Happy hiking!

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The Great Horned Owl

         The Great Horned Owl is one of twenty types of owls living in North America.  This report will tell about what the owl looks like, where it lives, what it eats and drinks, and will also give you some interesting facts about it. I found this bird to be fascinating and I hope you will too.

          The Great Horned Owl is brown and gray. It has big yellow eyes, a white throat, two feathery horns on top of its head called tufts, and gold colored disks made from feathers that frame its face. The owl has four powerful toes with very sharp claws called talons. The Great Horned Owl is one of the biggest types of owls and grows to be as big as two feet tall with a 3 ½ foot wingspan.

          Like many animals, the Great Horned Owl drinks only water. It eats small mammals, birds, small reptiles, and insects. It does not eat plants. It is purely a meat eater, in other words, a carnivore. The owl eats its prey whole.  However, the owl cannot digest all of the parts of its prey such as the fur, bones, feathers and teeth.  So it ends up spitting these parts it cannot digest back out. These parts that are spit back out are owl pellets.

          Great Horned Owls are common in both North and South America. You can find them in deserts, mountains, woodlands, canyons, near water, and in cities and suburbs. Usually these owls use the old nests of hawks, crows, ravens and other birds.  It will also use existing holes found in cactus, trees and rock cliffs as its home.

          The Great Horned Owl has excellent hearing. It is able to hear a mouse moving beneath a foot of snow!  The owl is sometimes called a cat owl because of the tufts on its head. But, the tufts on its head are not ears at all!  Its ears are actually holes found on the side of its head.  What’s really interesting is that one of the owl’s ears is set higher than the other.  By moving its head to equalize sound, the owl can align the source of the sound with its line of vision.

          It also has excellent eye sight. However, its eyes do not move, they are fixed in place in its head. The owl has to move its head to see what is around it. Even though it looks like it can turn its head in a complete circle, the owl cannot turn its head all the way around. It can turn its head 180 degrees each way. The owl does not see in color, it only sees black, white and shades of gray. An owl’s eyes do not work as well during the day as they do at night.  They can see when there is hardly any light at all.

          A few more interesting facts about the owl is that it can fly silently. This helps it to hunt at night. Also, the Great Horned Owl is one of the very few animals in the world that will kill skunks and porcupines. This owl is so fearless that it is sometimes called the flying tiger.  Owls do not form flocks. They always hunt alone. Also, did you know that they rarely fly in rain because their feathers are not waterproof?

          There  are many more facts to learn about the Great Horned Owl.  This report provided some information on what the owl looks like, where it lives, and what it eats and drinks. I hope you enjoyed my report about the owl as much as I enjoyed learning about it myself.

Bibliography

Tekiela, Stan. Birds of Arizona. Adventure Publications, Inc., 2003

Bessesen, Brooke. Look Who Lives in the Desert!. Arizona Highways, 2004

Jackson, Tom. Owls. Grolier, 2008

Gray, Mary Taylor. Watchable Birds of the Southwest. Mountain Press Publishing  

          Company,1998

Starting out on our night hike!

Take a night off and tell your kids to
TAKE A HIKE!
(with Take A Hike Arizona)

The kids will love this night hiking camp made just for them! We will take the kids out on a night hike and look for the stars and the small desert critters that come out at night and we will get them actively involved in lots of fun activities and games including our version of the popular “Minute to Win It” gameshow!

ONLY $25 ($20 for each additional sibling) the Camp Adventure includes:  Guided hike, pizza, water, dessert, refreshments, use of backpack, an arts & crafts project, and lots of FUN!!!

Ages: 5 and up
Date: Friday, September 24, 2010
Time: 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Location: The McDowell Center, 16116 N. McDowell Mountain Ranch Rd, Scottsdale (southwest corner of McDowell Mountain Ranch Rd and Paradise Lane)

Space is limited! To reserve a spot for your child, just give us a call at 480-634-8488. We look forward to speaking with you!

I am not a Gila Monster!

Now I'm a Gila Monster!

Inside the tunnel under the bridge

Just spent the weekend up in Payson camping with the kids and enjoying the somewhat cooler weather.  One of the main activities we planned for our trip was a visit to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  The park itself is located 12 miles north of Payson right off Highway 87.  It is very easy to find.  Due to state budget cuts,  the park is currently open 5 days a week – Thursday through Monday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday) and is scheduled to close as of September 27th!  Hopefully, a resolution (other than actually closing the park) can be found before September so we can continue to enjoy this beautiful area.

The natural bridge itself is thought to be the world’s largest natural travertine bridge.  Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs.  The precipiation of the mineral springs forms a coating on nearby surfaces such as plants, roots, rocks, etc and forms very interesting formations including stalactites and stalagmites in limestone caves.  Another great example of travertine forming over plants and roots are the Havasu Falls in the western part of the Grand Canyon on the Havasupai reservation. But, back to the Tonto Natural Bridge.  The bridge itself sits 183 feet up above the ground.  The tunnel below the bridge is 400 feet long and as wide as 150 feet in some places.  Both the views from above and looking up from below are amazing! 

Our favorite part of the trip was hiking down the Gowan Trail and entering the tunnel itself below the bridge.  We spent quite a bit of time inside the tunnel climbing around and hiking to the other end.  Some spots were a bit hazardous due to the slippery, wet surfaces.  With that said, keep in mind that it is a lot easier to climb up some of these slippery slopes than it is to come back down them.  So be sure to take a look at what you are contemplating climbing up and see if it is something you can manuever back down. 

heading down some slickrock

In addition to the beautiful scenery the bridge provides, the other great thing about the tunnel is the cool air and refreshing water constantly dripping down from the ceiling above.  It is a great way to cool off on a hot day!

Also, you are allowed to enter the water to swim as long as you are not within the tunnel.  So as you come down the Gowan Trail, right before you step onto the man-made bridge that takes you to the entrance of the tunnel, veer off to the right and you can swim right there.  The water is very refreshing (meaning down right cold) and there are quite a few little critters that the kids will enjoy looking for around the swimming hole.  We found monster size crayfish (seriously, they looked like lobsters!), lots of fish and some interesting frogs.  There’s also a large number of swallows that nest in the tunnel and many other colorful birds flying in and out of the area.  So there is a lot to see.  We spent the better part of our day enjoying the park and we look forward to going back up again later this summer before the park closes in September.  For more information about the park visit the state park website and check out our photo gallery on our Facebook Fan page to see our photos from the trip.

View looking toward Superstition Mountains

I love when family and friends come to visit us here in beautiful Arizona!  It gives me the perfect excuse to do some more local sight seeing in my own backyard that I otherwise probably wouldn’t take the time to do.  Sound familiar?  Our latest “adventure” was taking a day to travel along the Apache Trail, one of my favorite scenic drives.   To begin this drive just head out on 60 East and take the Idaho Rd exit and follow the signs to Canyon Lake.

After a short drive down the Apache Trail, we started our day at Goldfield Ghost Town, the old mining town located right by the Lost Dutchman State Park.  We had a great time exploring the old town and taking lots of photos of the area.  Years ago, this little “ghost town” didn’t have much to offer, but it has since been rediscovered and tourists have been pouring in ever since.  As a result, it has gotten a little bit kitschy but it is still worth seeing especially with the kids!  I think we investigated every nook and cranny the town had.  We also spent a bit of money of some of the tours they offer there such as the mine tour.

The mine tour was a pleasant surprise. We learned quite a bit about how the miners spent their days and toiled under ground with only candle light to help them see.  Did you know that the miners were only given about 6 small candles on each shift to help them see what they were doing?  They would conserve their light by putting the candles out and eating their meals in the dark of the tunnels.  If I’m not mistaken, there are some restaurants that currently charge a pretty price for guests to eat in the dark now!  I guess the miners were on to something.

After our adventures at Goldfield, including a mock gunfight battle performed by volunteers, we hit the road again.  We drove towards Canyon Lake.  It is a gorgeous drive through interesting landscape with rock formations, plants, and animals not commonly seen in other parts of the valley.  We stopped at the Marina where Steamboat Dolly is docked.  We parked there and walked across the street to the Boulder Canyon Trail entrance.  We hiked up the trail to get some unbelievable views of the area.  We could see far into the Superstitions Wilderness and a good bit of Canyon Lake.  We saw some folks rafting up into one of the canyons that the larger boats cannot get into (add that to my list of things to do this summer!) and we saw plenty of collared lizards and a snake! 

After working up an appetite hiking, we got back in the car and continued down the Apache Trail.  Our destination was Tortilla Flats.  We made it just in time for dinner.  Even for a Saturday evening, the restaurant closes pretty early at 7:00pm so we felt fortunate to get in for last call (for food that is).  Tortilla Flats is best known for its decor of dollar bills covering every inch of space on the walls of the restaurant.  It is quite entertaining to read what people have written on the dollar bills and to see how old some of them are.  The food is pretty good too!  I will warn you though, if you plan to order the Nachos Grande, make sure you have someone to share them with!!

At Take A Hike Arizona, we love to share our experiences with our fans and we love to hear from you as well!  Tell us about some great adventures you have had whether it is here in the valley or in your hometown.  Just send us your experiences to info@takeahikearizona.com and we can share them with our readers as well!  Also, we offer great day hikes in the Superstitions area, described in this posting, during which our guides will show you some fantastic scenery and share many local legends and history with you along the way.  Just call us at 480-634-8488 to learn more about the excursions we offer!

• 1 cup of quick cooking (not instant) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (I use slivered)
• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons of good honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the oats, coconut, almonds, oil and honey together in a large bowl until they are completely combined.  Pour mixture onto a sheet pan and bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown. This takes about 15-20 minutes.  Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring once.

I then serve the granola with honey and greek yogurt.  I use the honey flavored greek yogurt, but plain is good as well.  This is a great way to start the day or have as a snack.  It is also really delicious on ice cream or sprinkled over fruit.  I included a photo below so you could see how I serve it when we have guests over for brunch. I also make it “pretty” for the kids. They seem to think it tastes like a treat that way! Hey, whatever it takes!!

Anyway, give it a try and let me know what you think. We would love to hear back from you as well on your favorite, healthy and easy recipes.  You can either email us your favorties at: info@takeahikearizona.com or submit comments on our blog.  We look forward to sharing more fun, easy recipes with you in the coming months. Enjoy!

A delicious and easy recipe!

The Chuparosa, always an early bloomer, is hitting its full stride right about now.  You will find the red blossoms on the plants especially abundant on the sunnier sides of the trail and along the warmer areas along the washes.  In particular, you can see these plants in full bloom along the sides of the road as you drive around town as well. The Chuparosa further up the slopes and on northern sides of slopes have yet to blossom.  For those of you who  may not already know this, you can eat the blossoms of the Chuparosa. You will even find them mixed in for color in salads you order from select restaurants around the valley.  So go find a blooming Chuparosa and pick a fresh red blossom and try tasting it (please make sure you know it is a Chuparosa before eating it!).  Let me know what you think it tastes like.

Other plants not yet blooming quite as spectacularly as the Chuparosa are the Creosote and Brittlebush.  Both of these bush-like plants produce pretty yellow flowers. The Creosote flowers are smaller and are accompanied by little white fuzz balls (I’m sure there is a technical name for those cute fuzz balls – if you know it – please tell me). The Brittlebush produces larger daisy-like flowers and can be found all over the desert in the Spring. I also noticed that the Buckhorn Cholla (not Staghorn which is not in this part of the desert) is starting to produce the very beginnings of its blossoms. As you hike along, check out the burgundy color shoots sprouting from the tips of the cholla branches on the Buckhorn.

We’ve also been seeing quite a few tiny little yellow and white flowers sprouting up here and there among the rocky slopes.  I’ve yet to see any poppies, lupine, owl’s clover, desert marigolds or any other cactus blooming.  As soon as those start popping up, I will be sure to let you know.  If you’d like to see what these flowers look like, just go to our photo gallery and head to the Flower folder. We have photos of all kinds of desert flora. If you have any questions about anything you see during your desert wanderings, please give us a shout at info@takeahikearizona.com and we’ll try to help you out or find someone who can!  Enjoy the Spring!

As many of you may already know, the State of Arizona is starting to close 13 state parks in the coming weeks.  Many of us are contacting our representatives about this issue, but in addition to the state closures I also wanted to provide you with some information about the planned closure of a number of our beautiful Phoenix parks.  These closures are not getting the same amount of press as the state park closures, but to those of us who love these areas and use them regularly these closures will have a significant impact on us and visitors to our area!  As of right now, it appears that the City of Phoenix is planning to lay off 14 park rangers and reduce public access to our local parks in the area.  The city plans to reduce public access to the parks by closing them on Mondays and Tuesdays.  The anticipated closures include:

• Camelback Mountain
• Piestewa Peak Park
• North Mountain Park
• South Mountain Park
• Shaw Butte
• Lookout Mountain
• Papago Park and
• Shadow Mountain

If this concerns you as it does us, please email one or all of the City of Phoenix Councilman listed at the links below and tell them to keep our parks open and save the jobs of 14 Phoenix Park Rangers: 

Councilman Thelda Williams at: http://phoenix.gov/district1/emdist1/index.html

Councilman Peggy Neely at: http://phoenix.gov/district2/emdist2/index.html

Councilman Bill Gates: http://phoenix.gov/district3/emdist3/index.html

Councilman Tom Simplot at: http://phoenix.gov/district4/emdist4/index.html

Councilman Claude Maddox at: http://phoenix.gov/district5/emdist5/index.html

Councilman Sal DiCiccio at: http://phoenix.gov/district6/index.html

Councilman Michael Nowakowski at:http://phoenix.gov/district7/emdist7/index.html

Councilman Michael Johnson at: http://phoenix.gov/district8/emdist8/index.html

Mayor Phil Gordon at: http://phoenix.gov/mayor/emmayor/index.html

Help us save our Phoenix Mountain Parks from closure!