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| Esplanade Owl Check Up, AZ | |
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| | Esplanade Owl Check Up, AZ | | | |
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Esplanade Owl Check Up, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.13 Miles |
161 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.13 Miles | 1 Hour 56 Mns | | 3.14 mph |
| 161 ft AEG | 18 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | SATURDAY: I wanted to give my toe edges a little longer recovery time so I picked this hike; altho I planned on throwing Apache Vista on it but I got too late of a start  . The parking lot was jam full except for one spot where I normally park for me and Tonto 3. I put on my heavier shoes and headed on out. There was a slight breeze but it was warmer than I had hoped.
The Apache Wash Loop Trail is where I would see the most people action but once I turned on the Esplanade, there wouldn't be any more hikers until I returned. However, there were quite a few bike riders but they all seemed to be going east and north bound. I was surprised to see some Owl Clover sticking up above the grass but there were only a couple patches. I only saw a few blooming Hedgehogs and I continue to be disappointed in the lack of blooming Buckhorns.
When I finally got to the South owl nest, there were a couple bikers there, one trying to get pictures. For some reason my Pany was in overexposure mode when I tried to zoom in. When I got back to the TH I saw that I had accidentally hit the EV button to push it to +2.50. Well I shot the photos anyway thinking I could adjust in post. We could only see mama and one little one but I thot I saw another. I took a few more pictures and continued north to check out the other nest, just in case she showed back up.
Once I got there I carefully walked off the trail being snake aware, just to get close enough to shoot some photos to verify the empty nest. I headed back and once at the south nest; I finally spotted the second little one. I shot in overexposed mode just to get the zoomed shots. I did use my phone's zoom as well just in case the Pany shots were not fixable. I was barely able to get a shot of the family and I tried to get a few photos of the two little ones together. They seem at quite different age levels to me but I'm not an owl baby expert.
On the way back to the TH I heard that singular sound of a male quail (thx Greg for letting me know what that was) and I actually spotted it but without my Pany, I coudn't get a decent shot with the phone camera. Back at the Apache Wash Loop the people traffic picked up. Not too far from the TH I saw a biker paused on the trail. I thot maybe he was waiting for me to pass so that he could proceed but he was waiting to tell me about the snake which only buzzed once as I got close. I never could quite see it. Anyway, he said we got to look out for each other out here  . Later while I was drinking my Huckleberry beer, I heard a few girls talking about the snake.
Gotta start hiking earlier.
WATCH 8:35-10:30AM, 5.06 miles, 1728-1833 elevation. 125 avg bpm/146 max (shameful). 4.5% (shameful again) Zone 5 max, 59% Zone 4 anaaerobic, 32% Zone 3 aerobic burning 712 calories. Starting temp 73.3 (finishing 84) sunny and 22% humidity with slight breeze from time to time. |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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