Arizona Visit - 2026

We have visited Arizona two times now to take care of some family business.   We rented an AirB&B in Scottsdale near Old Town Scottsdale.  It was so much fun seeing family and friends.  Great food and conversation.

Since we were staying near Old Town Scottsdale, we ended up eating in that area multiple times at various restaurants.  We also enjoyed walking along the Scottsdale waterfront.  It is a scenic, walkable district along the Arizona canal near shops, restaurants, etc.  After walking the waterfront, we would sit and people watch.  

When growing up in Phoenix, and on past trips we spent more time going north to Sedona, Jerome, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, etc.  With a couple days of free time, we decided to head south to Tucson.

We went to the Sabino Canyon recreation area in Tucson and did some walking.  I saw this deer meandering through the brush.

There were lots of Saguaro cactus around.  Because they don't have annual rings like a tree, age is generally estimated by height and arm development.  While many live 150-200 years, they can survive much longer under ideal conditions.  This was an interesting one we saw on the trail in the recreation area.

We decided to take the Canyan Crawler (Shuttle) which was fun.  Going up the canyon the crawler made several stops, so I was able to take pictures.  Several people got out to walk back or hike and could be picked up by later shuttles.  We enjoyed this.

It was interesting to see the dry creek beds coming down the mountains.  I imagine it is very dangerous when flash floods occur.  It was a bit early so the cactus were not in bloom.

We also drove to the top of Mount Lemmon (9,157' elevation).  THe road was 28 miles to the top with great vistas, interesting rock formations, cool mountain forests and deep canyons.  Once at the top there wasn't much there.  It was a fun drive up but a bit disappointing at the top.

Another day we headed west of Phoenix.  Our plan was to drive the Apache Trail so up and out early.  Our first stop on the trail was the Goldfield Ghost Town.  It was truely a ghost town as we were so early no one was there!

We continued driving with lots of winding roads passing Canyon Lake to Tortilla Flat.

There was a restaurant, general store, bar, etc.  From there we wanted to continue our drive and head to Roosevelt Lake.  

We had second thoughts when we got to the dirt road part of the Apache trail.  The sign said 22 miles of dirt road with certain sections very narrow and steep.  The car I rented didn't seem to like that.  We did continue several miles on the dirt road but ended up turning around when we saw the sign saying last turn around.  We got out and walked a bit at the turn around.  Some nice views but still to early for most of the flowers.

The dirt road would have been a blast in my Jeep.  Our rental. car ... not so much ...

We headed back to Tortilla Flat and decided to take the Dolly Steamboat tour on Canyon Lake.  We didn't have reservations so we waited to see if they had enough room for us to board.  We lucked out!

The canyon walls were pretty.  The boat captain gave us the history of the lake and the area.  We spotted several desert bighorn sheep in the rocks.  I would recommend doing the tour.  It was lots of fun.

On the way back we stopped at Goldfield Ghost Town.  It was open this time.  It is the site of an old small town and the old Mammoth Gold Mine.  It was a fun place to explore.

We did take my cousins to Carefree and Cave Creek as they had never been.  The cactus flowers were just starting to bloom there too.

We had a great time.  Next visit will be connecting with more family, friends, and more exploring.

Beaver Brook Association - Hollis, NH

When walking in Beaver Brook I take my camera just in case I see something interesting.  I found a couple nice areas where the deer consistently move from the swamp up the ridge and down the other side.   I jumped a couple deer but didn’t get good pictures of them. 

When I hike I want to be prepared so I carry my smallest pack with first aid, water, hand warmers, flashlight, headlamp, knife, multi tool, matches, rope, space blanket, tree saw, extra socks, gloves, granola bars, etc.  I tell Pam where I am going but I still want to be prepared in case something happens to me or I walk up on someone hurt.  If I am on a 3 or 4 mile hike and something happens I could be miles from my vehicle and could be on my own for a night.

As the ice on the ponds started to melt I was on a trail and spotted a Hooded Merganser.  When I tried to get close it flew away up the pond.  I followed in the woods, tried to get close again and the same thing happened.  I decided to go further in the woods and loop around from the other side.  It worked !!  As I approached I spotted 3 males and one female.   I got close enough to take a couple pictures.  The female was a good decoy as the males lost interest in my movement. 

Ice gone … bugs out … leaves coming out to block the views … critters warming up.  Forgot to pack the Deet … Pam hiked with me around one of the new ponds I found.  She is afraid of snakes so isn’t real interested in going with me once the weather warms up.  We had a great time exploring some new trails.

I spotted this 3 foot Northern Water Snake cruising close to shore looking for fish, frogs, or anything else edible.  Pam would never go back to this part of Beaver Brook if I told her where I was.  Shhh … I tell her I only take her to “Posted” areas where "Snakes are Prohibited”.  I have a picture in one of my previous posts from Beaver Brook of a water snake in the process of swallowing a fish.  It spotted me and tried to spit the fish out and run but the fish was too far in.  The snake ended up swimming off with half the fish in and half out.

Megan and Kevin hiked in a new section with me.  She spotted this male tree swallow off the trail.  We continued to some large rock formations with open cracks.  I saw porcupine scat below one of the openings.  As we were contemplating looking inside Megan spotted what she thought was a big earthworm.  It was 4 ½ inches long.  As I went to pick it up it rolled and I saw lots-o-legs (4 legs per segment) … BOO …  It was a Millipede.  I grabbed a stick and lifted it off the leaves.  Megan held the stick while I took a picture.   Most comments from the picture are along the lines of gross, ewe, sick … what’s with that?  

I researched and this is an eastern millipede (Narceus Americanus) and is common in the woods of New England.  It cannot bite and defends itself by rolling up in a tight spiral and/or uses its orange/brown chemical defenses that must make it taste bad and maybe smell bad.  We didn't stress out this millipede so no spiral or chemical defense.  I set it back down and watched it disappear in the leaves.   

On one of my hikes I walked the Porcupine trail.  I often asked myself "What's with the name?"  That is until I spotted this little fella off that trail.  Go figure!!

 
Always a work in progress …