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| Walk / Tour | 2.25 Miles |
160 AEG |
| | Walk / Tour | 2.25 Miles | | | |
| 160 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Friday turned out to be a most enjoyable day! The weather was nice and warm, so I wanted to go somewhere, at least for a drive. I decided I would go north, maybe to Superior. Drove I-10 past Picacho Peak, then north to Coolidge on AZ 87. From there it was the short drive east to Florence, where I fueled up. I had been watching to see how the wildflowers were showing, but not really that many so far. Once I got past Gonzalez Pass on US 60, things changed considerably. The always dramatic descent to Superior was even more spectacular with a lot of orange becoming evident from a profusion of desert globemallows all over the place! That made my day. 
I decided to stop at the arboretum, since I hadn't been in awhile. I recently renewed my membership, but forgot to put the new card in my wallet, and the one I had expired March 31st.  Not a problem, as I stopped in the membership office and they verified my status and gave me a pass to get in. I spent about 2 hours there, doing the main loop, then a side trip to get my first look at the Wallace Garden section. As Denny, who was there the day before noted, there was still some water flowing in the arboretum portion of Queen Creek. I enjoyed some nice conversations with folks I encountered along the way. 
I made sure to get plenty of desert globemallow photos for Kelly, since she loves those things. There is always something to enjoy when you visit the arboretum. A lot of the prickly pear cacti are loaded with buds, so they should be putting on a good show in upcoming weeks.
I decided to make my drive back to Tucson a loop, so I headed south from Superior via AZ 177. From Superior to about 10 miles south is where the globemallows really became prominent. I think this is in the area where the recent fire was, so perhaps that has something to do with the profusion. Anyway, if you want to enjoy the show, go now. I stopped at Old Time Pizza in Kearny to get a pizza to take home. At Winkelman, I headed south on AZ 77 for the home stretch.
I was surprised by the light traffic the whole day (I-10 doesn't count). And the drivers were doing much better than I usually see these days. I didn't have to deal the crazy pumpkin speed freaks and tailgaters like I usually do. That was a relief. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Can't really rate the flower action at the arboretum, since they specialize in such things, but the surrounding desert areas featured globemallows galore. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
