Thoughts
while I’m waiting for my omelette to cool:
Whoo-wee!
Checked my phone as I got ready to go outside for yoga: 37o!
Decided to wait until the sun was over the bushes and see if that made a
difference. Why, yes, it did…by 8:30 it
was up to 45o which seemed an acceptable number. I had to wear my fleece which meant some of
the moves weren’t as easy but I adjusted and did just fine.
Now
I’m stretched, energized and ready to face a hike in the desert…but, please, no
loose sand because my calves are already angry at me for the last two hikes through
loose sand.
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AZGFD Wildlife Live Cam Update:
*Checked
the Crane Cam at Whitewater Draw…wondering when the migration starts. It’s currently offline but I’ll check back
later.
*Checked the Owl Cam and still no action but I heard lots of sandhill
cranes. Soooo…based on the structure the
nest is located in, the sandhill crane noise and the fact that on our walk
around Whitewater Draw we saw warning
signs about a nesting owl I’m thinking this owl cam could be set up in the
rafters of the picnic pavilion there. There’s no mistaking the crane noise. **I was able to verify that the Owl Cam is
indeed set up at Whitewater Draw…there’s been no action in this nest since
2020.
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We
got the solar panel for the cell cam charged up, Kim mounted all hardware on
the stake and it’s ready to go…as soon as we are.
Last
night we decided that today’s hike will just be a ‘wander through the desert’
near the owl nest. Trying to be
conscious of fuel consumption but yet wanting to get out and enjoy the reasons
we come to Arizona…sunshine and warm!
Kim’s OnX app maps our route so if in our wandering we get lost it’ll be
easy to retrace our steps.
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Kim
leaned out the door as I was doing yoga and said, “Oh, yeah…I just saw today’s challenge. We have to spend time in nature and thank God
for his beautiful creation. We got this.”
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Thoughts
after a much needed shower:
We
were done setting up the cell cam at about 12:30…a test picture verified the
time. The camera is set up by a bush
maybe 30 feet from the cactus which is the only place with cover in the nearby
vicinity. We have to make do with what the desert offers us…this is not like a
hunting spot with lots of cover. Anyway, the owl watched Kim set it up so obviously
we’re not trying to hide it from her.
No, we’re trying to prevent the human element from seeing it from the
road. The camera has an 80 foot range so the distance shouldn’t be too much but
the nest is 15’ up in a cactus so sight angle and the position of the cactus arms
could be a problem. We should know by
nighttime at the latest how this goes…I’m on high alert for a phone
notification from the cell cam.
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Drove
a couple of miles down Park Link Rd. to find a pull-off so we could put our
wandering plan in action. We wandered
into a wash and just stayed with it. Kim
was following the wash on his app and at one point saw that it intersected with
another one that would take us back to a road that lead straight back to the
truck. So we took the second wash back
to the dirt road that ran along the electrical lines. When viewing our route on the map one could
say that our two washes and a road equaled a wonky isosceles triangle.
I found the amount of debris that gets caught
up in a flash flood to be fascinating.
Mostly it was of an organic nature: sticks, stumps, and stones either
lodged against an immoveable object or strewn along the edges of the wash. However, we also came across a door-less
refrigerator wedged along with a pile of sticks against the base of a tree. A
refrigerator!! That truly would have
been a sight!
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On
our way back as we passed the owl nest I did a check to see if the camera is
visible from the road. At 55 mph, it’s
not.
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When we were driving out here, to pass the
time I came up with a Purpose Statement for a Kim n Karen Adventure: Staying open to finding the new in the
familiar. This is our 7th
year of coming to Picacho and we’ve become familiar with the area over that
time as we’ve explored in the truck or mostly on bikes, finding our favorite
go-to spots for riding. And we’ve also
established our favorite walking routes near the campground.
We knew this year would be different because
Kim can’t ride; because of that maybe we’ve been forced into finding the new in
the familiar. Going to places we’re
familiar with…the petroglyphs, Park Link Rd., Saguaro National Park, or
Coolidge…but seeing them from a new perspective, mostly through hiking/walking. We’ve spent 2 or 3 hours a day for the last 4
days exploring on foot and I’ve been enjoying that. Not getting as much bike time as in the past but that’s okay because I’m still
getting to ride.
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Got a
few dings on my phone from the cell cam.
Movement at the owl nest! Saw the
owl heading out around 3:45 p.m. and at 8:30 she was back on the nest, eyes
glowing. It’s actually easier to see her
in the nighttime photos because of her glowing eyes; not much contrast between
her and the nest in the daytime photos.
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After our hike Kim went to Eloy to wash the
truck and I took a ride to Coolidge to pick up some pictures. It wasn’t warm and it wasn’t cold but I did need
to put one more layer on for the ride back to camp.
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Bike miles today: 43
Total miles: 350
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