A Trip to Young

The desert is full of blooms - Staghorn Cholla

Spring in the west often means wind and dust.  We always hope for little or no winds on traveling days, but lately luck has not been with us.  Gusting winds and afternoon dust storms were predicted for our drive to Phoenix and on to Scottsdale where my cousin Penny lives.  Fortunately it wasn’t a long drive and we made it to Scottsdale early in the afternoon.

 

Palo Verde is magnificent in full bloom

 

Walking in the desert - Vino likes to eat Palo Verde

 

The afternoon turned out to be windy but not all that dusty so we were able to spend some time outside with Vino, a beautiful quarter horse that Penny trained.  Penny and I have always had in common a love of animals.  We had a great time walking Vino and our dogs together in the desert.  Like Tucson, Phoenix is in the Sonoran Desert and has its share of beautiful saguaros.  The Palo Verde was in full bloom and the Indian paintbrush was getting very showy.

 Indian paintbrush

Really big saguaro

We had a nice dinner at a restaurant called Rhythm and Wine and planned our trip to Young where Penny’s boyfriend Kevin, has a cabin and some acreage. Since part of the road to Young was unpaved, we decided to leave ‘Silver’  (that’s what we call our RV) in Scottsdale.  Early the next morning we packed the car with all our stuff and then David, Maya and I and Penny and her two dogs had to squeeze in.  It was cozy especially for Penny in the backseat with all three dogs.

 

The men's room at Rhythm and Wine -- David took this photo

 

The trip was uneventful until we left Payson.  As we climbed into the mountains, it started snowing!  Snow in May in Arizona – what a surprise!  We knew it couldn’t last long but it was fun to see snow, especially since the previous few days had been in the 90s.

Driving in the snow near Young, AZ

Young is a very small place with a population of about 300.  It is located in the Tonto National Forest southeast of Payson.  We unloaded the car in the snow and then warmed ourselves by the wood burning stove.  The snow stopped in a few hours and the sun came out just in time for a beautiful sunset.  But we kept the fire going all night.

Hiking with the dogs - Maya, David, Keeli, Trap and Penny

We had a nice, cool weekend of hiking, visiting, cooking and eating.  Kevin took us on a tour of Young and some of the surrounding ranches.  It ended all too soon and we took Penny back to Phoenix.  She still works for a living.

Penny and Vino

Some friends of ours who have been living in Europe, Terril and Lubos, were visiting family in Phoenix and we were able to meet them for breakfast the next morning.  They are going to be touring the west this spring and summer and we will try to rendezvous with them again a little later.   After breakfast we loaded up and headed to Joshua Tree National Park in California.  Of course the wind was blowing.  Hi ho Silver, away…

David's Stats:
Days Hiked       2
Total Miles Hiked     6.83    
Ave. Miles per Day  3.42   
Total Elevation Gain    621  
Ave. Elevation Gain per day  311