Friday, August 14, 2009

A mountain drive

Scrappy is getting restless. Digging holes, breaking fence boards. The boy needs more exercise.

 

It was with this in mind that I decided to hit the road last night after work. I (gently) threw the D90 into the truck, loaded the boy in the back, and set off for the forest. The goal?

 

Heading up to the Mt. Union fire lookout post, then home by way of Poland Junction. With LOTS of stops to let the boy run off his energy. The first of these stops was at the old mine out on Senator Highway:

 

Which, like all abandoned areas around here, is covered with graffiti:

 

And, of course, I love it!:

 

The next stop is the claw truck I posted earlier today:

 

This sucker means business:

 

And then I heard a buzzing overhead. I swiveled just fast enough to catch a helicopter as it flew by, carrying a bucket full of water out of Hassayampa lake:

 

From there we headed up to Mt. Union. You have to park a bit away from the top, so we got a nice 15 minute uphill hike. We were lucky enough to spot some wild turkey:

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my big lens, and when we got closer Scrappy scared the birds off. But I was able to sneak up on one of the feathers they left behind to get a macro shot:

 

And then it was up to the very tip top of the mountain, where they keep watch for fires in the area:

 

It must be a lonely time up there, but at least you have a good view:

 

Scrappy loved it, and attempted to hide from me when it was time to hike back down the hill. His choice of hiding places was less than ideal:

 

From here it was a trip down to 5 points, and home through Poland Junction. The sun set as I neared the highway:

 

I can only hope that the dog was placated enough not to destroy the yard today while I’m at work…

 

(Link to all the pictures)

6 comments:

quilteddogs said...

More Scrappy photos please!!! I want more Scrappy.

TomboCheck said...

QD - wish I had more. The dog is ALWAYS on the move, and rarely hangs near me when we are out. Most pictures would just be a white spot out in the wilderness. :)

TomboCheck said...

Oooo, but I do have a link to my dogs set on flickr. There are a few pics of scrappster in there.

Granny J said...

Oh dear -- those old mine foundations make wonderful canvases for the graffiti artists and their work is fine. But. It hurts something inside of me. Obviously, I'm an old sentimentalist...

Judy said...

Gosh, I enjoyed the trip! Thanks for letting us come along!

TomboCheck said...

GJ - I'm hoping to swing back out here in the near future and spend more time photographing. You know me, I'm a big Graffiti lover. :)

Jarart - Glad you could join!