good-times-rollin

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Peavine and Lakeshore Trails

Distant Drums RV Resort
Camp Verde, AZ
April 4, 2016

Our first hike in Prescott left us wanting more so our next hiking day took us to Watson Lake. We enjoyed a very pleasant day on the Peavine and Lakeshore trails. Parking is off Sundog Ranch Road and there is a $3 fee for parking. Peavine is a rails to trails project with great views of Watson Lake as well as a great place for birding.

What was originally built by the Santa Fe Railway in 1893, today is open for hiking, biking and horseback riding.

A pair of Northern Shovelers...It's elongated, spoon-like bill has comblike projections along the edges which filter out food from water.

After a mile on Peavine, we turned left on Lakeshore Trail and headed toward Watson Lake. Watson Lake was created as a reservoir by the Chino Valley Irrigation project in 1916 when Granite Creek was damed. The City of Prescott purchased both Watson and Willow Lakes and surrounding areas in 1998.

I sure am glad!

The Dells owe their distinctive forms to long-term weathering of natural cracks in granite. Their cracks originated during the cooling and stressing of a deeply buried molten mass. Geologist estimate that the granite here is about 1.4 billion years old.

A pair of Ring-necked ducks

Cinnamon Teals...

It was a great day of birding and hiking... two of my favorite things to do. Joe and I enjoyed both days we spent in Granite Dells very much. We hope to visit this area again...there are so many hikes on the map. I do believe you could hike there everyday for several months and never do the same hike twice. There are also lots of biking trails.

Until next time,

happy days and happy trails!

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.