Grumpy Rich vs. Happy Rich

Rich does not like to work in Food section at local Walgreen's.

Vulture Peak, Wickenburg, AZ

Vulture Peak is located near Wickenburg, AZ. Trail is approximately 2.0 miles one-way to its upper saddle, and additional scrambling needed to reach its peak. Elevation gain is 1200 feet.

Trail head

Hedgehog Cacti (Echinocereus)

Vulture Peak





View of the valley



Orange colored desert flower





Yellow desert flower



Rock squirrel





A piece of Cholla cactus trying to hitch a ride with me.

The White Wyatt Cenac

This is my buddy Jon, who has strong resemblance of Wyatt Cenac.

Barnhardt Trail, Tonto National Forest, Arizona

Barnhardt Trail is located southwest of Payson, Arizona along SR87. The entire trail is approximately 6 miles one-way. There are two water falls at 3 miles in.



The wooden trail map at trail head does not indicate directional information, nor distance



Gopher snake, harmless



Cacti flowering





Water fall from afar





More cacti flowering



Small pool



Small lizard resting on a boulder





Water pool



Lunch







Mazatzal Mountain



Yellow flower



Layered rock formation



Wild flower



Ant hill

My loot from International Migratory Bird Day at Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center last Saturday.

"Check out my brown eye!"
"Oh my..."

Watch out for that Gila monster!

Tonto Narrows Closed

I tried to hike Tonto Narrows yesterday, but the gate is locked when I got there.





Later I found out from Charles Liu's (author of 60 Hikes within 60 Miles Phoenix) website:

As of early 2009, the trailhead for this hike is closed to public access due to recent conflicts between hikers and local ranchers. There are currently no established alternate access routes to Tonto Creek from the town of Gisela.

That is just too bad!