Laundry Day and a Short Ride.

Tuesday.

Tuesday we did laundry and house work. That's all I need to say about that.

Wednesday.

A couple weeks ago we went to Chandler for dinner. On the way we noticed some mountains on each side of the highway and  couple of roads going toward them.
Wednesday, we decided to go see if we could get into those mountains.
We drove out Highway 79 from Coolidge.

At Olberg Road we turned north.
We took a side road that went past these stone tee-pee's that signify the entrance to Indian land.

A little further on we came to a bunch of no trespassing signs so we turned around and got back on Olberg Road.
We crossed a old bridge.

 

The First Trail.

About a mile down the road we found another road and turned right onto it toward the mountains.

The road went through a dumping area and petered out about a quarter mile past it. We got a tantalizing view of the mountains beyond.

We turned around and headed back toward the highway. About halfway back we found a small trail to the left. We got on the trail and followed it for a while.

A Cool Cow Skull.

Along this trail we saw a really cool cow skull.

If you look close you can see that the horn that is still attached to the skull was likely the reason the cow died. The horn grew into the side of the cows temple.
My theory is that when the cow was a calf, someone had tried to dehorn it but they messed up on the right side so the horn grew back but was deformed so it grew back wrong. The texture of the horn is rough like a rams horn and rounded at the end.
The cow probably died from an infection after the horn broke the skin behind the eye. It must have been a slow painful death.
I picked up the skull and put it in the back of the jeep.

We went a little further along the trail but came to some houses so we turned around and headed back to the highway.

An interesting Saguaro.

The next trail we tried was about a mile further north. I saw a stop sign at the highway and figured that it must be a major trail so we made a right turn onto it.
A little ways along this trail we saw an interesting Saguaro. It was short and had a bunch of strange cacti growing out of the top.

I have read that Saguaro's have to be between 70 and 100 years old before they get their first arm. This cactus looked like it wasn't that old since it was so short and the growth's on top looked more like Barrel cactus's. I have no Idea what is going on here.

A Coyote!

As we continued along this trail a coyote crossed in front of us. I was very lucky to get this picture. I took several tries and this one was the only one that caught him. I had to blow the picture up and enhance it so he would show up.

 

The Desert is Beginning to Bloom.

We continued out the trail enjoying the yellow flowers on the Grease Wood bushes.

We also noticed several Hedgehog Cactus's with several buds on them but none have opened yet.
The weather forecast is for some rain next week so things should really start blooming then.

We saw another of the short Saguaro's. This time the growths looked more like Saguaro arms.

This trail eventually took us back to the first trail we followed so we got on that one and headed back to the highway.

Checking Out the Hills to the West.

We headed up Highway 79 toward Chandler and decided that we would try getting into the hills on the west side of the highway.
We turned west on Sacaton Road and drove to Sacaton where we had to turn south. There was no roads going into the hills from here so we ended up back on the highway. We drove a little ways south on 79 to a highway that went west toward Casa Grande and turned onto it.

A Small Trail to the South.

As we got to some interesting hills we noticed that all the roads that went into the hills were either blocked off or had no Trespassing signs on them. We found one trail that wasn't blocked so we turned south onto it and followed the trail for a short distance.

The trail ended at a large outcrop of boulders.

Interesting Ant Hills.

We stopped here for a break near the boulders.

Patti noticed some ant hills. Right in front of the jeep. They were surrounded by what looked like Cholla cactus thorns.

 Patti said it looked like the ants were carrying the thorns into the hole. I don't know what that was about.

Lunch At Rolbetos Taco Shop.

Our original plan was to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch but it looked like we weren't going to find any way to get into these mountains. It was about noon and I suggested that we return to Coolidge and stop at Rolbetos for taco's. Patti was all for it so that is what we did. Patti had two grilled Chicken taco's and I had two Adobada taco's, which are fast becoming my new favorite taco. I have never seen them any where else so I will have to get my fill while we are here in Coolidge.
After lunch we headed to the RV.

Beers and BS.

In the evening I went next door to Mikes and sat around with Mike and Ivan drinking beer and talking about cars, jeeping and a little show and tell about the skull I found.

It was a good day even if the ride was a bit short.