Sojourn in the Sun, Part 1: Desert 01/04 - 01/05 - The Off Season, 2022-2023

January 4, 2023 to January 5, 2023

Sojourn in the Sun, Part 1: Desert 01/04 - 01/05

Time out from winter weather

FRIENDS OF OURS invited us last summer to join them on a group walking tour in Hawai’i in January. It didn't take much arm-twisting to get us to sign up; the combination of time with good friends, in my favorite place on the planet, visiting the sun-soaked tropics to escape mid-Atlantic winter weather was irresistible.

To break up the long trip west we invited ourselves to visit my brother in a Phoenix suburb for a couple days on our way out. That gave us an opportunity to experience the Sonoran desert environment in addition to the tropical paradise to which we were headed.

My brother picked us up from Sky Harbor and, after stopping at the house to drop our bags, we took a short drive around town. The desert was lovely, and we could easily see snow on the upper elevations of Four Peaks twenty or more miles away.

We take very few pictures that include ourselves.

The Sonoran desert, resplendent in the afternoon sun. We're lucky with the light today; tomorrow is cloudy, muting the colors and softening the shadows.

Driving into town we visit the Fountain Park, arriving just as the fountain springs to life. Thanks to powerful pumps the plume rises several hundred feet and creates a nice rainbow.

The surrounding pond naturally attracts waterfowl, giving me the chance to see new-to-me species.

My first encounter with this species of duck, the American coot. There are also Eurasian and Hawaiian varieties that look very similar but given where we are I'm pretty sure this is the American version.

Fountain Hills has lots of sculpture scattered around the business district.

A chance to try the zoom lens came up later in the evening. Not too shabby for a subject 239,000 miles away.

Next morning we take a longer drive out to McDowell Park for a 1.5 mile walk through the desert. The flora include impressive saguaro, barrel, and other varieties of cactus as well as cholla, palo verde, and others. Right at the end of our stroll we spot a gila woodpecker atop a saguaro.

This looked to me like a giant badminton shuttlecock stuck in the ground.

The internal structure and circulatory system of a saguaro, laid bare for all to see. Impressive!

Desertscape. It's remarkable how much life there actually is out here.

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Bill ShaneyfeltI went to college at ASU and really liked to wake up in the winter, go outside to balmy 50 degree air and look up at 4 peaks covered with snow!
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1 year ago

Keith Adams[thumbs up]
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1 year ago