A Desert Hike–the Canyon Loop Trail

 
The Catalina State Park is one of our favorite local parks.  First thing this morning before the day heated up we girls went with a few friends for a hike…

We had a funny experience as we set out… We came upon a man with a double set of hiking sticks coming toward us with a warning that just around the corner was a bear, or a bull… a big black thing right there around the bend.  And he wasn’t sure which but he was turning back and  going to find another trail…
Now, this happens to be my favorite trail in the park and I didn’t fancy turning back just as we were getting going.  Besides, I was curious–what was around the corner?  I’ve never seen a bear in this area, never heard of such a thing even.  I had to see.  Wishing Louie were here just in case… I took my friend’s walking stick in hand and took a few steps, and then suggested we all go see.  We did.  And just around the bend here’s what we found– our Arizona ‘bear’ ( :

This land doubles as grazing ground for cattle.  Here was in fact a bull, but one not much interested in our passing by.
We continued on and had a leisurely stroll along this creek bed.  The water here will dry up in another month and be a dry bed till the monsoons come at summer’s end.  So finding water here is always a treat.

Along the trail we nearly trampled on this little guy.  He’s a ‘horny toad’ that keeps the ant population under control–quite harmless despite his fierce appearance.   You can pick them up if you can catch them.  This one skittered off in the midst of our photo shoot.

And so went our lovely hike…very different than the ones I’ve posted thus far, but oh so bright and sunny and full of memories of times past.  Thanks for  coming along!
“…He opened the rock and water gushed out;  it flowed through the desert like a river.”  Ps.105:41
“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.” Ez.34:25