Box Canyon & Martinez Canyon

We are getting into early to mid March now and it is heating up.  We are very aware that the rattlesnakes etc are also coming to life along with the fresh spring foliage and flowers.   We think it is time to come home!

Trail head into Box Canyon and Martinez Canyon - looks pretty easy - just wait!

OK we can handle this

Group photo op

Amazing dessert grasses along the canyon floor

Just to prove that we were there!

Barry blazing a more difficult portion of the trail

Hmmmm - how are we going to do this now?

Thank goodness for one of our hiking leaders literally pulling us up with his hiking pole!

Some of the back country ATV and Jeep trails - you really need back country GPS tracking skills if you are on your own out here!

 A back country off road jump site.  Sadly there was a cross and memorial just below this where a young adult lost his life!

Sharing the trail

More sharing of the trail.  Barry decided ATVing is way too dirty and not for him - Whew!  One thing off his bucket list.  He's still undecided about a jeep!

Queen Valley Golf Course - just down in the village below our RV Park.  A beautiful and very challenging little golf course.  We take carts as the  back 9 is very hilly and long - and challenging!  Our weekly hikes make up for not walking our 18 holes of golf.  Sandra's military golf - left, right, left - means she still gets lots of walking in spite of taking the cart.

Barry Teeing off on the 13th hole on the back 9.  Sandra has donated lots of balls to the golf Gods on this hole!

We took a longer drive to get to this trail head for this hike - closer to the town of Florence.  It is amazing though, as one drives off the highway on some side road that leads up into the hills and voila - there is this amazing setting in any number of canyons for a hike or an ATV or Jeep ride.  We would never have known these sights were if not for our hiking guides.  These two canyons get very crowded with back country adventurers - on foot hikers, horseback riders, ATVers and those in Jeeps (Sandra is nervous that Barry is going to want a Jeep or an ATV!).  We met all of them on this hike.  The pictures will tell the story.

Queen Valley Park Area Hikes

Every Wednesday our hike leaders take us on a different hike and many trail heads are just a short distance from our park.  We still drive - usually over a dessert trail requiring a high wheel clearance and/or 4 wheel drive - to a staging area and then strike out on the specified hike.  We often encounter other back country trekkers - whether on foot, on horseback, on ATV's or in Jeeps.  Lots of recreational opportunities in this area - and the people in our park and in the village proper are certainly a busy and active bunch!

Our hiking group on another trail in the Elephant Butte area.  We enjoyed sharing some of these hikes with friends Mori and Sheilah Stelmaschuk.  They were in our park for about a month before heading off on other adventures.

More Petroglyphs on the Elephant Butte hike.

A glistening Teddy Bear Cholla cactus - looks fuzzy soft - NOT!

One of many Inukshuk trail markers on the Mill Creek Canyon trail - and we needed them - if fact we got lost driving to the trail head and had to turn around and find our group.  We were in target practice area - just East of our Park - and were grateful that there wasn't any target shooting this day!

We shared this hike with some horseback riders

A Grand Daddy of a Saguaro - this cactus does not get it's first arm until it is 80 years old.  this specimen has to be pushing 200 years old or more.  One arm has looped down and is supporting the main plant.

A Cactus Wren nest in a Teddy Bear Cholla cactus

This hike was awesome due to the abundance of dessert blossoms - dessert poppies in bloom!

Yellow dessert poppy with another white flower - not sure of the name

Blooming Survivors!

Dessert Poppies and a Cholla

Dessert Lupine - interesting to compare the size of this lupine with those that grow wild along the roadside in PEI - and which can be close to 4 feet tall or more!

Coming down the Mill Creek Canyon trail - and here was this incredible freshly leafed out tree - the contrast was so neat!

More pictures!

Peralta Trailhead Hike etc.

To date we have logged around 32,000 km on the truck (Big Blue)!  And Barry has driven most of it.  Needless to say it has been very pleasant to just sit still here in one spot for the last two months. We've enjoyed a number of Park sponsored entertainment venues plus attractions generally in the valley - and of course golfing on a variety of courses in the area.  Our calendar is full to overflowing every week so I guess it is not fair to say 'relaxing' - but different and a nice break from all that driving / packing up and moving on.

Our park has a very active hiking group - something we've been wanting to do - but reluctant to do it on our own - as it is very easy to get lost in these hills.  We joined the hiking group and every hike has a leader (with GPS etc) and a tail gunner - all of whom know the area well. We are a close drive to many trail heads and a lot of trails very near to our park.  So far we have not hiked the same trail twice. The most spectacular hike was the Peralta Trail up to a summit where we had a great view of Weavers Needle.  The trail was steep with many switch backs and large boulders in places that we had to climb up and over or around.  Sandra's short wheel base creates a bit of a challenge - but we managed.  The views were spectacular.  This is likely the Signature Hike in the Superstition Mnts.

Besides our group hikes every Wed. we've taken advantage of other area attractions - specifically the Renaissance Festival and the Arizona Opry.  The Festival is very entertaining - the workers are all dressed in period costume as are many of the attendees.  Many damsels were cinched tightly into corsets with plunging overflowing necklines much to Barry's viewing pleasure!  :)  The Festival is a bit like the Fringe in that there are numerous entertainment venues - some better than others.  We spent a full day there strolling around and soaking up the ambiance.

The Opry is a must see for us every year - as they have new shows each season.  It is a dinner (they serve a hot meal to over 500 people in less than a half hour) followed by an excellent 2 hours of musical entertainment by a variety of artists.  Excellent value for the money - only $32 a person.

Signature Hike

The gentle beginning of the hike.  We call trail portions like this a 'highway'!

Onward and upward

The Mountains almost look painted against the blue sky!  Our group of hikers is winding along the trail.

Climbing over boulders

Enjoying the Peralta Trail and catching our breath!  Our Diamond Willow walking sticks attract some attention by a few hikers we meet on the trail.  Many people here have walking sticks made from the strong ribs of the Saguaro cactus.

Still climbing and now we're closer to this interesting rock formation.  Wouldn't want to be on this trail if there was a minor tremor!

Weavers Needle - the summit of our hike - about 7.5 km round trip but a 1600 Ft. climb.  More hardy hikers can continue on from this point - for example - the lone tree up on the right - a trail from this point leads up there.  We paused here and had our packed lunch then started our descent in half the time it took to reach this spot!

The Festival has permanent buildings out in the middle of the dessert just East of Apache Jct.  The Festival runs from mid Feb. to April 1 each year.  Many get caught up in the pageantry - entertaining to just walk around and view all the antics!

Renaissance Festival attendees or workers in period costume - and it was a hot day!  There is amazing traffic grid lock East from Apache Jct. every weekend during the Festival - but they have an amazing system of traffic control and routing in place!

A small selection of horns on the stage of the Opry.  All are ready to played and some are at each performance - honoring previous artists who owned them - such as Al Hirt etc.  The show is a family affair.  The Barleen Twins have carried on the business started by their Father.  Many of the spouses, children and extended family are part of the show - likely a prerequisite to be in this family - musical/singing/performing skills!

A Base Sax that weighs 90 lb. apparently.  There are only 4 in the USA and 14 of these in the world.  This fellow playing the Sax was the lead singer for the Tokens who sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  He sings this number at every show and every time it gives us goose bumps! 

A Harris Hawk sitting in the tree behind our trailer

The pictures will elaborate!

Queen Valley RV Park

The traveling Shaws have finally settled down for a few weeks!  We are in a delightful little RV Park nestled along the edge of the Superstition Mountains - and we will stay here till into the first week of March (it is nice to slow down - Barry has driven close to 30,000 km since we left home).  Queen Valley is about a 30 - 45  minute drive East of Apache Junction and Mesa - where we go for our grocery supply run etc.  The park is perched on a bit of a ridge overlooking the village of Queen Valley - which also has a lovely 18 hole golf course.  the attraction here is the scenery and the quietness -  all we can hear at night are the coyotes howling.  Bobcats hang around the fringe of the park and there are also Javelinas (wild pigs) but we have not seen either - although our neighbor had a bobcat on her porch the other morning - looking in the window at her cat!

The park is small - only about 200 sites compared to larger parks of 1000 - 2000 sites in the urban centers.  The people in this park are attracted to the remoteness and accessibility to a variety of activities including walking, hiking, biking, ATVing and off-roading (jeeps) etc.  We have joined a hiking group and so far have been able to keep up and have not fallen off the trail! There are also a variety of less physical activities including quilting, crafting, computer club, rock hounds, cards, aqua size (more exercise) zumba and yoga - etc.  The list goes on.  Everyone is busy!

Queen Valley RV Park nestled along a ridge of the Superstition Mountains.  The park is surrounded by State Land, so we can hike, bike or ride along any number of trails.

The main street entering the park.  The park models and RVs are along several different elevations and most with a view of the hills and mountains.

We are along this street along with Mori and Sheilah.  Our site is smaller than we'd like, but we'll manage for this year.

We plan to come back to this park for next season and have chosen a larger site that is available and with a view that we kind of like.

Another angle of the view that we'll have from the window side and door/patio of our site next year.

Mule Skinner Sandra.  One of the fellows in the park has a mule outfitting business up in Montana.  He brought 7 of his mules down for a pack trip into the mountains.  While he was waiting for his Son and family to arrive he offered free rides to anyone willing to go.

Sandra was a wee bit nervous at first and especially since her mule was the largest but the only one with stirrups that could be shortened enough!  What an awesome way to get a different view of the dessert.  Wasn't even stiff afterwards!

Apache Days in Apache Jct.  Good idea to wrap the cholla cactus in warning ribbon.  Barry had first hand experience with driving a cactus thorn into his toe, not once but twice - while walking Buddy.  The cholla barbs are very clingy and literally seem to jump out at you.

At Apache Days.  Superstition Mnt. in the background.  This is the AZ centennial - so there were many events to choose from every week.

Another view of the Mnt.

Hiking day - first we drove along this 'road' (???) in 4 wheel of course and at about 3 mph. to arrive at out staging area.  Big Blue now has a few AZ pinstripes!

Elephant Butte

Hiker Barry - we are thankful for our diamond willow walking sticks.  Many people have Saguaro rib walking sticks - also very effective.  The die hard hikers have much more gear than we do including the the water back packs - and GPS to guide them (someone experienced leads the hike and another experienced one is the tail gunner to make sure we don't loose anyone). 

Part of the trail along Elephant Butte.  A 'wash' actually - parts with large boulders and other parts with coarse to fine sand.  Definitely gives one a work out.

Pausing to rest on the trail

Lots of pretty country back in the hills.

Break time!

The trail led up to an area called 'dripping springs' and there was this wee stream that led out of the area.  This is open range land and every once in awhile we'd see Black Angus cattle off in the shrubbery - keeping a close eye on us.  Sure a good thing they are not an aggressive breed!

Trail Head of another hike up to the Petroglyphs - we're not sure they are authentic or the work of more recent graffiti - the hike was great at any rate.

Winding along the narrow trail over boulders and ridges. 

We made it - and had an awesome view down into the valley!

A group of people with musical skills hold a jam session occasionally on a Friday night.  The rest of us less talented folk can wander over to the club house and applaud the music.  We've also participated in a dinner featuring the cuisine of the central Northern States - and boy did they go all out - Decorations/pamphlets advertising their part of the country including foods and preserves native to their area.  Then they had a ticket draw to give away a variety of products and Barry won some pincherry jelly.  We were on a waiting list for tickets to a Premiere dinner this Wed. and managed to get on.  Apparently they have 3 premiere dinners per season - which always includes a feature entertainer for the evening.   The park seems to have an excellent group of volunteers who manage all the activities like clockwork.  Every Monday is park coffee with a bit of a program advertising the coming weeks activities and happenings - and this session is well attended as there is a feature speaker of interest at each one.

Our trip is quickly winding down.  In 6 weeks or so we will be starting the trek home.  It has been a great journey!