Hike and Bike - Promise me Fun and Sun! - CycleBlaze

March 16, 2020

Hike and Bike

Sunrise and Tempe Town Lake

We headed for Chris's house today and he took us to Sunrise for a hike!
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
We are ready to climb!
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
It's just a 3 mile hike
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Lots to see
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Hundreds of desert plants
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltLight gray bushes with yellow flowers are brittlebush.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encelia_farinosa

Skinny cactus on the left is staghorn cholla.

https://www.americansouthwest.net/plants/cacti/cylindropuntia-versicolor.html

Several cacti with dark stems and light tops are teddybear cholla

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=cybi9

Dark green bush in the middle is the very interesting creosote bush.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larrea_tridentata

Tall, straight, thin plant on right and upper left is ocotillo.

https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Ocotillo.php
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
All different colors out today
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltThis is some species of lupine. There are over a dozen species in the area. Not sure I could tell most of them apart if I was holding them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
Bill will hopefully tell us what they are
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltBrittlebush! Even in really dry years a few will flower, especially along highways where the pavement provides enough runoff.

https://www.desertusa.com/flowers/Brittlebush.html
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
So fragile and tough at the same time
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltDesert chicory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafinesquia_neomexicana
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
Very pretty red
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltChuparosa

http://southwestdesertflora.com/WebsiteFolders/All_Species/Acanthaceae/Justicia%20californica,%20Chuparosa.html
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
White and purple bouquet
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltDesert chicory, phacelia and in the lower left some lupine. There are about 8 or so species of phacelia in the area. This might be distant phacelia.

http://southwestdesertflora.com/WebsiteFolders/All_Species/Acanthaceae/Justicia%20californica,%20Chuparosa.html
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
Lots and lots of yellow
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Buttercups!
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltOften called buttercups, these are desert golden poppies. Similar to California poppies, which are usually more clumped and have more orange in the blooms.

http://southwestdesertflora.com/WebsiteFolders/All_Species/Acanthaceae/Justicia%20californica,%20Chuparosa.html
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltVariety! I love the amazing biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert!

Tree in the back is palo verde with its greenish bark.

http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=1412

And brittlebush, poppies, lupine and some barrel cacti on the upper right

http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=3016
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
We are hiking up to the saddle
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
It's sunny and cool today
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Suguaro
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Carol sent me this great shot
Heart 1 Comment 0 Link
And this one. Must be a little fairy taking flight with the beam of light
Heart 1 Comment 0 Link
Prickly Pear with gorgeous blooms/fruit
Heart 2 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltDon't let the non-spiny look of the beavertail prickly pear fool you! Each of those tiny bumps on the pads contains hundreds (thousands?) of tiny, almost microscopic barbed spines! As a kid, I found out the hard way, and also looked at them under my microscope. The flowers sure are spectacular though!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia_basilaris
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
Woman of the Rock!
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Here we are at the saddle looking down over the valley
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
These pretty blue flowers stayed near the rocks
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltPhacelia and desert chicory again. This might be lacy phacelia.

http://southwestdesertflora.com/WebsiteFolders/All_Species/Hydrophyllaceae/Phacelia%20tanacetifolia,%20Lacy%20Phacelia.html
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
We are heading back down the hill
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Careful, don't slip on the rocks
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Rest stop on the hill
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Lunch at Silverado Golf Course - We cycled over here from Chris's house!
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
There was lots of rain here in Scottsdale so some of the path is flooded.
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
We rode to Tempe Town Lake.
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Pretty wall decoration
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
That's Tempe across the lake
Heart 0 Comment 3 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltTempe butte and built into the other side of it is the ASU football stadium, with ASU all over beyond that. The corner of a building sticking up behind the left side of it is Manzanita Hall, a women's dorm that was under construction and finished while I was there.
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
Janet Anspach-RickeyTo Bill ShaneyfeltBill,
I was just here in 2018 and it looks like more has been developed! I don't know where all the water comes from for drinking, watering, etc in this desert!
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
Bill ShaneyfeltYes, that's one reason I did not push to return... Wanted to avoid being part of the problem. I guess now the area is pushing 5 million. When we left in
Dec. '70 it was pushing half a million and I saw the desert being ravaged. We ran from the gym at ASU out to South Mountain Park for cross-country workouts. About 20 years ago, I was there for work, and could not find the eastern entrance to the park because it was solid housing.
Reply to this comment
4 years ago
We rode across the bridge and headed back to our cars at Chris's house for our 28 miles today.
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
We also walked 3.2 miles so we have all our steps in for the day
Heart 0 Comment 0 Link
Sunset back at our AirBnB!
Heart 0 Comment 1 Link
Bill ShaneyfeltI miss the spectacular sunsets!
Reply to this comment
4 years ago

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 28 miles (45 km)

Rate this entry's writing Heart 2
Comment on this entry Comment 0