THE Trip, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior Arizona

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Warning, this post is graphics heavy.

One of the most suggested things to do and see while we were in Gold Canyon was the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  Almost everyone said so.  Seriously, my bestest gal friend from high school who now lives in Mesa strongly suggested it.  She and I had not chatted for more than 5 minutes when she asked, "have you gone to the arboretum?"  So Man and I made it a point to visit.  MOC (Montana Owners Club) friends Ray and Coleen had arrived in the area and when we assured them that the walking paths were easy going they agreed to go with us.

The paths are indeed easy going, in fact, for most of the walk they are so well maintained, level, sturdy, that you can use a wheel chair or stroller.  There are, by way of warning, some areas that wheel chairs are not permitted, but, believe me, you can see much from a chair!  The condition of the walking path was of concern as Ray has loss of feeling in his lower legs.  Due to the terrific condition of the path we all made the 1.5 mile walk around the park.  We not only made it, but we all admitted it felt great to be out there walking!

A map of the park can be found here, we walked the "Main Path".

We saw lots and lots of beautiful specimens of flora. Many of these will appear over at Reflection's Flora and Fauna over the next weeks. We saw flowering cactus, hummingbirds, butterflies, and:

The Smith Interpretive Center & Greenhouses

Above: Barrel Cactus, is this not over the top beautiful?
Another shot of these will appear on Reflection's
Flora and Fauna soon.  It will be different!

Above: Perlite (ya that stuff we use for gardening) is found around
Superior, it is processed nearby.  Here it is in the raw.

Man and Ray, checking the map and sittin' a spell,
nice view eh??

And, of course, outcrops of rock, in the most wonderful shapes!

This passageway was a bit narrow, we were glad for the railing.

Berber Suspension bridge over Queen Creek,
dedicated April 23, 2004.  It was quite sturdy, but
if you jumped up and down hard enough it shook.

We also found some statuary, a delightful herb garden (Man really thought that herb garden was fabulous!)  And, last for today, this delightful water works:

After our slow and easy and totally enjoyable walk around the arboretum, Man and I and Ray and Coleen had a lazy lunch in Superior and then headed back to Gold Canyon.

If we had had the time, Man and I would have enjoyed doing this sight seeing stop again.  It was well done, the plants were spectacular, it deserved another visit.  Thanks to Ray and Coleen for going with us, it was so much fun to enjoy the discovery of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum together.



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The Trip,The Wagontracks, Superior Arizona

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

During our desert rat wanna-be trip with friends Bob, Mina and Mina's cousin, Debbra, we got another special treat.  Debbra knew how to find the "Wagontracks", deep ruts in the desert floor left by years of wagon trains hauling ore from the Silver King Mine.  There is a in depth report about the tracks on this web page. According to this web page the wagon road crossed a large deposit of welded volcanic tuff.  The word "tuff" refers to a type of rock that is the result of a volcanic eruption.  Again, referring to a Wikipedia page, there is a lot of information, most of which is a bit beyond this gal's understanding of volcanoes and rock on this page.

We followed the sign, back a ways, off to one direction, and back some more, and there they were, deep ruts in the rock like desert floor.  Pretty awesome!

Deep, you can see Man's lower legs and feet,
compare, I'll bet the rut at this point was well over 12 inches.

And, LONG, this is just a small section.

A fun and interesting little side trip.  History everywhere in the desert, we enjoyed discovering this "rut" of it.



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THE Trip, Man and I, The Desert Rats

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

MOC (Montana Owners Club) friends Bob and Mina invited Man and I to go for a ride in the desert, guided by Mina's cousin Debbra.  Such an offer is not turned down.  So, one morning, abundant sunshine shining, and temps mild, off we went to Queens Valley to start our day ride in the Sonoran Desert.

Debbra has lived in the area for some years, and she and her husband Carl, enjoy driving in the desert, and know it well.  She is a great guide, she knows the area and lots of local color stories.  Thanks Debbra, for a grand day.

One of the first sights was Elephant Butte.  There is a web page here, which shows you the topographical map, and would lead one to believe that you can march right out there and have a climb.  Not so.  The area surrounding the Butte is fenced off.  We actually met up with the current owner, he was out posting new "No Trespassing" signs.  He claimed that his insurance company has demanded that he fence it off and highly discourage visitors.

We did however, get some photos of the butte.  Here they are, from the front, side and back:

So, do you see the elephant head??  I do, especially on the first and second photos.

We also visited the Pinal Burial Ground, also called the Old Pinal Cemetery this day.  A post on the cemetery will show up here on Reflections some time soon.

Here are two more distinctive and beautiful mountains in the area,

Above, this is Roblas Butte, according to our tour guide, Debbra.

And, this is Pickett Post Mountain.  Thanks again, Debbra.

Lunch at a great Mexican restaurant in Superior, friendship, a great guide, beautiful scenery, driving around like desert rats, what a fun day, thanks to Bob, Mina and Debbra!



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