As promised, here are a few more shots from my all-too-brief sojourn in the Lower Verde Basin. I always intend to shoot more, but once I get into the saddle a certain mindset takes over and the camera stays parked in its jersey pocket. Clicking any image will open the whole shebang in gallery mode.
There’s the signpost up ahead … you’re about to enter the McDowell Zone.
It’s hard to believe, but I was camped in an RV park that was packed to the gunwales with land yachts.
My accommodations, naturally, were of the spartan variety.
Day one was cloudy and cool, for the desert, anyway.
It was pleasant to have some time to adjust to McDowell temperatures after a chilly spell in Albuquerque.
I rose early to run most mornings.
No, that’s not Starkiller Base from “The Force Awakens.” It’s just the sun trying to break through the overcast.
Some unseasonably damp weather left the desert unusually green.
Didn’t matter which direction you looked, or which time of day, there was always something to see.
There was some work involved (there always is). this time centered on the Marin Four Corners Elite.
A Revelate frame bag crowds the water bottles a bit, but it’s still workable.
The Schwalbe G-One tires hooked up fine in all conditions.
The Granite Trail rises and falls through a basin that was pretty lush for this time of year.
With bags on bar, seatpost and frame, the Marin was still a better climber than I am.
The rangers told me the buzzworms were already out and about as cool and damp shifted into dry and hot, but I didn’t see any.
Jon Paulos was asking the other day about when we might expect fresh pix of The Three Stooges (Boo, Mia and Turk). That would be today. The Turk has been remarkably photogenic lately, rolling around on the carpet as if it were the nice green lawn we don’t have. And Mia and Boo are always ready for their closeups.
Whenever Mister Boo visits the kitchen, he expects good things to happen.
Miss Mia Sopaipilla drew the early shift in the guard tower.
Field Marshal Turkish von Turkenstein (commander, 1st Feline Home Defense Regiment) prepares to repel a terrorist attack on the upstairs bathroom.
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