Sunset Over Puget Sound

Wednesday evening I caught the new Alaska Airlines nonstop flight from Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Seattle-Tacoma (SEA).

The sun was shining at RDU when we took off at 1750 but as we headed west across the Appalachian Mountains clouds soon blocked our view of the earth some seven miles below.

I had a window seat in an exit row over the wing so had a pretty good view as we flew across our cloud-shrouded country. Many times I could see three layers of clouds and sometimes the turbulence was moderately severe. The wings acted more like a bird's with plenty of up and down motion and the cabin crew had to stow the service carts twice because of the bumps.

Finally we crossed the Cascade Mountains and the clouds cleared so I had a spectacular view of a sunset above the clouds and then over Puget Sound as we descended from the south on our landing flight path into the slight north wind.

As I looked out the window (porthole?)

What a little cropping will do

Southern Puget Sound comes into view with the Cascades below and Mt Rainier off to the left

Spring Flowers in Durham, NC

Yesterday about this time I went walking around a few blocks of Durham to check out the spring flowers to see how they compare to those in Seattle.

There were lots of flowers, some flamboyant and some a little more difficult to spot. Strangely enough, for being so much further south, many of the flowers seem to be on the same schedule as those in Seattle.

Here is a selection of what I found.

Domesticated blackberry blooming early

Fruit tree almost even with those in my yard in Seattle

Wild violets peeking out shyly from the duff

Bumble bee harvesting pollen from a blooming holly tree

Ubiquitous dandelions

Cherry blossoms a little behind those in Seattle

Dogwoods are particularly showy in the South

More dogwood blossoms seeking the sun

Many of the bulbs had already flowered but these were still going strong

The city wraps many of the trees with tangle-foot to catch the crawling worms that have been a scourge the past couple years  

Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale

The early morning sun flowing across the par 3 hole number 8 on the golf course as seen from our condo deck.

After another wonderful sunrise last Tuesday we decided to take a hike so I went to the office to see if they had a recommendation for a nearby trail that was not too difficult for old folks.

There are several well-known mountain parks in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area but the concierge recommended a nearby park that fit our request quite nicely. Just a few miles northeast of where we were staying it had a medium difficulty trail and beautiful vistas so we grabbed some extra bottles of water, smeared on sunscreen and headed for the hills.

After a ten minute drive we arrived at Pinnacle Peak Park, an urban park surrounded by rather upscale housing and at least two golf courses, one on the southern and one on the northern side of the park. We parked in a spacious lot and headed for the gate past an information booth manned by a friendly fellow, waited for the ladies to make a pit stop and then headed up the trail.

Teddy Bear Cholla cactus not far from the trail head.

The trail winds up toward the Saguaro field then veers off to the right then switches back and forth up the hill behind the large rock grouping in the center right and around the base of what looks like a tombstone in front of a Sphinx on the right shoulder of the peak.

That flat rectangular rock doesn't look very large but when we climbed up the trail there was a rock climber about halfway up the face. The rock up close looked to be 50 or 60 feet high and the climber was making slow headway on the nearly smooth surface.

When we came back down he had finished his climb, was seated on the head of the Sphinx and was guiding a woman up the same route he took earlier.

We weren't tempted to stray from the trail since there were spines and thorns everywhere. In the photo, above, the the Teddy Bear Cholla looks friendly and even fuzzy cuddly but is just waiting to bury barbed spines in the unwary hiker's flesh. In the left near background is a Staghorn Cholla (or maybe Buckhorn Cholla as they are difficult to differentiate) which has fewer but longer thorns.

Some of the other Cholla varieties are Christmas Cholla, Pencil Cholla and the dreaded Jumping Cholla which doesn't really jump but its branches are easily detached from the parent and stick in clothing or flesh of the careless passerby, human or animal. There were signs along the trail identifying each of the varieties (along with other plants) except the Jumping Cholla, which I didn't notice.

Saguaro cacti guarding the trail.

 We saw a sign along the trail asking runners and joggers to yield to other trail users. That sign didn't seem to affect the runners and joggers who seemed to be doing time trials up and down the peak. Another sign asked hikers to move to the uphill side of the trail, speak softly and not make sudden movements in case horses came along the trail. We didn't see any horses so didn't get to try out that advice.

We saw and interacted with several friendly volunteers who answered questions when they weren't packing water up the trail to water newly planted vegetation.

Jack and Sue, the younger half of our party.

Harold and Ikuko, the geezers of the party. Note the golf course near Ikuko's left
ear and the houses stretching out across the valley beyond.

The elevation of Scottsdale is 1,257 feet and we gained some elevation as we drove to the park but I estimate we climbed well over one thousand feet from the trail entrance to this point.

It was a scenic climb through the cacti and rocks. The sun was hard at work but there was a gentle breeze so we weren't uncomfortable.

Hohogam-Ki Museum

Monday we decided to visit the HoHoGam Ki (or Hoo HooGam Ki, or HuHuGam Ki, depending on the transliteration) Museum a little way south of The Talking Stick Resort and Casino.

Saguaro cactus standing guard outside the museum

It turned out to be one of our better decisions since the museum was a low-key affair with no fancy technology or even docents. We were on our own to meander through the exhibits, taking our time to read the signs and absorb the significance of the displays.

View into the past of the HuHuGam Ki People and their crafts

Just to the right of the above display there was a replica of the ladders these people crafted from local wood and buckskin thongs.

A ladder with steps let into the uprights and secured with buckskin lashings

One section of the museum had rosters of tribal members who served in wars from The Indian Wars (where they assisted the US Army as scouts) through the two World Wars, Korea Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan with even one name from Grenada.

In that same section was a model of a scout as outfitted during The Indian Wars.

As we left the museum I noticed one of the corner posts of the entry awning. It was the remains of a saguaro cactus with two bird nests in the cavities. I couldn't tell if the nests were currently occupied or if they were left over from when the saguaro skeleton was in the wild. 

The ribs of the saguaro are quite strong as seen here and as noted above where the scouts used them as walking sticks.

Spring Flowers in Sottsdale

No need for many words in this post since the flowers in Scottsdale this time of year are amazing and tell their own story.

While on a walk around our condo complex and the adjoining golf course I took these photos.