January 29, 2013

Desert Sky & Silly Mountain Botanical Walk

We woke up to cold temps BUT no rain. I coaxed Monte into taking a ride to Silly Mountain to do the botanical walk.

 

 

 

 I had packed us a lunch, and even though there were a couple of picnic benches available, we opted to sit in the car to eat.  The parking lot at Silly Mountain was crowded which surprised us because the last time were went there only a couple of other cars were in the parking lot and it had been a much warmer day. 

 

 

We took our time strolling through the garden and taking pictures.

 

 

 

 There were placards in front of some of the trees, plants and shrubs providing a drawing and information.  But because most of the plants either bloom or grow in the spring (as a disclaimer) it wasn’t always clear, as I was taking pictures, if I was correctly matching up the plant with the placard. 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                              Ocotillo

                                                                                                

 

                  



 

 

 

                                                                                                                   Jojoba

                                                                                                  Jumping Cholla

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                   Saguaro

                                                                                         Desert Museum Palo Verde

 

 

 

                                                                                          Fishhook Barrel Cactus

 

 

 

                                                                         Prickly Pear

 

 

 

                                                                                    Desert Spoon

 

 

                                                                                                      Organ Pipe Cactus

 

 

                                                                                    Triangle Leaf Bursage

 

 

 

                                                                                                   Century Plant

                                                                                  Ironwood

 

 

 

                                                                                      Bear Grass

 

 

                                                                                Brittlebush

                                                                                     Chupurosa

                                                                 Creosote Bush

                                                                                   Banana Yucca

                                                                              Desert Milkweek

 

 

                                                                                   Morman Tea

 

 

                                                                                                           Desert Willow

 

 

                                                                                        Mesquite Tree

 

 

                                                                                                     Mexican Palo Verde

 

 

                                                                                           Senita

 

 

                                                                                    Velvet Mesquite

 

 

                                                                                                    Screwbeam Mesquite

 

 

                                                                                     Red Barrel

 

 Although it was chilly, the sun was intense enough to provide some warmth so that by the time we had completed the walk around the garden I had undid my scarf and opened up my jacket. 

 

 

  

                                                                                                           Wolfberry

 

 

 

                                                                                                          Clokey Cholla

 

                                                                                       Senna

 
 

Blue Palo Verde

 

                                                                                                            

On our previous visit to Silly Mountain we had hiked the Brittle Bush Trail. 

 

Silly Mountain

 

 We weren’t prepared for a hike today so we walked on the Palo Verde Trail

 

 

Almost Kissing Seguaro

 

 

for a short distance until it started to ascend and then retraced out steps back to the parking lot.

We weren’t ready to return home yet so when we reached Idaho Road instead of turning towards our RV Park we went in the opposite direction and took it to the end at which point the paved road ends and becomes a dirt road.

 

 

We followed it for a little bit and discovered that it butts up to a National Forest.  The sign on the fence that declared the area a National Forest did not say which forest it was but I am assuming it is Tonto NF. 

 

Kinda looks like a face.

 

I plugged “parks” into the GPS and several popped up.  We decided to check out Usery Mountain Regional Park that was only 8 miles distance. 

 

 

Usery Mountain Regional Park is one of several parks in the Maricopa County Regional Park System.  Some of the other parks in the system are Lake Pleasant Regional Park, Adobe Dam Regional Park and White Tank Mountain Regional Park.  Monte and I had already been to one of the other parks in the system, McDowell Mountain Regional Park, earlier in the month when we met up with fellow full-time RVers, Steve and Dianne for a hike.

When we approached the entrance booth, we said that we wanted information about their hiking trails. 

 

 

 The gentleman manning the booth gave us literature and a 30 minute visitor pass so that we could drive around and check out the park without having to pay the $6 day use fee. 

 

 

 As Monte drove the loop I read about the many hiking trails that were available ranging from easy to difficult and from short to long. 

We also drove through the campground.

 

  The setting is beautiful but the rate of $25/day is a little out of our budget.  

 

 

But we are planning to return soon to spend the day and hike a couple of the trails.

 

 

 

Bet that house offers spectacular views!

Back home I did some research on making a meat loaf in the convection oven.  Some sites suggested shortening the cooking time while others suggested lowering the oven temperature.  I ended up winging it by doing a little of both and according to Monte it was a success.