On a clear day...

...from the top of Mt. Ord, you almost can see forever.

I have driven by the Mt. Ord sign while heading toward Payson on Highway 87, and always wondered what the heck was up there. Well, now I know. I knew there were communication towers and a forest service lookout, but I had no idea how beautiful, not to mention lofty this peak is. According to what I found on the Internet, the top of Mt. Ord sits at 11,348 feet above sea level. Amazing, considering it's only 50 miles from my house in Gilbert.

One mile from the summit.

The road takes you as close as one mile from the summit. Since I had hiked pretty hard the previous day, I decided to leave the summit climb for another day. While up there I was treated to some beautiful fall color, with several oak trees in full splendor. I couldn't believe how red the leaves were.

On the way up the mountain you're treated to some really

nice views of Roosevelt Lake and the Tonto Basin.

Backside of Mt. Ord (taken near Jake's Corners heading into the Tonto Basin on Highway 188)

Cheryl and I stopped and ate our lunch at the Roosevelt Lake Vineyard Canyon picnic grounds.

San Tanorama

Cheryl and I took a hike in the San Tan Mountains Regional Park this morning. We traveled the Littleleaf, Goldmine and San Tan trails. The Goldmine trail is definitely the toughest, with an elevation gain of 1000', but the views are worth it. Here's a link to the park map.

Looking northeast across Queen Creek toward the

Superstition Mountains.

Cheryl striking a pose halfway up the Goldmine trail.

On our way to the summit, we had passed a rather large rock that had rolled onto the trail from its previous perch above. I jokingly called it the "Blarney Stone", kissed two of my fingers and pressed them to the rock. Cheryl went so far as to bend over and kiss the rock. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that. :) Therefore, in honor of the "Blarney Stone", we dubbed the Goldmine summit, Blarney Peak.

Deb at the summit (a.k.a. Blarney Peak) of the Goldmine trail.

Someone had left behind a little American flag

commerating their climb to the top.

Cheryl at the Goldmine summit.

Based on the topo map in the ranger's office, I'm guessing this particular summit along the Goldmine trail was approximately 2400'.

No Fat Man Shall Pass

Now before you get your knickers in a knot, I'm not making light of people who have weight issues. I myself am at least 30 pounds overweight.

I took my first hike in South Mountain Park today with the Arizona Travel and Outdoor Club (AOTC). When I learned we would be going through an area known as "Fat Man's Pass", I was wondering whether I would be able to fit through the fabled pass. Well, I did and it was fun.

Fat Man Pass in Hidden Valley, South Mountain Park

The trail leads you through three giant boulders with just enough room to squeeze through. So, calling it Fat Man's Pass is a bit of a misnomer, hence the title of my blog post. :) The views on the way up were spectacular!

Looking northeast from about 500' up the trail.

We couldn't have asked for better weather for our hike. When we started out it was in the low 70's with clouds and a nice breeze. This particular hike reminded me a lot of the East Pinnacles Monument in California, which was one of my favorite places to hike when I lived there (my two daughters called it the "Pig's Knuckles"). Just like the Pinnacles, there's literally tons of granite, with many lying one on top of the other creating small caves and tubes.

Boulders in Hidden Valley

Boulder Tube

I noticed in many places that erosion over the millenia have carved out round hollows in the rock. I'm sure if this area could talk, the stories it could tell of the native peoples who lived here.

This was my second outing related to AOTC, and I must say, they really took good care of me. I haven't hiked much in the past four years, and let me tell you, this hike is not for the faint of heart. It climbs steeply from the get go, so I ended having to take many "sit breaks" to catch my breath. A couple of the hikers from the group (Larry and Jon), came back looking for me and made sure I got down from the mountain without any trouble. I hated slowing them down, but this is why I joined this particular club. I had heard they were a great group of people, and they haven't let me down yet.

We Had a "Hail" of a Good Time at Mt. Graham!

I recently joined the Arizona Outdoor and Travel Club (AOTC) and participated in a camping trip to Mt. Graham the weekend of September 19-20. Mt. Graham is a really special place. Not only is it sacred to the local Apaches, but it is considered a "sky island". I did a little Googling and learned that it is a Hudsonian forest of old-growth trees that is very similar to the rain forests of Washington State.
We camped at the Shannon campsite at an elevation of 9100', which is Black Bear country!! And, yes, we saw a bear during the trip.

We encountered this large Black Bear while driving to pick up a group of trail workers.

My oldest daughter, Cheryl, accompanied me on the trip and took some photos of our excursion.

We're starting our climb up the mountain.

The signs aren't kidding when they tell you there are winding roads ahead.

We couldn't help but notice how cool the temperature was by the time we got to 7000 feet, as evidenced in the next photo.

By the time we got to 8000 feet, the temperature had dropped almost another 10 degrees. With the long hot summer we've had this year, 58 degrees felt awesome!

We spotted quite a few towers near the summit.

A few more folks joined us, but here's the core group of "Happy Campers."

Me doing my hungry squirrel imitation.

Cheryl sitting on one of the bear-proof storage containers, doing her best to stay out of the smoke from the campfire.

Happy Campers, Cheryl and Deb

Cheryl and I took a short discovery hike near our campsite and came across quite an array of flora and fungi. This sponge fungus was huge!

One of the highlights of the weekend was the hailstorm (click the link to see the video I uploaded to YouTube) we encountered on Saturday. While everyone else in our group was out helping to clear trail (Cheryl and I stayed behind to shuttle them back later in the day, and mainly because we both slept like crap due to the cold and the altitude), Cheryl and I took a drive to Riggs Lake.

We encountered a pretty waterfall on our way to the lake.

Deb + Subaru = Debaru

From this photo you can see exactly how high we really were.

There was a large fire on Mt. Graham back in 2004. Here's a shot showing some of the snags left as a result.

In all, a great trip and I definitely want to go back and do it again.

On our way home, we encountered a beautiful double rainbow while driving West through Safford.

Congratulations, Cristina!!

After what seemed like a very long year, my youngest daughter, Cristina graduated from the Toni & Guy Hairstyling Academy today. Several of us joined her to celebrate her accomplishment.

Part of the fun of graduating is decorating your station. I think Cristina is planning on making lots of money.

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Aww. I think she looks like Mario's daughter.

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Funny, so does her big sister, Cheryl.

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Cute, aren't they?

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Okay, I think I see where they get their looks from.

Here's Papa Mario (a.k.a. Joe) with his daughters. ;)

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No celebration is complete without Silly String!!

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Here's to your future, Cristina!

I'm so very proud of you.

Love, Mom

A "Hair-raising" Experience

Cheryl and I set out for an early morning hike along the Buckhorn-Mesa flood control channel, which is at the south end of Usary Park, but were delayed due to a spectacular storm that was dumping a lot of rain at our trailhead location. So, we went out for a nice breakfast at the Feed Bag and headed back to the trailhead after the rain had passed. We got about one mile out on the levee when the storm picked up again. This time, the action was all around us, with periodic lightning to the northwest and south. This picture (looking due east) shows where the storm was when we started our hike. It had moved off to the south, so we figured it was safe to get out and hike.

This next photo shows just how electrically charged the air was due to the size of the storm. Even though Cheryl and I were getting pounded with some pretty good rain, some of our stray hairs were literally standing on end as we headed back to the car. I took this shot of Cheryl's head with my cell phone (click the picture for a larger view). Even with the rain and a strong wind blowing at our backs, you can see long strands of her hair standing straight up. We didn't get a picture of my hair, but I was told mine looked exactly the same.

Segundo Peculio

I have some wacky friends (when you read this post, you'll know exactly just how wacked they are) I have known since the early '70s. We all worked at Hughes Aircraft in Newport Beach and several of us have ended up in the Phoenix-metro area. Well, to make a long story short, about three years ago, I ran into one of them where I currently work. Turns out he was working downstairs from me. I noticed his name in company phone book and sent him an email, hoping beyond hopes that it would indeed be him. Well, to my pleasant surprise, it was. After learning that two more of our former work buddies also lived in the area, the four of us former HACers have been meeting for lunch on a fairly regular basis. That is until recently.

Here is a hilarious response to an attempt to get one of our former colleagues (Don) to pick a time and place for an upcoming lunch, while at the same time solicting a response on another subject from another former colleague (Ron) who still lives in California. This email supposedly came from Don's brother "Segundo Peculio".

maybe they're dead, maybe they were stuffed in dumpsters in alleys in their respective cities, maybe their computers went on the blitz and they haven't been able to send mail for a month,  because they're stubborn and insisted on fixing the problem themselves rather than have some geek come to their house and look at their stuff  and snoop in their drawers and fix the problem and charge them an arm  and a leg. maybe don ate a bad burrito and was in terrible pain for a month, maybe don was on vacation, maybe don was cranky because he forgot to take his nerve medicine. Maybe ron and don formed a secret club and swore on an oath never to speak to anyone from hughes again. Maybe ron drove to arizona and dragged don thru the streets of phoenix and then moved to boise where no one could find him, maybe ron was on vacation, maybe don couldn't take the stress of having to pick someplace to eat and went berserk and locked himself in a porta-potty on the side of the freeway. Maybe don went to the zoo and hasn't come back yet. Maybe don drove to OC and dragged ron thru the streets on a rope and then moved to boise where no one could find him. Just a guess.