Curled up (click on picture to see every scale).
This morning I traveled to Saguaro Park West to help plan soil testing at an old mine site. The second rattler was up ahead a short distance.
It is shaking its tail to make it rattle.
I climbed the hill and turned to look out west.
Your government dollars at work.
This is one of the reason I don't mind paying taxes. Saguaro Park is only 15 minutes away from my front door.
A number of mine shafts are present, open, deep.
Warning sign or gay bar?
I was scared to peek over the fences that surround them.
I could not see the bottom of this deep shaft.
Afterward I wandered around the flat area next to the hill. The desert is really lush right now from the monsoon rains.
Prickly pear.
Barrel-hook cactus.
Despite the long history of the mine, there are only a few small piles of trash from the miners visible.
1940s tin cans.
The pack horses arrived to bring in water and other supplies for the environmental team testing the area for contamination.
Horse!
On the mile-long hike out I realized I had bruised the bottom of my left foot- not used to walking over rocks. At home it is soooo painful. I have applied an ice pack to help reduce the pain.
Afternoon clouds.