Rainbow Trail is a great hiking / biking trail outside of the National Park Boundaries with great overlooks and dispersed camping.
There are 5 overlooks as part of the Rainbow Trail: Timp, North Timp, Locust, Fence, and Parissawampitts (say that 3x fast).
There are also 2 nice overlooks just inside of the National Park Boundary: Point Sublime and Swamp Point. Both have nice views and limited dispersed camping.
They are a bit of a drive to get to. But as they say, anything worth doing is worth doing well, and sometimes that means a drive.
Sun rises over Carnero Lake as witnessed by patch of daisies.
It’s amazing how many times you can go to a place, and how it changes from time to time.
We went back to Carnero Lake hoping to catch osprey fishing, but there were none to be had. Considering the amount of rain we had, we were amazed to see how low the lake actually was. It was barely photogenic. Changing our view looking through the forest toward the lake at sunrise, yielded an entirely new view.
Juvenile robin hangs out in a wooded forest.Squirrel checks out next pine tree to hunt
All we saw (in terms of animals) was a juvenile robin and a squirrel collecting pinecones for the winter.
It’s just a reminder to turn around 360 degrees to take in your surroundings, and actually SEE what different vantage points can present themselves if you take the time to take it in.
I do enjoy it when we see animals. We encountered these big horn sheep enjoying a grass field lying in the shade and munching away.
It was almost as if they were talking to one another, laughing and telling stories, while others just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon.
Most of the ones in this herd were males, or rams, with only a few female ewes. The boys demonstrated their dominance by locking horns, but seemed more affectionate than fierce.
While I tried to keep my distance, they didn’t seem to mind that I was there and got closer to me than even I was comfortable. I took every advantage of their presence.
We’ve seen so few big animals, I’ve had to resort to taking pix of the birds! We’ve driven to the rim and seen very few elk or deer. With all the fires, smoke, and lack of water, maybe they’ve taken up residence someplace else.
Woodpeckers forage for bugs
No matter. We always have all sort of birds to divert my attention.
Western Bluebird and Acorn Woodpecker vie for kernel of foodWestern Bluebird, female
Living in Northern AZ we get quite the assortment of forest birds. I’ve never been much of a bird watcher, but I may have to take it up!
The dictionary defines passion as: intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction; strong and barely controllable emotion. I consider myself a passionate person, which actually can be a mixed blessing. Sometimes it gets me into trouble. My emotions can run strong and people tend to take my intensity the wrong way.
On the flip side, however, it’s that passion that drives my ambition and love for excelling at the things I take on.
In terms of photography, it’s that passion, which has driven me to get published. So it is with pride and joy that I share my recent contest win from the National Park and Public Lands. I won 3rd place out of over 15,000 entries. Check it out here…
The award is humbling and feeds my passion further, and gives me validation of my work and growth as a photographer. It makes me want to be better and strive to work harder.
I guess it goes to show, you really can do anything you set your mind to. With determination and hard work, we can overcome any obstacle and achieve great things.
Mogolllon Rim is littered with amazing views. One can pull over just about anywhere and be awestruck by the spectacular scenery.
It’s a special place for us, and we enjoy sharing it with friends.
Sunset / Sunrise are often difficult, as the Rim has a southern exposure. Unless one gets a spectacular sunset or sunrise that wraps around the sky, the color is either to the West or East. If you’re lucky, the clouds are with you, and great views follow.
We love to explore the back roads and take in the fabulous views we find along the way. We have traveled the Schnebly Hill Road on numerous occasions over the years.
Schnebly Hill road
The 12-mile road cuts between Flagstaff and Sedona. If one didn’t know better, they might think it a short cut. In reality, all the wind and lack of rain has continuously deteriorated the road.
Sunrise at Schnebly Hill Vista
You may know the road – it’s that really rough road the Pink Jeep Tours drives through out of Sedona. The bumpy road from Sedona to Schnebly Vista traverses over rugged rock shelf terrain. It takes around an hour to go just 6 miles, dependent on how much one wants to beat up your lifted truck or Jeep. It is not suited for passenger cars.
Little mouse collecting food
We even caught this industrious little mouse foraging through a cactus. It’s wonderful the things you see if you get out there. You can see more of my mouse pix here … https://kritterspaw.com/2021/06/11/industrious-mouse/
Sedona city lights from Schnebly Hill Vista
We were delighted to have some clouds for some beautiful sunsets and sunrise.
We love fresh seafood… and the water. Living in AZ, that means if we want to get our ‘fix’ we have to go East Coast or West Coast. West Coast is closer and a fairly easy drive, so we made the trek to Oregon to get our ‘fix’.
We had a lot of blue sky, windy days, but enjoyed the scenic drive down the coast, stopping along the way. Many of the shops and restaurants are closed (permanently or temporarily), and others only open at 25% capacity. So we mostly enjoyed buying fresh caught seafood from the local fishermen, supporting their trade and enjoying fresh fish while camping out.
The winds made the seas pretty rough and walking on the beach quite blustery, but we did manage to get in some scenic views, wooded walks, and take in some local wildlife.
Maybe next time we’ll do the East Coast, and plan a longer visit, perhaps once things settle down.
It’s not very often we see big horn sheep. But this past week we went out to take pix of the snow and ran into a herd of big horn sheep, including 7 babies. Woohoo!
I can probably count how many times I have seen big horn sheep on 1 hand. They are one of the less common big animal encounters. We were lucky enough to not only see big horn sheep, but babies… and in snow on top of that. It was like a 3-fer.
It made my day, if not my year! I was very happy to have a positive jolt of goodness in what has been a difficult time for us personally. You take joy where you can get it.
We picked her up on Feb 2, 2010, following an extremely difficult time and my dad’s death on Christmas the year before.
She was my everything. I poured my love and soul into her, and she gave back in spades.
We got her just before we retired while still living in the Valley.
She grew up at the home we were building at the time in the mountains, where she has lived ever since.
She was our helper, our companion, and friend.
Journey died on Jan 31, 2021. Almost 11 years from the day she came home with us. She was 11 years old.
She left our lives just as she came into it, following a parent’s death, and a difficult time. John’s mom died just two weeks before. John’s mom’s quality of life had diminished significantly in this covid time of ‘protectionism’. We had only been allowed to see her once in the past year. It took its toll. After months of isolation and loneliness, she died alone, with no family at her side.
I had a friend once who said she’d never want another dog again, as the death of a pet can be so hard. While I can attest to the excruciating pain and sadness Journey’s death brings, I wouldn’t give up the last amazing 11 years with Journey for anything. She had so much love to give, and gave it unconditionally.
She was such a happy girl, and physically showed it in so many ways. She loved her toys and her pillows. (And she loved me to fluff her pillow under her head. She had me wrapped around her paw.). She loved for you to ‘hold my paw’. She’d wave when she saw you and want you to hold her paw as a form of affection. If she really liked you, and you were lucky enough, you’d get a ‘puppy hug’. She’d put both paws and her head on your shoulders, as if to say, “I love you, thank you for being here”. When you’d come home, she’d be so happy to see you that she’d go into a ‘puppy rampage’, and run around in circles. She had so many beautiful gestures, facial expressions, and love.
Journey was so full of life and happiness that she brought it with her and shared it with everyone she met. She loved people and would greet them with a butt wiggle, tail wag and those big beautiful bright eyes, as if to say, “Hi, hi, hi, I’m Journey.” Strangers were just friends she hadn’t met yet, and she introduced us to many.
Journey was with us 24 / 7. She went with us everywhere. She loved her Jeep and truck rides, it didn’t matter where we went. She adored camping and was all full of jumpy-jumpy-jumpy just at the mere mention of it. She had an enormous vocabulary. She knew when it was supper time (her favorite time of the day). I would ask John, “can you take her out?” while I was preparing dinner. She knew what that meant, and without any hesitation ran to the door. She would RUN back in with such excitement expecting dinner to be waiting for her, sometimes skidding into the kitchen.
She was so full of life and brought such joy and happiness to our lives. Our lives and home are empty without her. We are absolutely devastated and heart broken for her loss. The pain and knots in my throat and gut are unbearable. But we remember her many quirks, mannerisms, and every day behaviors that make us smile.
Both John’s mom and Journey leave a huge void. They wanted more than anything, for us to be happy. We intend to never forget and honor their memories, and live a full life and be happy. I miss you so much it hurts.
