I have a wonderful new photo as the background wallpaper on my computer. It’s a picture of five bighorn sheep atop a rugged Arizona mountain peak. What makes it so wonderful is that I took the picture. Chuck and I—after years of being invited—finally made the trip out west at the end of March to visit my snowbird parents in Apache Junction.
We had a nice relaxing week exploring Superstition Mountain and the other mountains that surround my mom and dad’s trailer park, soaking in the history of the old west. We visited some fun tourist spots like Tortilla Flat on the Apache Trail where we had terrific enchiladas and burritos and sampled prickly pear cactus ice cream. We followed the old Apache Trail, stopping at an awe-inspiring vista at Canyon Lake and on to Roosevelt Dam and finally down the twisting Fish Creek Hill.
We went ATVing with Chuck Tice of Grand Marais and Mesa, AZ, riding on narrow switchback trails up, up, and up, stopping at an old adobe prospector shack and checking out an abandoned mine. Chuck is an amazing tour guide, sharing tidbits of history and geography. At one point on the trail we stopped to look at an arched rock formation that looks remarkably like an elephant with its trunk extended. As we paused to enjoy the rock formation and the crystal clear mountain stream glistening on the other side of the trail, other folks in four-wheelers drove up. Chuck Tice pointed out the elephant rock and one of the riders noted that they had driven the trail dozens of times and had never noticed the interesting rock formation. Chuck said he hadn’t either on his first several trips. But he said he noticed when he once stopped to look for bighorn sheep. He said it was a good place to see them—and sure enough, right on cue—a herd of bighorn peeked over the pinnacle. There was a trafficjam on the trail as more folks pulled up and we took out binoculars to watch the intrepid animals watching us.
That was probably our most unique wildlife sighting during our visit, but we also enjoyed seeing pretty desert quail, some lovely doves, the state bird, the cactus wren, and several frisky brown rabbits.
We did encounter one other Arizona wildlife species at a rest stop on the Apache Trail. We decided to stretch our legs with a hike on a nature path, enjoying the amazing variety of cactus. Mom has a cactus guidebook and we attempted to identify all the different types. The prickly pear was easy to spot, as were the aloe plants growing in the wild. We saw aloe look-alike yucca, teddy bear cholla, fish barrel cactus and my favorite, the ancient saguaro.
While studying the cactus, I walked carefully, worrying about rattlesnakes and scorpions. I knew I was probably as silly as a North Shore visitor worrying about wolves and bear, but I still stepped carefully. Then I spotted a cute little brown lizard.
I have always liked lizards. If I see a salamander here in Cook County, I try to take its picture. So I had to get a good shot of this desert lizard. The problem was the lizard was brown against the dusty brown earth. I knew he wouldn’t show up very well, so I thought I’d toss a pebble behind him to try to get him to move onto a patch of green where he could be seen better. I tossed one little rock. He didn’t move. I tossed another, just a little closer. Still no reaction. I tossed one more, trying to get as close as possible. To my horror, I nicked his tail and it detached itself. Suddenly a tiny little lizard tail was dancing around in the dirt.
I couldn’t help it. I screamed. I know that it is a defense mechanism and the lizard will re-grow his trail. But it was still gross to see his stubby little tail flopping around in the sand. Amazingly, the lizard still sat as if frozen in the sand, barely visible brown against brown. He didn’t have to worry. His camouflage and self-amputation worked perfectly. I left him alone!
Live your life each day as you
would climb a mountain. An
occasional glance toward
the summit keeps the goal
in mind, but many beautiful
scenes are to be observed
from each new vantage
point. Climb slowly, steadily,
enjoying each passing
moment; and the view from
the summit will serve as a
fitting climax for the journey.
Harold V. Melchert
Leave a Reply