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| Hiking | 5.00 Miles |
1,164 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.00 Miles | 3 Hrs 52 Mns | | 1.42 mph |
| 1,164 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | My 'reptile fanatic' grand-nephew from Northern California is visiting with the express purpose to encounter as many Arizona-native reptiles as possible. With three hikes under his belt (including a night hike) the tally was a number of assorted lizards and a few small scorpions. So I tried to think of where we would have the best chance to satisfy his longings. Having already been where I'd had good luck in the past I was at a loss of what hike to do. In the end, since my older sister is his chaperone this trip we settled for something she could handle and we'd just hope for the best.
With just insect sightings up to and just past Hackberry Spring, I decided to take Evan (my grand-nephew) on a cross-country side-trip to the mine on Hackberry Butte. Good thing we did as this was where we had the best encounters... first with a Desert tortoise, next with a Gila Monster and finishing off with bats in the mine. I just realized I have no bat photos as I was filming the whole trip into and out of the mine. At least they will be on the video, as will be the Gila Monster.
Well, I'd say we almost hit the jackpot...
* 1 Tarantula - Dead... with a hole in it likely inflicted by a tarantula hawk 
* 1 Tarantula Hawk - We followed it hoping it would locate a live tarantula for us... it didn't
* 1 Red Spotted Toad 
* 3 Scorpions - one small and two larger ones
* 1 Desert Tortoise - pretty good size 
* 1 Gila Monster - good size and not too concerned with us trying to get a good video of it
* 3 Bats - one flew right past us and two just hung around in the mine on Hackberry Butte 
* 0 Rattlesnakes - just a rattler warning note and signs of one crossing the path ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
But as tough as is it even for native Arizonans to spot either a Desert Tortoise or Gila Monster in-the-wild, this trip was a bonanza. Ok, so Evan didn't see a rattlesnake, having had a way too-close-and-personal encounter with one a few years ago, I figured this was a very good second-best.
Not much spare time right now so I only included a dozen photos here on HAZ, the full set of 25 and video links are on my web site as usual. The direct YouTube video links are below:
Gila Monster Video:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/KKkXppCix5k
Hackberry Mine Video:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/T66lxyPpnWM
The mine video is 7 minutes 40 seconds. It gets a bit fuzzy as I approach the exit as I think the camera was trying to focus on the incoming light at the entrance. (At least that's the story I'm sticking to!) |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
