good-times-rollin: North Scenic Byway 89A from Prescott to Cottonwood

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Watson Dam and Flume Trails

Distant Drums RV Resort
Camp Verde, AZ
April 2, 2016

Yesterday Joe and I headed south to Prescott to explore an area that has been on our "to go to" list for awhile...I first read about the Granite Dells from John and Pam (ohtheplacestheygo.wordpress.com), Hans and Lisa (metamorphosisroad.blogspot.com) and Steve and MonaLisa (www.lowestravels.com) and have wanted to explore there every since. It's about a 46 mile trip to get there from our home. We figured with the bumper to bumper traffic and hordes of people wandering around aimlessly in Sedona that a 46 mile excursion sounded nice and nice it was.

Today we chose the Watson Dam and Flume trails for a quiet 3.6 mile round trip loop. We started out on the Watson Dam Trail through the Dells.

Staying on trail while climbing up and over boulders is made easy with the white dots painted on the rocks.

Located in the heart of the Prescott National Forest, the City of Prescott does an outstanding job with the help of volunteers to maintain these wonderful outdoor adventures.

Watson Dam Trail takes you to the dam on Watson Lake.

For the return, we chose Flume Trail. An easy walk through a riparian area along Granite Creek. Mostly shady and the only sound we heard was the birds.

We stopped to watch a pair of mallards preening...

And we saw our first Acorn Woodpecker.

It was a challenge to try and capture a photo. The red crown caught my eye and I was determined. It was at home I learned the name of this interesting bird. I learned from allaboutbirds.org that Reminiscent of a group of wide-eyed clowns, Acorn Woodpeckers live in large groups in western oak woodlands.

Their social lives are endlessly fascinating: they store thousands of acorns each year by jamming them into especially made holes in trees. A group member is always on alert to guard the hoard from thieves, while others race through the trees giving parrotlike calls.

Their breeding behavior is equally complicated, with multiple males and females combining efforts to raise young in a single nest.

Heading home was also an adventure...we chose State Route 89A. This section of the scenic byway meanders through a canyon formed by Hickey and Mingus mountains and climbs into a high country conifer forest on its way to Jerome, the historic hillside copper mining town.