Mary Ann had to go to Flagstaff for work, so I tagged along and did some hiking around Flagstaff. We left on Wednesday morning (August 3rd). It’s about a 2.5 hour drive. I dropped Mary Ann off and drove to Picture Canyon, which was only about 20 minutes away. When we arrived in Flagstaff, there was heavy rain, but it cleared up when I got to the canyon. There was a bad storm the day before which knocked out cellular data service, so I didn’t have a map.
Picture Canyon is a nice spot. There is a canyon with water flowing through that forms several small waterfalls. I read that there are petroglyphs in the canyon, but I didn’t see them. I could only get a good view of the larger waterfall from the top. I did hike into the canyon, but couldn’t get to a good view of the waterfall from there. I was there about 3 or 4 hours when I heard thunderstorms and saw weather coming, and made it to the car in light sprinkles. Unfortunately, I found out I dropped something about a quarter mile up the trail and had to hike back to get it. By then it was raining cats and dogs and I got soaked through.
We stayed at the Drury Inn and Suites (300 S. Milton Rd). We ate dinner with Mary Ann’s work group at Charly’s Pub and Grill. It was nice to see all the people who Mary Ann talks about (Sandy, Catherine, Linda, Barb, Sonia, Lauren, Laura, Lisa, Mary Beth, Angie, etc).
The next day we checked out and I went to Walnut Canyon Lakes while Mary Ann went to training. Walnut Canyon Lakes is a development with houses on one side of the lakes. I assume the lakes are man made. The star of the show was the active Osprey nest. There were two juvenile Osprey that sat in the nest and called out loudly for food. They also were old enough to fly, and went back and forth to the nest. One flew down to the lake and grabbed a stick and took it back to the nest and pecked at it like it was food. The other made a dive for fish, but came up empty (I got some pictures but didn’t publish them). When I first got there one of the parent Osprey caught a fish, and I wasn’t in a good spot to photograph it. I did take some pictures which I included just to show how the Osprey hunts, but not because they are very good pictures. The rest of the time I was there I watched for them to catch a fish hoping to get better pictures. They circled the lake but never made another dive.
I picked Mary Ann up at about noon and we headed home. It was nice to see some spots in Flagstaff, and to enjoy the cooler weather.
Here are the pictures:
2 Comments
Really Joe, you shouldn’t post those terrible pictures of osprey?? Don’t you have to be careful when you go into canyons during a thunderstorm? You could get washed away!
Yes, I agree I have to be careful about being in canyons during a thunderstorm. Some are more dangerous than others, I think. Desert washes can be dangerous. I don’t know about Picture Canyon, but I don’t think I was in any danger.