the desert, for plants and animals alike.  This aging cactus has provided a veritable apartment complex for native birds who mustered the gumption to bore into its prickly exterior, lay eggs, and raise their young.  It isn't pretty, but it's a survivor.

Some thousand or so years ago, the White Tanks were home to branches of the many Indian tribes settling this area of Arizona.  They left messages, possibly to alert, warn, or inform others who might follow.  These petroglyphs, which simply confuse us, are interesting, as many of the  symbols are similar to those found in widely scattered locales around the world.

Unfortunately, many petroglyphs are now behind a fence as our recent generations seem to have an insatiable desire to carry a bit of mysterious history home with them.

Saguaro cactus live within certain narrow geographical boundaries and disappear quickly as one drives any distance from  Phoenix.  However, they're scattered throughout the White Tanks.  This area of our walk simply struck me as indicative of the harshness of the climate and the stamina of those that survive it.

Every now and then, our Saguaro simply give up and fall over.  This fellow seems to have taken the count fairly recently...

This one has been down and out for some time.

From our back yard, the White Tanks look fairly inocuous, but up close they can be harsh, beautiful, and sometimes forbidding.  They are real mountains which can require practiced hiking skills and good judgement, but are also ready to welcome the casual visitor.

We're slowly winding our way up the trail, stopping here and there for closer views of interesting rocks, trees, plants and flowers...and, occasionally being passed by small children and energetic teenagers. 

Boulders are a part of nearly everyone's landscape here at SCG.  Apparently, we think they add a bit of Arizona authenticity to our xeriscape yards.  But these, my friends, are REAL boulders which must have shaken loose from the rocky ledges eons ago.  That would have been an event

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Earlier this month, at a Photo Club meeting, our speaker advised us to train ourselves to turn around from time to time, and so here is the view behind us...a portion of the Northwest Valley of Phoenix.  It's under the haze in the distance--but that's a whole other issue.

We're nearly at the culmination of our hike...the fabled Waterfall itself.  Unfortunately, the waterfall only flows after a rain and in all of our years and hikes here, we've seen it once.

However, the rocks above do have a damp spot or two, and there is a shallow pool of water just under all of our feet.  This is it.  From now on it's all downhill.