A good hike

 A good hike is hard to ruin...

especially when your hiking companion is Shado.

Shado

Hiking the trails

 Shado, on a weekly hike 

in Usery Mountains.

 The rocky trail. Shado is a natural at climbing (he is tethered to me as we hike).

Below: the view of the Superstition Mountains from the trail base.

Without a safety net

Yesterday, my trusty hiking companion, Shado, and I tackled Pass Mountain in the Usery Range.

Shado is a GREAT hiking companion. Except on trails you climb or descend cautiously. He hikes those with total abandonment. One leap, and he is down the descent. One HUGE leap, and he is over the boulder, awaiting you as you struggle upwards. 

Shado is always on a waist leash. The leash is hands-free and utilitarian in other ways. Shado and I stay tethered. I am his safety net. I guess he would drag me to safety if need be. Ouch. 

Photography was difficult. I had the wrong lens, no circular polarizing filter, too much morning glare, and too much scenery. And I had trusty Shado. We made it to the lookout, about 2 (? 3?) miles in. Then we hiked back out. Narrow trails. A few mountain runners passed us by. 

I'm headed back out to Pass Mountain soon. Shado will go again, too. My trusty companion. If anyone wants to join us - let me know! We are silent hikers, we watched for birds and snakes, and we take photos along the way. Next time, right lens, right filter. And trusty Shado. 

Free

 

 I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least - and it is commonly more than that - sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.  ~Henry David Thoreau

...over the hills...

...sauntering...

... free.

Me and my amigo

My canine amigo, Shado, and I hiked yesterday in Amigo Wash.

Hiking in a wash is much more difficult. Very sandy, very rocky.

 And very colorful in oh, so many ways.

No tears in nature

If thou art worn and hard beset
With sorrows, that thou wouldst forget,
If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep
Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep,
Go to the woods and hills! No tears
Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.

-from Sunrise on the Hills

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Photo from an early morning hike at Usery Park,  Arizona

Reach for the sky!

Everyone recognizes a saguaro. It is the cactus that has arms reaching skyward (usually) and it populates the Sonoran desert. My friend Altadena Hiker suggests that saguaros are always giving her the finger.

She just might be right!

Shado and I hiked this morning. Our mission was to find saguaros with droopy arms. 

But we had no such luck.

So we contented ourselves with photos of birds and a few blooms and many cacti doing 

the "manos arriba" routine.

Even dead saguaros maintain their upright skeleton.

Karin, if we ever find a 'tired saguaro', we will let you know!

Another day in paradise

The sign is painted in the hill side -in case you forget where town is.

The desert's response to the recent rains - everything looks nourished.

Shado is our hiking dog.What can I say - he loves to hike!