Author: Kevin (page 89 of 115)

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike met at the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead, where we hiked the Marcus Landslide Trail.  The hike started off rainy, but cleared after perhaps twenty minutes or so.

Amy composed this group photo, which I shot from my tripod.  From left to right are Linda, Kevin, Amy, Janet, Teresa, Marilyn, Mary, and Jerry.

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A bird’s nest in a chain fruit cholla, with Sven Slab in the background:

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Linda sent me this photo of me photographing the nest.

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More chain fruit cholla:

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Sven Towers III, and II.  (Seven Tower I is only partially visible at the far right in this photo.)

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A spider web among some barrel cacti:

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Linda took this photo of the web from above:

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We saw a mule deer, but the wide angle lens that I was using didn’t get me very close:

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Marilyn got this photo of the deer with her camera.

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The Granite Ballroom with the Thumbnail Pinnacle off in the distance.

2013-07-26-DSC04026-mediumBroken mushroom rocks:

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We spent nearly all of the hike in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve.  Some of us did, however, take a few steps into McDowell Mountain Park.  Here, Amy and Teresa pose by a sign on the Boulder Trail.

2013-07-26-DSC04050-mediumThe trail leads up a hill formed from the slide mass:

2013-07-26-DSC04053-medium Linda took this photo of me at around that point.

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The trail goes past a lichen covered slab of granite:

2013-07-26-DSC04056-mediumAmy makes her way up the slide mass.  Rock Knob is in the background at the right.

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We stopped at the interpretive viewpoint which shows the locations of various landmarks including Four Peaks and Weaver’s Needle.  I took this photo from that view area.

2013-07-26-DSC04077-medium Taking a break near the view point…

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Submarine Rock:

2013-07-26-DSC04093-mediumWe returned via the Caballo Trail.  Along that trail is an old feeding trough…

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There’s also an old water tank nearby.  Tom’s Thumb can be seen just left of the water tank.

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On the drive out, after the hike was over, Teresa took this photo of caballos crossing the road.

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Marie’s Fisher Tower Photos

Marie took these photos while hiking at Fisher Towers in early June.

Marie’s self portrait:

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Marilyn:

2013-06-02-Marie-DSC00777-medium Kevin, a long way off and high up!

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Tiger

Marilyn let Tiger spend a few minutes in the back yard today…

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Gandalf is Grouchy

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A little less grouchy here…

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The reason he was grouchy was because Big Tom came and challenged him for his favorite sleeping spot on the wall.

2013-07-23-DSC03791-medium 2013-07-23-DSC03797-mediumI shot these with the Sigma 50-500mm lens.  I’m liking this lens better now.

 

Saguaro on the Fountain Overlook Trail

Another photo from Thursday evening…

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Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike started at the horse staging area near the entrance to the park.  I took this photo of the sunrise while we waited for everyone to arrive.

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We walked across the road to the competitive track parking area and started by hiking part of the Technical Loop.  We branched off onto the Long Loop and then hiked up to Pemberton via Stoneman Wash.  We went through the Trailhead Staging Area on our way to the Scenic Trail.  After about a mile on the Scenic Trail, we turned right onto the trail taking us back to the Horse Staging Area.

Note: I do not recommend hiking the loops in the competitive track area.  They are one way tracks and mountain bikes take them pretty fast.  I warned everyone on the hike to listen for bikes and to be prepared to step off the trail quickly.

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A view from early on the Technical Loop:

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A view of Red Mountain in the distance.

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One of the steep downhill sections on the Technical Loop.  It appeared in pretty good shape.  It often has a lot of loose rock on it.

2013-07-19-DSC03566-medium On our way to the tunnel going under the Sport Loop.

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The tunnel…

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Another view of Red Mountain.

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Linda took this photo of me taking a picture.

2013-07-19-From_Linda-002-mediumWe had some cool clouds on Friday.

2013-07-19-DSC03652-medium Sarge leads the way, followed by Bob, Janet, Teresa, Marilyn, and Linda.

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Chain Fruit Cholla on the Long Loop.

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We saw this horny toad near the end of our hike on the Scenic Trail.

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Horny Toad

We saw this little critter on our hike today.  The end of my lens was six to eight inches away from him when I got this shot.  Being a 24mm lens, however, I still needed to crop away a lot of the image to get this close-up.

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The Fountain at Night

The Fountain Hills Fountain just after 8pm…

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2017-04-10 update:

When I revisited this photo, I felt that the sky (and nearly all of the darker tones) were far too blue. I did another edit which is not as blue. This version also has more definition in the sky.

Below is another version – I liked the color of the fountain in my original edit from 2013, so I did a new edit in which I tried to get closer to that color. When I was done, I did a blend of my two most recent attempts with the following result:

 

Saguaro Blvd & Palisades Blvd / Panorama Drive

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Freckles on the Roof

Freckles likes to go out on the balcony and then onto the roof.  We let her do this because, unlike our other cats, if given enough time, she’ll come back on her own.  Tiger and Callisto are not content with staying on the roof; they like to find ways to get down to the ground.

We lost sight of her when she went over the roof peak.  I walked around to the front of the house to check on her; she saw me and walked down to the edge of the roof to see me, meowing all the while.

2013-07-17-DSC03020 2013-07-17-DSC03032-medium She found a comfy shaded spot next to the skylight.

2013-07-17-DSC03058-medium It was a perfect vantage point from which to watch this bird:

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When it was time to come back inside, her mom scolded her for being away for so long.

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