Friday, April 27, 2012

There Are Some Flowers...

Not quite the year we were hoping for, but down at Cottonwood, there are flowers to see. You just have to look for them... We drove down to the Cottonwood visitor station and then on through the canyon another 5 miles to the '10'. There were Chuparosa, Mallow, Yellow cups, Canterbury Bells, Purple mat, Sand blazing star and Prince's Plume to be seen along the road. We stopped at a wash in the middle of the drive and walked back up to have lunch in the shade and take some photos of the flowers that were there. Here are some examples. We even found a rock with some Petroglyphs, cool! And, this cute lizard at the Cholla Gardens, who had just come out of his hole, posed for us.
The flower displays haven't really reached up to the Jumbo Rocks, Hidden Valley area yet. Mostly, what we've seen have been Claret cup cactus, Indian Paint Brush, Desert Dandelions and some Mallow starting to bloom. There's usually a progression of flowers blooming throughout the Park, starting in the South and heading North. In essence, there's always something blooming! (Click on photos to make larger)










Monday, April 2, 2012

Bighorn Sheep Family Gathering

We were hiking out by the Desert Queen Mine the other day and happened upon this family of Bighorn Sheep. Upon seeing us, they got a little nervous and moved on down the hill. I wish I would have had a longer lens this time. I see 12, how many do you see?