Desert Destination: Hampton Creek Trail

Every Monday we visit a desert destination.

I felt the need to go hiking, so I packed up Desert Boy and Henry and we headed to a nice mountain trail, Hampton Creek. We drove on a long gravel road to get to the trailhead, and upon arriving we saw that we would have the trail to ourselves. Desert Boy wasted no time checking out the informational sign.

With the backpack loaded, we started up the trail. Desert Boy quickly got distracted by the big boulders that block vehicles from the trail. 

A few steps further on he investigates what's been digging in the dirt. I can see that this is going to be a slow-paced hike. We have no real destination, so it doesn't matter. The Hampton Creek trail leads up to The Table, a high-elevation meadow renowned for its ancient bristlecone pines and herds of bighorn sheep. I figure we probably won't make it that far today, after all I only packed one meal.

Desert Boy observes Mama has a hiking pole and wants one for himself. He hikes with it for a few steps.

And then he decides it's more fun to use it to dig in the dirt. I need some exercise and want to feel my thigh muscles burn, so it's time for Desert Boy to go up in the backpack and we start making time going up the steep trail.

A short while later we pass the sign indicating that we're entering a wilderness area. High cliffs peek out from the surrounding forest, and it feels pretty wild, especially knowing that we're the only ones out there. We hike awhile, and although it's the Hampton Creek trail, the trail stays far away from the creek. Henry is getting thirsty (and Desert Boy is getting heavy), so I know that once we find some water, we'll take a break. Gradually our surroundings change from pinyon and juniper woodlands to ponderosa pine and aspen forest. More plants appear in the understory, including some that are still flowering. (I took 240 photos this particular day, so although this post is on the long side, I did show a little restraint. Some of the photos of the vegetation will appear in future posts.)

At our break, Desert Boy wanted the juice box. He thinks it's really fun to drink out of a straw.

He's all business here, no giggles or laughs. He wants a drink!

After he's refreshed, it's time to wander around. Desert Boy finds one of his favorite attractions: something to climb. 

He struggles awhile to get up on this log. I figure he can eventually do it, so I leave him to find a way to ascend.

He tries several different techniques...

...and eventually finds one that works. He's happy.

And then he gets this look on his face, and I can only worry. What's next?

I should have guessed what's next--water. Henry had been happily traipsing in it, so Desert Boy followed and managed to get himself soaking wet. So after a bit of happy splashing in the moss-covered stream, I change his clothes and realize I don't have any extra socks or shoes. So it's probably time to head back down to the truck. 

On the way back, Desert Boy falls asleep leaning to one side, which doesn't make the backpack too comfortable. 

Nevertheless, we make it back to the trailhead, content with our little adventure and ready to go looking for the next one.

So if you'd like a quiet mountain hike, Hampton Creek is a good place to go. The trail just gets more beautiful as you get higher, although the trail is steep and crosses the creek in several locations. It's good for both day hikes and backpacking.

Birthday Party at the Beach

My oldest niece had her birthday last week, and to celebrate she wanted to have a party at the beach. The beach is basically the exposed lake bottom of a nearby lake that partially dries out every summer. But we make the best of what we've got, so we'll just call it the beach! It has sand, shells, tracks, and lots of room to play. We brought out the lawn chairs, towels, swim toys, and got ready to party.

The remaining water in the lake is a huge draw, and this time of year you can walk out a hundred meters and still be only knee deep. Henry and Desert Boy were ready to take the plunge.

Some of the cousins and their friends were already in the water, racing around, playing on inner tubes and boogie boards, and just generally amusing themselves. The water was the perfect temperature for a hot desert afternoon.

While the other kids were occupied, Desert Boy grabbed his cousin's sandal. He must be taking lessons from his sidekick Henry, who is always stealing items of clothing and running away with them. He started walking and I wondered what he was going to do with the sandal. I figured that as long as he didn't start chewing on the sandal like Henry does, we'd be okay.

Here he's tossed the sandal into the water and is watching what it does. You can see the inquisitive look on his face. I think he will take after his Daddy in trying out lots of experiments just for the fun of it.

Then he finds one of the inner tubes the kids have abandoned and decides to put the sandal into the inner tube. 

He climbs in after it and finds a nice place to sit and relax. 

Meanwhile, the other kids have gotten bored just playing in the water and have started a huge mud fight. It goes on for what seems like forever, and they don't get tired of chasing each other around and throwing huge clumps of mud.

Cousin Tractor Buddy is nearly coated with mud and seems happy about it.

Of course Desert Boy can't stay away from all the commotion and goes to check it out. Mud!? He's happy to play too and soon his feet and hands are coated in mud.

And then the inevitable--he has to taste it. Yum, mud must be good because he got quite upset when I picked him up and moved him out of the mud zone. 

We went back to the party area and he soon forgot about the mud once he began eating Cheetos and watermelon. That's a balanced diet, right? It was a wonderful afternoon and a great spot for a party. 

Henry Gets His Shots

Here's one of the reasons I love living in a rural area. We might be an hour from the nearest grocery store, two hours from the nearest Wal-mart, and three hours from the nearest shopping mall, but there are some amenities that just harken back to an older time.

For example, Henry is getting big fast, and it was time for him to get his second round of shots in July. So late one morning, my sweet husband called the vet that lives in the next town over. His wife answered and said that the vet was coming over that afternoon to give Henry's sister her shots and it would be no trouble to give Henry his shots too.

So a few hours later the vet and his wife pull up in our driveway. We said hello, caught up on some local news, and the vet gave Henry his shots. Henry didn't yelp or make any noise, and got up immediately afterward and went back to annoying Desert Boy. We talked a little more with the vet and his wife and then they left. I bet there aren't too many places left in the U.S. where you can get a house call for routine dog shots just a few hours after calling!

Desert Boy and Henry Learn about Harvester Ants

While we were taking a walk the other day, I noticed the large number of harvester ant mounds among the bushes. Desert Boy and Henry went over to investigate.
Harvester ant mounds are easily distinguished, with a small hill of sand and gravel rising from the ground, sometimes as much as two feet high. Harvester ants belong to the genus Pogonomyrmex, and their predilection to make these mounds make them easy to identify. In our area we have more than 30 species of ants, but just two are Pogonomyrmex ants.
Desert Boy thought it was great to take a look, but because harvester ants have an extremely toxic poison, it's not good for him to get too close. Harvester ants are some of the most venomous animals in the world, with a venom 3 to 12 times as strong as a bee. Or in other words, one ant bite is equivalent to up to 12 bee stings. Ouch! Fortunately harvester ants have tiny mouths and don't bite often, as long as you stay out of their colony.
Henry takes a look at the harvester ant mound. The ants have dug deep into the earth so that they can take the seeds they find. In addition to seeds, they also eat small insects and other invertebrates. In turn they are eaten by horned lizards and some birds.
Here we can see ants coming and going out of the mound entrance. They turn over and aerate as much soil as earthworms.
The ants will stay inside the mound during the hottest part of the day. Then they go out to find seeds and insects and bring them back.
Here's a closeup of a harvester ant. It's a little blurry because the ants move fast! By the way, the head is the square end with the antennae sticking out.
One of the things that caught my eye as I walked past several harvester ant mounds was the entrance. It was always on the south or east side of the mound. One hypothesis about this entrance location is that it warms up faster in the morning than if it was located on the north or west side.
Harvester ants clear the vegetation directly around the mound. Although it might be tempting to try and kill the harvester ants, they are a natural part of the ecosystem, found throughout the western United States. In Texas and Arizona, the red imported fire ant is slowly taking over harvester ant territory, and these fire ants are much worse for humans than the fairly benign harvester ants.
One ant in this photo is carrying part of a plant that is bigger than himself. Ant watching turns out to be a fun sport: which ant is carrying the biggest thing? Which ants go in straight directions and which ones meander?
Desert Boy is enjoying his experience as an ant watcher. Ready to join him?

Henry Finds a Treasure

Henry loves going out on runs and walks because he can explore the smells of the neighborhood. We go out everyday, and yesterday Henry found gold. Okay, it wasn't real gold, but to him it was probably even better than the doggy equivalent of gold.
He found a deer leg, including the hoof. And he decided to bring it home. Oh, lucky me. It seems normal for dogs to chew on things, but that hoof just gets me. Why is that part so attractive to a dog?
Henry doesn't waste any time getting down to business. He's chewing away.
But he senses that I'm close, and puts a protective paw over that deer hoof. After all, I might want to steal away his treasure. 

Desert Boy and Henry Test Their Teeth

I'm living with two boys, two baby boys, two baby boys who are teething. One is a human boy, and one is a puppy boy, but they sure have a lot in common. Every day they both are chewing on a lot of things.

Fortunately, living in a rural desert area means we can leave things scattered around the yard and they won't get stolen or rusted from rain. So they both have lots of things to chew on as they wander around. And they do.

But sometimes having inanimate objects to chew on isn't good enough. The other day Henry took a little nip at Desert Boy. This happens often, and usually Desert Boy is able to deflect him. This particular day, Desert Boy got mad, turned to Henry, and nipped him back. He just grabbed the puppy, sank his teeth in, but Henry's skin is so loose he just got a little bitsy bite. I scolded them both and then tried my best to keep from laughing out loud. It was such an unanticipated movement, but clearly Desert Boy was going to show Henry who was boss. 

Desert Boy and Henry Go for a Swim

It's getting really hot here, into the 90s every day, which I realize isn't as hot as say, Phoenix, but it's still hot for me. And for Henry. And for Desert Boy. So the other day we went for a walk to the little pond near our house. We like the pond a lot, and had been there a few days earlier. It's a settling pond where the stream water goes before it's sent down a long pipe to the irrigation pivots in the fields below. As the stream water suddenly loses velocity, sand and gravel drop out of it, so the pond has gradually gotten a lot shallower. That makes it wonderful for us to go wade around.

Henry obviously remembered how much fun the pond was, because as we approached it, he took a flying leap and jumped in. Except it wasn't the shallow part, it was a deep part over his head, and he hasn't decided that he knows how to swim yet. He's a labrador retriever, so I thought it was sort of wired into his DNA, plus I did see him do the doggy paddle one other time when he got a little deep. But this time, he panicked and was trying to scramble out of the pond, but the edge was too steep and he was stuck. So recalling all my training from my lifeguard days, I walked over to the edge, grabbed his collar, and hauled him out. My reward was him shaking the water off him and getting me all wet.

Henry didn't want to get back in the water, but I figured he better get over his fear right away. So we went down to the shallow part and I threw sticks into the water for him to chase. No way, he was stubbornly staying on shore. So I walked into the water and called him. Then I looked up and saw that Desert Boy was managing to climb out of his stroller, despite being strapped in. I got out of the water, grabbed Desert Boy, got back in, and called Henry again. Seeing his pal in the water did the trick, and Henry leapt into the water and began splashing around, getting us a lot wetter than we wanted to be. Than I wanted to be. Desert Boy loved it.

Desert Boy and Henry Go for a Visit

It seems like Desert Boy, Henry, and I have had a lot of adventures lately. They haven't all had particularly happy endings, but as I look back at them I find myself chuckling, and perhaps tales of our wanderings in the desert will entertain you.

A few days ago, I decided to go for a bike ride because it was still cool in the morning and I needed some exercise. I have a bike seat for Desert Boy that is attached to the front of the bike, so he can see where we're going. He loves it. I also added one of the little squeeze bike horns that his hands are finally big enough to grab and squeeze, so as we started out of the driveway, he started honking the horn. All was good. But then Henry decided to come along. Henry usually stays in the yard, but this morning he didn't want to miss out on the fun. The only problem is that Henry didn't know how to run next to a bike, so he kept running ahead of us and getting slightly run over. After getting run over a couple times, he realized he better run by the side of the bike. I thought maybe it would work out, he would get extra exercise by keeping up with the bike and we would have a nice ride.

By this time we had crossed two cattle guards and were out on the pavement, which also happens to be the main road through town. A truck came from the opposite direction, and Henry decided it would be wonderful fun to start chasing it, so he darts out in the middle of the road. My heart started pumping fast as I wondered if our little puppy would survive his stupidity. He did, and I sighed a big sigh of relief and scolded him. We continued on, hoping that there wouldn't be any more traffic. But another came, and Henry ignored my commands and chased it. And then another.

By this point I decided we needed to get off the highway. So we pulled into the driveway of a friendly older neighbor. Her dog was in the yard, and I thought it would be fun to say hi to her and her dog. She says hi from her open kitchen window and then comes out in her nightgown. Just as she comes out I hear a hissing sound from the back tire of the bike. Rats, a flat tire. She says she has a pump, and I say great. But then I look at the tire closer and see green slime coming out from near the valve stem. It's probably a broken valve stem so I won't even be able to fix it. 

The neighbor offers to drive us back home, but I figure she's in her nightgown and we shouldn't disrupt her. I say no, I'll just walk back, we are less than a mile from home. She offers her bicycle, and I say yes. It has a flat tire, so after searching for and getting out two different extension cords and her bike pump, we finally find a combination that works and get the tire pumped up. I hear something beeping in her house and ask if she needs to go do something, but she doesn't remember. I figure that I will ride her bike back to the house, put the bike in the back of my truck, and be back in five minutes. But I have nowhere to put Desert Boy on the bike, so I ask her to watch him and tell her I will be back in five minutes. What can happen in five minutes? I peddle out of the driveway, Desert Boy starts crying, and Henry won't come with me. I realize that it might be a long five minutes for her, so I ride as fast as I can, hoping Desert Boy will stop crying soon.

When I get back to her house in my truck, I see that the sprinkler is on and Desert Boy is happily playing in it. No problem. But there's also a sweet smell in the air. The neighbor tells me that the beeping turns out to be the oven timer, but she had forgotten about it until the smoke alarm went off. She had been making hummingbird food and the sugar burned, filling her house with smoke and ruining her pan. She had opened all her doors and windows to try to get the smell out of the house. I apologized profusely, and then took out her bike to return it to the garage. She walked with me, and when we got back to Desert Boy, we found that he had walked over to the spigot for the sprinkler and had turned it on all the way, so the water was now sprinkling the inside of her house through the open window. I guess it would put out any fire. 

Desert Boy was sopping wet, so I grabbed him and told her we better be leaving before we caused any more destruction. When we stopped we had only wanted to wish her a good morning. Now she had a bike pump out, extension cords strung everywhere, a smelly house, a ruined pan, wet dining room curtains and carpet, and more excitement than she usually gets in a few days, all within a few minutes timespan. The phone rang, and she said it was the lady who checks up on her every morning. She was definitely going to have something to talk about that morning!