Broken Down

Old cars and ancient wagons seem to be left where they break down. It seems to a cultural thing because when I was younger we always had an old car or two on our lot rusting away. One I still miss was an old Cadilac limousine. It would have been worth keeping and worth restoring but I think it was finally junked or sold. I was too young to be involved in the decision. These wagons have likely been sitting here rotting away since their last use. 

Papago Butte

I spent many days on the top and side of this particular rock formation, one of the Papago Buttes, teaching rappelling to my children and many others. The rappel point is at the top of the nearest rock and the rappel goes down the right-hand side of the rock. We had a number of interesting adventures while rappelling but no real injuries. I have probably taught over 1000 people how to rappell down a mountain over a forty year period of time. The most serious injury we ever had was a sprained ankle, although there were a number of scrapes that ended with visible scars.

Spines and Flowers

Barrel cactus bloom in the late Fall and give us a last bit of beauty before Winter. However, winter in the low desert is only a brief stretch of cool weather and even before the last leaves have fallen in February, other cactus flowers start to show. I love the mountains but I miss the desert.

Fall Leaves Grounded

The leaves on the trees are beautiful. The leaves on the ground are beautiful and sublime. We loved walking through the leaves on a cool and sunny Autumn day. Nothing like Fall colors to cheer you up.

A Fall Progression

It is interesting that the leaves on some of the trees fall off in one or two days once they start. You can see the photo below that was taken a short time ago of the same trees. Although in the photo above, I took out the parking lot.

Head of Rock Canyon

You can click on this image and see all the detail. This is at the head of Rock Canyon above Provo in the Wasatch Mountains. The dark canyon area to the right of the photo is Rock Canyon. This image can give you an idea of how rugged and inaccessible the whole area is.

White Peacock Butterfly

The White Peacock Butterfly or Anartia jatrophae is found in the Southeastern United States and in Central America. I found this one in the Butterfly Exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona.