One of the get-togethers last week was a hike at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park which is about 55 miles east of Mesa. We all met there mid morning and hiked around, looking at the various plants and trees which were collected in earlier years by the original owners who wanted a specimen garden. It was very dry and so the blooms that we might normally have seen were missing in the drier parts of the property. But there is a water source and a constructed lake giving the property year round water in this riparian area. They do some irrigating so there was green and there were blooming plants. We also were birdwatching. One of our crowd is an avid birder. David Astin is also a citizen scientist who regularly goes to a Nature Conservancy location in the Twin Cities area to monitor prairie plant life. He is a wonderful photographer and you can, for sure, tell which one he is from this photo! He carries a camera with a powerful telephoto lense on a tripod (camouflage), another really good camera, a good pair of binoculars, and a backpack with all kinds of gear. Not a light load.
We had a great time with a nice hike and then lunch in nearby Superior. Here are the four ladies:
Other photos taken that morning. I will have to wait until David sends me some of his photos which will be much better than the ones I take on my iPhone!
