Since arriving in Hurricane a month ago, we have walked 82 miles. Most
of those have been racked up during long, long walks around town, but we
do manage to get out onto some trails, too. In my last post, I showed
you some of our Confluence Park exploration that occurred from town on
“our” side, but we’ve also explored the park from the La Verkin side.
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| Point me to the porky pines, please! |
Legend has it that the resident porcupines can sometimes be seen snoozing the day away in the trees along La Verkin Creek.
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| I don’t see any, do you? |
There was some heavy machinery working clearing the nearby field, so
that may have frightened the quilled ones away temporarily. We’ll keep
checking back.
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| Remanants of the town’s original hydroelectric plant. |
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| Granary ruins from a former turkey farm are snugged up to the volcanic basalt. |
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| All manner of flora was happy in the natural rock “planters.” |
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| The claret cup cacti made head-turning shocks of color against the black rock. |
While we didn’t espy any porky pines, we were happily surrounded by other critters.
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| A Ladder-backed Woodpecker dug into a pecan. |
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| Western Kingbirds were flying bug zappers. |
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| A Rock Squirrel trio posed for their portrait “Shrill Life” |
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| Rain-churned, muddy water. |
The pictures can’t capture the strong sulfur smell of the river, which made some of the walk a bit stinkola.
We walked up a wide black-gravel road at the end of the trail that
served as access for a bordering neighborhood and also offered up a nice
view across the valley. Next time we visit this park, we’ll hike along
the tortoise trail again. The increased heat also increases the
likelihood that more will be out of their burrows.
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| Brown Garden Snail |
These snails have suddenly appeared
everywhere. They’re pretty big here, and I’m hoping to find an empty
shell or two for some painting.
We also bike once or twice a week, and on
our last ride, we saw two tiny lambs in a pen right along the street. As
we slowed to look at them, the tiniest one saw us, ran over to the
fence, and bleated his little head off.
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| They both got a good woolly scritchin’. |
So what’s the latest on the hummingbird hatchery?
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| Four weeks ago. |
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| Two weeks ago. |
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| One week ago. |
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| Last weekend. | |
Research tells me that once the two little humlets can fly on their own,
Mama will stay with them for another couple of weeks to show them where
to find tiny bug hors d’oeuvres and sweet drinks. Happy hour at my
place!
COMMENTS
Thank you for always sharing your adventures. It’s fun seeing you live your dream!! I sure miss you and think of you often!! You are one I would love to have a conversation around this time we’re in!
Be safe 😁🥰😃
I’d love to talk to you any time about the scourge or anything at all!
We’re putting on the miles around here, too…walking ’round and ’round the neighborhood and racking up 4-5 miles a day. Not quite as exciting as when we’re on the move in our travels, but there’s always something to see, even in the backyard. However, we have no hope of seeing porcupines, so I’m counting on you guys!! I want to see a porcupine snoozing in a tree. 🙂
I think those hummies were made pretty perfectly, for sure. Especially considering how tucked into that nest they were for probably a week before we could even see that second head!
We will do our very best to find a porky pine. We’ve only ever seen one in the wild. I hope it’s not like a watched pot!
LOVE the claret cup cacti photo! It’s nice to see something so bright and cheerful these days! And speaking of which, OMG the lambs!!!! So adorable! Glad you got to give them some attention.
While I’m sure you’d love to venture out farther, it’s great that you’re able to get out and explore, and obviously, there’s no shortage of wildlife to check out! Stay safe!
Yer bossy, but we’ll stay safe anyhow. You, too, hear?
Did you encounter a rope swing by the river? I had a little fun there with that rope, and no I did not fall in the water! That is a unique photo of the claret.
You know I can’t recall if I saw that wooden building by the rocks, and I wrack my brain trying to picture out that area. Oh well, you guys are just having too much fun while we are now in the triple digits all days this week.
We have seen the rope swing by the river, and I had seen your post about swinging away on it. You should have tried to touch the water from it LOL!! I’m sure you’ve seen the old buildings along that trail. They are doing a lot of clearing out, something about water lines? along that section of trail, so it hasn’t been very peaceful down there this spring. Yuck on the heat where you are! We’re going to hit 90 soon, and I don’t care for that one little bit, but it’s better than snow. I think.