ARIZONA’S FIRST MEMORIAL STATE PARK OPENED TODAY DEDICATED TO 19 YOUNG FIRE FIGHTERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN YARNELL BACK IN 2013

HEADING UP THE YARNELL HILL THIS MORNING BUT WHY ARE THESE ORANGE CONES SEPARATING THE TWO ONE-WAY LANES?? (THAT LEFT LANE WAS BEING USED AS A DOWNHILL LANE TODAY)

During winter months clear desert nights mean cold desert nights but a clear starry sky also means a clear sunny morning and it’s those sunny mornings which I so much look forward to.  However, sunny days don’t necessarily guarantee warm days and today was a good example of that.  We had an icy cold wind blowing from the North so that meant another Jeep ride instead of a walk.

Being Tuesday I figured Yarnell’s Bakery would be open so Pheebs and headed off to get us some donuts to bring home.  At the foot of the Yarnell Hill I saw a lot of orange cones blocking off the southbound lanes coming down the mountain and a police cruiser parked.  It was only then I remembered that today was the day a ceremony would be held to officially dedicate the new Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park as a tribute to the 19 firefighters killed during a 2013 wildfire in Yarnell Arizona.  The 3-mile trail and memorial will serve as a lasting tribute to the fallen firefighters' heroism. Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park  This is Arizona's first Memorial State Park.

NOTICED ALL THESE ORANGE TRAFFIC CONES LAID OUT ON HIGHWAY 89 HEADING TOWARDS THE YARNELL HILL

THESE CONES WERE SPACED OUT ABOUT 20 FEET APART FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE MOUNTAIN RIGHT UP TO THE TOP AND I FIGURED THE ROAD CREW THAT PLACED THEM ALL MUST HAVE STARTED VERY VERY EARLY IN TUESDAY MORNINGS PRE-DAWN HOURS

SOUTHBOUND DOWNHILL LANES WERE CLOSED HERE

NOT SURE WHAT THESE WORK TRUCKS WERE ALL ABOUT….MAYBE SIGN TRUCKS

If one doesn’t take highway 89 down the Yarnell Hill there is only one other way to get down and of course it is the old Stage Coach Road running between Yarnell and Stanton.  Well that’s always perfectly fine with me so for the about the 4th time already this year Pheebs and were again slowly bouncing ourselves along the scenic southbound road down through the southern edge of the Weaver Mountains.

I KNOW I HAVE POSTED A NUMBER OF PHOTOS FROM THIS SAME LOCATION BUT I AM ALWAYS INTRIGUED BY THESE COTTONWOOD TREES EVERY TIME I COME THIS WAY

Stopped at our usual old cow pens enclosure along the way where we usually see a herd of cows browsing around the water hole.  No cows this morning, well no live ones that is.  While standing beside the Jeep I happened to look across the road and saw what appeared to be at first glance a large brown boulder.  Only problem was there were no other boulders around the same color.  Hmmmmm, well that warrants a closer look see.  Walked across the rough road and up a slight knoll through some prickly pear cactus and mesquite.  Didn’t take me long to see in fact that the odd looking big brown boulder was in fact a full grown dead cow.  No signs of trauma to the body and I figure it had probably been dead less than 24 hours.  Unlike Ontario with adjoining farms every few miles cattle range free out here for miles and miles and finding the rancher who this cow belonged to was pretty well impossible.  Nothing we could do about it so we just hopped back in the Jeep and moseyed ourselves along on down the mountainside.

NOPE, IT WASN’T A BIG BROWN BOULDER

Didn’t see any activity in or around Stanton anywhere so we just kind of tippy toed our way on by heading back to Congress.  Slipped off on a couple dusty side roads along the way and had us a look around.

THIS IS A AN 18mm WIDE ANGLE LENS VIEW SHOWING THE ESCAPEE’S NORTH RANCH TO THE EXTREME LEFT AND THE TOWN OF CONGRESS ON THE EXTREME RIGHT….CLICK TO ENLARGE AND THE TINY WHITE DOTS YOU SEE AT THE EXTREMES WILL BE NORTH RANCH AND CONGRESS

A COUPLE 300mm PHOTOS OF NORTH RANCH WITH THE MIGHTY HARQUAHALLA MOUNTAIN IN THE BACKGROUND

THIS WAS THE SECOND TIME PHEEBS AND I HAVE BEEN TO THIS CATTLE WATERING HOLE COMMONLY CALLED A ‘TANK’

THE OLD GOLD MINING TOWN OF STANTON IS LOCATED AT THE FOOT OF THE DARKER SECTION OF THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS ON THE RIGHT

THE SOUTHBOUND SINGLE LANE OF HIGHWAY 89 CAN BE SEEN DESCENDING ACROSS THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN

Approaching highway 89 I happened to look off to my right at the Weaver Mountains and noticed high up what appeared to be a convoy of vehicles moving slowly down the southbound lane.  Knowing this lane was closed to the public today I right away figured it must be the busloads of dignitaries and specially invited people like members of the fallen firefighters families arriving for todays dedication ceremony.  Today's Dedication Ceremony  It was 10 a.m. and my figuring was right.  I stopped and took a series of of long range photos showing where the 7 buses stopped at the new trail head on highway 89.

THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH A 300mm LENS THEN GREATLY CROPPED TO BRING THE IMAGES CLOSER….WHAT I ORIGINALLY SAW WITH MY NAKED EYE WERE ONLY WHITE SPECS MOVING ON THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN

BUSES DESCENDING THE MOUNTAIN SLOWLY APPROACH THE PARKING LOT TRAIL HEAD WHICH IS THAT LARGER FLAT SPOT JUST AHEAD OF THE BUSES ON THE MOUNTAIN

THESE PHOTOS TAKEN FROM THE STANTON ROAD

THE TRAILHEAD IS THAT WHITE SPOT ABOVE THE JEEP

THE FIRST BUSES HAVE ARRIVED WITH WHAT I SUSPECT ARE SOME DECEASED FIRE FIGHTERS FAMILY MEMBERS ON BOARD

MORE BUSES ROLL UP AND I THINK THERE MAY HAVE BEEN 7 OF THEM

THE TRAIL BEGINS WHERE THE BUSES ARE THEN CLIMBS THROUGH A SERIES OF SWITCHBACKS UP THE MOUNTAIN TO THE TOP LEFT OF THE PHOTO THEN SWINGS THROUGH A LOW PASS SWINGING AROUND THAT KNOBBY KNOLL AND i THINK HEADS RIGHT….IF YOU CLICK ON THE PHOTO AND LOOK VERY CAREFULLY YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SEE PARTS OF THE TRAIL….THE TRAIL IS DESCRIBED AS STRENOUS AND YOU CAN EASILY SEE WHY

I BASE MY TRAIL DIRECTION ON WHAT I COULD SEE WITH MY 8X50 BINOCULARS AND WHAT I SAW WAS PARTS OF THE TRAIL CUTTING ACROSS THE ROCKFACE AND ON CLOSER OBSERVATION I COULD SEE GROUPS OF PEOPLE SCATTERED ALONG THE TRAIL HEADING UP

THERE WAS A ‘FLY-OVER’ BY FIREFIGHTING PLANES BUT I DIDN’T SEE THAT OVER TOP THE MOUNTAIN RANGE

It was one month ago today we arrived in Sarasota Florida on our way to Arizona.  Already our visit with Aunt Jean seems so very long ago.  Talked to Jean a couple night’s ago and she was going to try and get out with friends for a round of golf today.  Even if it’s only a few holes she feels it will be beneficial both physically and mentally.  Along with her daily morning walks it has been her love of golf over these many years that has kept her so actively in good shape.

‘GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS’ TRAIL HEAD TOP RIGHT AND BUILDINGS IN THE FOREGROUND ARE PART OF THE LARGE ABANDONED DAIRY RANCH I HAD A PHOTO OF A WEEK OR SO AGO FROM UP ON THE YARNELL HILL….IT WAS FROM THIS SPOT NEAR THE CATTLE RANCH I USED MY BINOCULARS THIS MORNING TO FIND THE TRAIL AND SPOT PEOPLE ON IT….THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN WITH A WIDE ANGLE 18mm LENS

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The Teacher had asked the class to write an essay about an unusual event that happened during the past week.
Little Johnny got up to read his. It began, "My daddy fell in our well last week." "Good Lord!" the teacher exclaimed. "Is he OK?" "He must be," said Little Johnny. "He stopped calling for help yesterday."

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A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you." The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?"
The boy takes the quarters and leaves. "What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"  Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. "Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?  The boy licked his cone and replied, "Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over!"

MOUNTAINS IN THE MIST

WICKENBURG’S VULTURE PEAK

Sunday’s cold afternoon rain finally quit Sunday evening with sky’s clearing overnight leaving us with temperatures hovering somewhere just above the freezing mark.  Sure glad to see Monday mornings big orange sunset but hopes for warm temperatures were soon dashed when heavy clouds moved back into the area.

MORNING SUNRISE

I’ve trimmed up all the trees on the property and raked up the grounds so there’s not a lot for me to do around here these days.  No point in me planting more cactus or starting any more projects so rather than sitting around watching TV or reading Pheebs and I again took the Jeep and headed off down the road.  Original idea was to head out into the desert behind our place to Indian Rock but walking to the Jeep I could see my breath.  Knowing the day was not going to get much warmer going for a walk held little interest for me.  I dislike cold just as much as I dislike hot!!

THIS TALL PEAK IN THE DATE CREEK MOUNTAINS BEHIND OUR HOUSE CAN BE SEEN FROM McDONALDS IN WICKENBURG

Talked it over with Pheebs and she agreed it would be warmer for us just to go for a ride in the Jeep and enjoy the scenery so that’s what we did.  At the end of Ghost Town Road we turned right and headed west on highway 71.  Not really sure where we were going so we just kept on going.

HEADING WEST ON HIGHWAY 71 WITH THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS SLIPPING AWAY BEHIND US IN MY SIDEVIEW MIRROR

Noticed a lot of cloud banks sitting on the surrounding mountain tops with with long fingers of ground fog hanging low across the desert floor.  Far to the south about 15 miles away Vulture Peak was entirely fog shrouded but also noticed the bank of clouds was on the move.  Made a bunch of stops along highway 71 taking photos of the changing cloudscape on the distant horizon and soon saw Vulture Peak beginning to emerge from the mists.

INSTEAD OF TRYING TO PICK OUT HALF A DOZEN PHOTOS OF THIS MORNINGS CHANGING CLOUD COVER I HAVE INCLUDED THE BULK OF MY PHOTOS TO SHOW VULTURE PEAK SLOWLY EMERGING FROM THE MISTS

AT THIS POINT VULTURE PEAK IS STILL HIDDEN BY CLOUDS OUT OF THE PHOTO TO THE LEFT

LOOKING EAST TOWARDS THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS

VULTURE PEAK ON THE LEFT BEGINS TO EMERGE

VULTURE PEAK APPEARED AS A TRUE SKY ISLAND THIS MORNING

We followed highway 71 to highway 60 just east of Aguila and turned left heading back towards Wickenburg.  Mountain mists had lifted and our minds were on food now.  Had ourselves quite a time trying to decide between McDonalds, Subway or Burger King.  I was leaning towards a big Whopper but Pheebs finally talked me into a tuna sub at Subway so with that destination in mind we made our way into and down through the heart of Wickenburg to the south end of town where Subway was right next door to McDonalds.  Pheebs was ecstatic when I came walking out of Subway with a 6” Tuna Sub in hand.  Didn’t take us long to have our usual big mess going on with lettuce and tomatoes on my lap, gooey honey mustard sauce on the steering wheel, green pepper chunks between the seats and scraps of onions on the floor.    And of course a little bit of everything dribbled down the front of my shirt as well but I do think most of the Tuna ended up in our tummies somehow. 

A TRUE SKY ISLAND IN A SEA OF CLOUDS AND ALSO CAN YOU SEE THE BIG DINOSAUR ON THE RIGHT LOOKING LEFT

ALMOST LIKE A HUGE ALIEN SPACESHIP HOVERING OVER THE LAND

From Subway we backed out and drove a couple hundred feet to McDonalds drive-thru across the road.  One small coffee to go and away we went.  Could have taken our usual long dusty desert back road route to Congress but opted for taking highway 93 and set a course for home.  Swung ourselves around Wickenburg’s 3 round-a-bouts and half an hour later we rolled into our Ghost Town Road driveway.  Don’t think it was even 11 o’clock yet.

GROUND HUGGING FOG CAN BE SEEN IN ONE OF THE VALLEYS LOW SPOTS

LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM HIGHWAY 71

ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE CLOUDS IN THE ABOVE AND BELOW PHOTOS i BELIEVE THESE TO BE EMISSIONS FROM THE TONOPAH POWER PLANT SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 10

CLOSING IN ON THE TOWN OF AGUILA WITH HARQUAHALLA MOUNTAIN ON THE HORIZON

FARM TRACTORS ON A LARGE AGRICULTURE PROJET EAST OF AGUILA

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, WHICH WAY TO GO…..WE KNEW WE WERE ONLY HALF AN HOUR AWAY FROM A TUNA SUB IN WICKENBURG SO THAT’S WHERE WE WENT

DROVE OURSELVES INTO SOME LIGHT FOG JUST WEST OF WICKENBURG

We did get a bit of sunshine this afternoon but the air remained cool with a daytime high on our outside thermometer of about 52F.  There was no sitting on the front porch reading today.

AT WICKENBURG’S SUBWAY TODAY

IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO MAKE SUCH A BIG MESS DAD

YES I’M AFRAID IT IS PHEEBS

WELL LET’S JUST GET AT ER AND GET THIS BIG MESS UNDERWAY THEN DAD:))))

ON HIGHWAY 89 HEADING HOME WITH CONGRESS DEAD AHEAD ABOUT 5 MILES,,,.CLOUD SHROUDED WEAVER MOUNTAINS ON THE RIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man is dining in a fancy restaurant, and there is a gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table. He had been checking her out since he sat down, but lacked the nerve to talk with her.  Suddenly she sneezes and her glass eye comes flying out of its socket towards the man. He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of the air, and hands it back. "Oh my, I am so sorry," the woman says as she pops her eye back in place. "Let me buy you dessert to make it up to you."  They enjoy a wonderful dessert together, and afterwards, the woman invites him to the theater followed by drinks. After paying for everything, she asks him if he would like to come to her place for a nightcap...and stay for breakfast the next morning.  The next morning, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings. The guy is amazed! Everything has been incredible!
"You know," he said, "you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?"  "No," she replies.….. "You just happened to catch my eye.

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A young lad's father picked him up from school to take him to a dental appointment.  Knowing the parts for the school play were supposed to be posted today, he asked his son if he got a part.  The boy enthusiastically announced that he'd gotten a part. "I play a man who's been married for twenty years."  "That's great, son. Keep up the good work and before you know it they'll be giving you a speaking part."