Monsters Among Us - Staking Out The Trail

Some apparent lunatic has been hammering nails into objects along trails in a park in NC. One runner/hiker has already been injured by stepping on one of them and another had a close call in which his shoe but not his foot was punctured (my prime person of interest to date). Police and a runners' group are attempting to uncover and clear the area of these potentially deadly stakes. More here:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/02/21/runners-foot-impaled-nail-purposefully-placed-trail-40-total-found-along-trail/98190816/

If it was happening here close to home in NY, I think I would be staking out the area to help find the madman that has been leaving these booby traps for unsuspecting folks. Not so much for the meager $1,000 reward that has been offered for information about he case but to drive a proverbial stake through the heart of his (or her) madness to bring an end to it.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Natural Success Despite Personal Failure

My trip to Madera Canyon, for a hike to the top of Mt. Wrightson was not an utter failure. While I never made it to the top of the mountain, and that indeed was a disappointing failure, I did have success of another sort. While hiking I spotted at least three deer, a few unidentified neat birds (unidentified by me because I know little about birds), 55 lizards, one snake, three deer, a few squirrels and two snails. I also had a vulture almost touch me with its wing tip as it winged by out of the blue and I mean that literally it came within a couple of feet and seemed as surprised to see me as I was it. Apparently it had its mind on some tender rotting morsel down below the trail and I count my lucky stars it was not waiting on me for a meal.

My success is not so much that I saw these animals but that I saw ones that I would venture to guess many other people on the same trail never see. This is especially true of the snails and probably at least one of the lizards I saw. I found the snail while flipping a rock looking for snakes or lizards. I was pretty surprised to find two of them under the same flat bottomed rock, I guess I was surprised because I never expected to find snails in the desert - what with their preference for damp places. These guys were no exception when it came to that preference because the ground under the rock was pretty moist - probably because it was within feet of some rainwater runoff. All were near sources of water, the water having come from the recent Monsoon rains. As for the two snails I did find, it was apparent to me they used the same rock repeatedly after going out to look for whatever it is they eat in that neck of the woods. If you look at the picture closely, you too maybe able to figure out how I came to that conclusion, it has to do with all the other stuff on the rock.

The bigger and better surprise for me was that as I was walking along, I kicked up a lizard that took off into the undergrowth adjacent to the trail. Now that is not at all surprising, heck I saw over 50 lizards just from the trail yesterday without really even having to try to find them - but this lizard was different. You see, most of the lizards I have seen on the trails at Madera Canyon have been either Yarrow's Spiny Lizards or similar species of spiny lizards. There was one Horned Toad I saw a week or so ago and that was a treat, but the one I saw yesterday was totally unexpected. It was some form of a skink. Now I wish I could tell you what type it was but I do not have a clue, I need to do some checking in my field book. I did check online but could not find any pics of a native AZ skink that resembles this one. It was brown in color with darker brown cross bands along its length including its tail. My guess is that it was about 6 to 8 inches long. It was fairly slender and at first I thought it might have been some form of legless lizard or a snake until I saw its legs. Lucky for me I was able to take the camera out of my pocket, turn it on, focus it, press the shutter release, and actually capture a fairly decent photo of it just before it scampered into the undergrowth. I was not about to follow because the slope of the hill just a couple of feet off of the trail at that point, and the looseness of the soil and leaf litter, made it too risky to try it. in addition I was in no mood to be ripped apart by thorns, and just about every plant out here has thorns - mean ones at that. (A check of my field guide revealed this was not a skink but rather an Arizona Alligator Lizard.)

I also got to see one snake, and I also need to check my field guide to identify it. My guess is that it was some sort of Lined Snake or a Garter Snake. Whatever it was, it was fast in disappearing. So, I was not quite as successful in getting its picture as I had been with the skink. As a matter of fact I did get a picture of it, as you can see though just part of it anyhow. It was the first snake I have seen while out hiking. Based on my previous trips to AZ that is an unusual statistic, most times I see more in a shorter period of time but have had little luck on this trip spotting snakes while I was out hiking.

All in all those sightings made the whole day a rather good one for me even though I never achieved reaching the peak of Mt. Wrightson as I had hoped to do.

All the best,

Glenn B

My Lack Of Blogging Over The past 3 Months...

...as most of my readers will be aware has been due to the fact that I am on temporary assignment to Tucson, Arizona. of course while out here I do have access to a computer as can be witnessed by the fact that I have been blogging albeit lightly so allow me to explain why it has been light even though I have access to a computer, and this is no bull!


First of all I am out here on a long term work assignment. I get up at about 0445 to 0500 each morning to get ready for work since I have been working 0600 to 1400. I am not an early bird, my wife and kids could tell you that,; i n fact I hate getting up early but I have had to do it. I usually get back to the hotel by about 1500 (3PM). By that time I am often hot, sweaty, tired, and grouchy. If I had my own computer, at my own desk, with my own bottle of Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey - well then I would probably be happy to unwind by blogging. The thing is I either have to go to my office for a computer where they frown on employees blogging, or I have to use one of the two computers in the hotel business center (where I am right now as i type this). These computers suck and are sloth like to say the least about them. As it often winds up, when I do head over to the business center, both computers are often already in use and I either have to wait my turn or come back later. happy hour begins at 1730 (5:30 PM) each night and runs for 2 hours. You can bet that once they start serving free (as in no charge at all) booze you will not likely find me at the computer. granted it is not top shelf booze, except maybe for the Jim Beam but they do serve such things as Gordon's gin and vodka, Sauza tequila, and several other liquors in addition to Bud and Bud light on tap and three types of wine (red, white and blush). Oh the agony of not being able to blog while sipping that Irish whiskey or drinking a bottle of Ommegang but I tell you it is possible to overcome my grief at happy hour.


Of course there are even some other things that keep me away from happy hour, and also away from the business center, the computers and blogging. As I have blogged about a few times by now - I love to hike in the area in and around Tucson. My best estimate is that I have been on at least 25 hikes since arriving here in the last week of March and maybe as many as 35. Most have been short ones, a couple of miles, but I have gotten as far as nine miles on one hike and 8 on a couple of others. Yesterday after work, for instance, I hiked just over 6 miles. I did that one at Madera Canyon on the Super Trail. Now one of the reasons I love hiking out here is that there are lizards everywhere that I have hiked. I am a confirmed herp nut and seeing these little critters is my cup of tea. Yesterday I counted 36 lizards on the trail - 33 of them on my way up the trail. It got a lot cooler and cloudier on my way down and they beat feet for a crevice among the rocks to weather out the storm that seemed to be approaching. Lucky for me it only rained on me a little before I got back to my car but the temps dropped about 10 to 15 degrees in the last 1/2 hour of my hike down the mountain. and that was a nice bit of cooling off at that for a weary old hiker like me.

There are other reasons that I love to hike besides the chance to see a lot of herps. I love the outdoors, love to walk in the mountains, love the scenery, love to hear the birds singing, love to see the wildlife (I walked up within 25 feet of a mule deer yesterday out in the middle of nowhere off the trail - not the one pictured - that is one that Brendan spotted while he was out here - also at Madera Canyon) love the fresh air, and sort of like the exercise especially since I have lost about 16 to 18 pounds since I have gotten here. All those things are reasons good enough to just forget about blogging for awhile. Now if you don't believe me, well then just take a gander at the pics that accompany this blog. The sunset was yesterday - taken on the road on my way out of Madera Canyon. No, not the best pic of a sunset, but seeing it in person was awesome. It is not often that the sun peeks through a split in the clouds like that just at sunset. Then there were the cows. maybe you live in the country and see lots of cows or steers, but I live just outside of NYC where I see animals like pigeons, squirrels, and of course animals of another less noble sort on a daily basis (you figure what that means because I am not about to get myself riled up thinking about them). So I get a kick out of seeing cows strolling along the roadside as I am driving by - note I said on the roadside and not on the middle of the road. Yep that stuff makes it more than worthwhile to go on these hikes. Take a look and you will see what I mean.



If you don't think those things are worth missing out on blogging, well then you live in the virtual world of the Internet a bit too much for my liking - but to each his own. As for me, I figure I'll get out there whenever I can to enjoy it all, and if I find the time later on, well then I'll blog about it. The thing that makes it best of all though is lacking in my life right now, and that would be my son who is herping, hiking, hunting and fishing partner. He was here for a week and we had fun even though i was fighting off the swine flu as best I could while taking him around south eastern Arizona for a few adventures.

All the best,
Glenn B

Alone In Tucson Again...

...but while Brendan was here we had a few good times together despite the fact that I was under the weather.

The high point of his trip may have been when he looked down while in Pima Canyon. He looked down, exclaimed something to the effect of "Oh golly shit", prodded around with the end of my walking stick in the then dry sand of the wash, and came up with a Cold Steel brand machete still in its case. Granted it was pretty rusted being that he found it in the middle of the wash in an area that had water in it (not water in that exact spot but water only feet away from it and upstream at that, so the sand there was probably damp a lot) on each of my previous visits, but it was a pretty neat find. Of course he could not take it home with him on the plane since he only had a carry-on bag but I figure I'll find someplace for it in my checked luggage when I return home. Once home I think we will have to see if we can restore it some by getting the rust off of it. Strange thing is that even though badly rusted, even pitted in some places, it still held a very sharp edge and my guess would be that it would still have been effective used for its intended purpose despite the time, the ling time, it probably spent in the wash.

Of course we also found some other things on the Pima Canyon Trail and those included a lot of lizards and some good views. In the lizard department we were hoping to get to see a Gila Monster repeating my luck of a previous hike there. While we did not duplicate that bit of good fortune we did see something that neither of us had seen in the area before and we saw it quite possibly because of good trail manners we had just exercised. You see, we were hiking back down out of the canyon. At the same time as us, there was a group of three other guys hiking down who were behind us a bit. They were walking at a pace just above ours and after a while of hearing them chatting behind us it was time for us to move to the side and let them pass and they politely thanked us. Well after a short while we decided to take a break to drink some water and to give me a rest. I was pooped, shame on me for hiking while having the flu, but it was Brendan's last full day here and I was going to make sure he did something fun. As it turned out, the three guys we had let pass us only minutes before were up ahead all bent over looking at something on the ground. Brendan asked if i wanted to stop where we stood, a place I had actually had in mind to stop at, but when I saw those three so intensely peering at something I said 'let's move on a bit'. The three guys soon straightened up and continued their hike and we soon got to the spot where they had been peering at something. I sat down, as did Brendan, and almost no sooner than we sat he blurted out something like 'check it out'. There was a Collared Lizard, a male in full breeding colors, that had just run up the trail directly at us. It stopped only a few feet away, watched us a moment or two as I took some pics of it over Brendan's shoulder (all blurry at that), ran off the trail a few feet, stopped at a rock with an obvious hollow under it, peered into the hole and then disappeared into it. We decided to try to catch it. Brendan lifted the rock and before I could even think about making a grab the little guy ran back onto the trail. The thing is another collared lizard, apparently a female, also took off from under the same rock.

These lizards are normally very wary of their surroundings and any potential threats like hawks, roadrunners, coyotes and herpers (they would have been us). This guy was very bold indeed staying pretty close, and the reason he was staying close was obvious - he was horny! Typical guy I suppose, a pretty female nearby makes us all brazen. Brendan got a shot or two of the female (the one on the rocks at left), and he and I both got some shots of the male (the one in the pic above next to the backpack). While she ran under some bushes and was harder to photograph, he stayed out in the open for over 5 minutes, moving back and forth along the trail. He even posed next to my backpack. When you look at the pic of him, click on it to enlarge it then look at the yellow spots. While the pic may not do them justice you can get some sense of just how luminescent were those spots in the daylight (and it was light overcast). That was a great find made by my son's sharp eyes and in part at least based upon our good fortune due to us having had good trail manners earlier. If we hadn't had perfect timing we would never have seen it, and that perfect timing was due to our having moved aside on the trail. Coincidence? Maybe you think so but as for me I'll just take it as a rare instance of a good deed being rewarded for us instead of the typical "No good deed goes unpunished" sort of a thing.

It was a fine last day for his trip to Tucson, better than most that preceded it if not the best of all. As for me, I am here till the end of June, maybe even until the end of July since they asked me to extend. Sometimes it seems as if I just cannot get enough of this place.

All the best,

Glenn B

The New Me...

...or is it the old me coming out of its shell. I mean after all this is the new me at 15 pounds lighter, 15 pounds of excess blob I had carried around for years. I still have a long way to go but I imagine that hikes like the one I took yesterday - 9 miles in all - will help me to keep shedding off the pounds. That and not snacking more than once a week on junk food snacks. Now some may think it Narcissistic of me to post pics of myself here as I lose weight, and maybe it is just that, at least a little bit, but I don't care what they think anyhow. Yes I am feeling good about myself, and yes I am sharing that sentiment, and so what do I care if some think it self centered. You see, it is self centered, and I am quite pleased with myself but no enough to think I am the end all - be all. I am just happy and feeling better about shedding some flab. I am also pretty happy about having hiked 9 miles yesterday with a 25 pound pack on my back, that and the several pounds added by my sidearm and extra ammo and my walking stick. I would love to live here in or near Tucson; I'd hike like that at least weekly on average. By the way, I hiked the Madera Canyon area on the Super Trail to Josephine Saddle, then took a side trip to McBeth Spring, then back to the parking lot - 9 miles in all.

All the best,

GB

Leapin' Lizards

I went for a hike today at Madera Canyon. Not a long hike, just over 3 miles round trip, but a pretty steep trail for an old fart hefting an extra 20 or 25 pounds in a pack on his back. Still though, it was Paradise. The temps were in the mid to high 60s, and it was enough to bring out the lizards. At least it was enough to bring out some spiny lizards, I think they were yarrow's Spiny Lizards. Well I have a photo of one here for you to gawk at. Pretty colors, even prettier during mating season when the males take on some awesome blue hues on their dorsal scales. They also have a year round blue throat patch. This little guy was almost friendly. I saw him near the bottom of the trail on my walk down the mountain. Actually I heard him first as I walked by and he scampered through the dry leaves and under a rock (into that shady area to his left). A second or two of me waiting and he was already back out from hiding! These guys are pretty brazen, and this one should know better. Notice the duller rear half of its tail? That section of tail was lost and has regenerated. probably grabbed by a predator like a bird or snake, and the tail broke off still wriggling while the rest of the lizard scampered away to safety.

I saw a couple of others too, and I also got photos of them. it is a royal pain in the rear to post pics from the hotel computer, they only allow MS Paint to edit it. They do not have a photo editing program. I am sure there is one on the PC, they just do not have it set up to use it.

Maybe next time I'll get lucky and see a rattler.

All the best,
Glenn B

Tucson - First Day Off

Okay, today is my first full day off while out this way and I am going to make the most of it starting with a full breakfast right after I get done with the blogging. The hotel has a decent set-up for breakfast, and everything is mmm delicious. I have eaten breakfast every day that I have been here, which for me is unusual, but while not the norm it has an advantage because I have cut out almost all snacking. By 'almost all snacking' I mean I have completely cut out: candies, cakes, cookies, pretzels, chips, ice cream and just about whatever other junk you can think of. I have replaced them with breakfast and with a handful of nuts per day and a piece or two of fruit per day. No more smacking for 2 -3 hours per night as I watch the tube. I figure if I can do that for 3 months I should lose at least a pound or two!

After I eat I plan to head out somewhere. I am not too sure yet just where I'll be going, maybe to Nogales to become refamiliarized with the border area (a work related drive) and then maybe to Madera Canyon for a hike (my PT or the day). I already have hiked part of Pima Canyon, which is the closest trail to my hotel. I was going to post on that this morning but the pics I downloaded onto the hotel PC last night have been deleted. Oh well, I'll download them tonight or tomorrow and then upload them to my blog immediately. The desert is in bloom, and I got a few nice shots of flowers, and more of cacti and other desert plants. I have not seen a herp yet, but my bet is I may find some today.

Time to go now, I will write more tonight or tomorrow.

All the best,
Glenn B