Fr. Charlie and I went to the Pinal Mountains on July 9, 2018. It’s about a 2 hour drive, and we arrived at Ferndell Spring at about 8:45. It is hot this time of year in the Phoenix area, and we wanted to go to a higher elevation for some cool weather for relief from the heat. When we arrived it was a cool 67 degrees, and it got up to the low 80s before we left – a nice respite from 100+ at home. After spending a few hours at Ferndell Spring, we drove further up the mountain to the Upper Pinal Campground at the top.
Last time I went there with Mary Ann (post is here), we sat at Ferndell Spring and just waited for the birds to show up, attracted by the water from the spring. Unfortunately, this time Ferndell Spring wasn’t running, so it was a little more work finding the birds 🙂 We didn’t get many bird photos. The Yellow-eyed Junco was in the same area around Ferndell Spring. There were lots of Spotted Towhees. The Hermit Thrush was singing his heart out at Pinal Peak.
The ride home was memorable. When we got into the valley, past the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (heading west), we were hit with a deluge of rain of biblical proportions! OK, maybe a little hyperbole, but it was raining so hard the wipers couldn’t keep up, visibility was maybe 100 ft, and traffic was going about 30 mph on the freeway. The rain continued until we got to the 202 Freeway. This was one of the monsoon storms that occur in the area in July and August when the humidity increases, and the temperatures are high.
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wow!