by kritterspaw

Dead Horse Ranch State Park

Dead Horse Ranch State Park is conveniently located outside of Cottonwood, AZ and offers the public an abundance of reasons to go. With 423 acres, the park hosts a number of scenic hiking & bicycling trails through willow and cottonwood forests, past 3 lagoons, and along the Verde river. The environment provides habitat for mammals (deer, javelina, rabbit, etc.), reptiles, amphibians, and over 200 species of birds. We even saw our first AZ river otter that had come in for some fishing.

The animals aren’t the only ones fishing. The park is popular among fisherman trying to snag a trout of their own.

It’s a great place to contemplate, watch the sunrise or set, enjoy the ducks bobbing for supper, or partake in one’s own picnic. Dead Horse has campsites for RV’s or tents, and cabins for rental. It’s close to the freeway (I-17 / SR-260), and a hidden oasis for wildlife watchers, and outdoorsman alike.

We learned a lot on our visit, and found all the people walking around the pathways to be friendly and kind. We’ll definitely be back for more.

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by kritterspaw

Fall has fallen

It’s an early fall here in Northern AZ. Generally I don’t think of fall colors until later in October, but it seems our recent cold snap has induced bright colors and piles of fallen leaves.

Red, yellows, and oranges contrast with varying shades of green with great enthusiasm and happiness.

Fall must be one of my favorite seasons, as the colorful outbursts just seem to smile upon its recipient. We’ll have to get out more to enjoy what might be left of this vivid season and it’s brilliant hues.

by kritterspaw

California Cruising

Our Oregon coast trip took us through California on our way home. You can check out our Oregon pix here… https://kritterspix.com/2022/09/30/oregon-coast/

It is stunning to see the diversity of the California coast. The Northern end dives inland into massive redwoods lining the roads. The gigantic ancient trees are impressive to see as they cast a dark shade across the road even in the daylight. The dark roads were narrow with constant twists & turns that made them challenging and stressful to drive, while trying to enjoy the scenery along the way.

As we continued down the coast we moved from forest and trees to ocean with rocks littering the landscape as far as the eye could see.

North of San Fransisco there are wineries galore through Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Ynez valleys just to name a few.

As we got past San Francisco / Oakland area our landscape changed to agricultural. We stopped at Gilroy for some of their famed garlic, and Salinas, known as the ‘Salad bowl of the world’ for fruit & nuts – something CA is known for.

It was fascinating to see the change in landscape along the long coast, as we made our way.

by kritterspaw

Monsoon Horizon

July / August is our typical monsoon season. Storm clouds on the horizon bring great skies, wonderful sunrise and sunsets, and lush grass.

The lush grass brings out the animals happily feeding on the tender greens.

Nature takes care of its own as newborns are born around June to take advantage of the ample food and water to quickly nurture them to adolescent before the harsh winters are upon them.

It’s a beautiful season and great time to get out and enjoy its many blessings.

by kritterspaw

A-1 Lake

July / August is the perfect time of year to enjoy our lakes and rivers. The weather in Northern AZ is as good as it gets, and the water location yield great fishing and wonderful views.

We have hit over a dozen lakes this year, continuing the trend we decided to check out A-1 Lake outside of Pinetop-Lakeside.

The lakes not only offer great views, but amazing wildlife. This time of year is also full of baby animals of all types.

Early morning hours sometimes gift us with wonderful skies, great light, and early birds.

We love to see the innocence of youth in its beautiful environment.

by kritterspaw

Kaibab Lake

Kaibab Lake, just outside of Williams is a popular lake for fishing and camping.

It’s got terrific views and great fishing.

With its proximity to Williams (Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon just 60 miles to the North), it is a popular spot for tourists.. During the summer / spring months flowers blooming along its shores. It is stocked by the AZ Game & Fish twice a month during the season, where trout, bass, sun fish, crappie and catfish are often caught.

by kritterspaw

A wing and a prayer

I have been on an Osprey mission lately. I have been obsessed with getting that perfect shot. The more I try the better I get, and the more I learn, but I still seek that sharp, clear, close photo of an osprey with his prized catch.

It’s more difficult that it seems. The lighting has be right. It has to be close enough to fill the frame (without clipping its wings) – probably the most difficult task. It must be sharp, despite the fact that the bird is flying at a swift rate with its prize – and normally away from you.

Some of these things you have control over, some you don’t. If you are shooting at a large lake, the chances of you catching him with his catch are more difficult. The best lighting and time are early morning and evening. During the day the fish aren’t as active, and nor are the osprey – but it depends on the day and lake, the size and quantity of the fish, and time of the year.

All I can say is, I’ll have to keep trying. Practice makes you lucky.

by kritterspaw

Benny Creek

We’re not normal campground folk. We drive long distances to amazing overlooks to camp on our own throughout our forest lands. Unfortunately, that is becoming increasingly difficult, you can see my gripe here: https://kritterspix.com/2022/06/18/everything-changes/. When we were going through Big Lake, we stayed in the Big Lake Campground where we had a nice view of the lake down the road.

Big Lake is a popular fishing lake in the area. There are actually quite a few of them in the Pinetop / Lakeside area, most with designated campgrounds (some with ‘No Camping’).

Greer Lakes is another, with fishing at any of three reservoirs: Bunch, Tunnel, or River Reservoirs. There are 2 pay campgrounds: Rolfe Hoyer and Benny Creek.

Benny Creek Campground has a flowing stream at its base and overlooks Bunch Reservoir from the top of the hill. Fishermen on the dock and in boats can be seen from its shores, along with blue heron seeking their own meal.

Along the long dirt roadways we took, we did find a number of animals from birds to big horn sheep.

While I had hoped to get some pix of black bear, which are known to be prevalent in the areas we drove, we weren’t so lucky – this time. We’ll keep trying though. In the meantime, we continue to enjoy the outdoors and everything it has to offer.

by kritterspaw

A picture tells a story

I have been determined to get that great story telling shot, since I missed the shot here … https://kritterspix.com/2022/05/14/tucson-to-greens-peak-in-45-degrees/

The story I want to tell, is of an osprey catching dinner, trout in it’s talons, taking it back to the kids for dinner…. and of the photographer (that would be me… getting her shot).

We heard there were osprey at Woods Canyon and Willow Springs Lakes. Along the way we saw herds of bull elk, deer, a bear cub, and coyote. At Willow Springs we found cute chipmunk willing to pose for the camera.

We headed to Hawley Lake hoping for better luck. We didn’t find any osprey, but we found turkey, elk, and bluebirds.

We kept moving, hoping for that illusive osprey shot. We found blue heron at Horseshoe Cienga Lake.

In the morning, still looking for osprey, we encountered beaver and baby Canadian Geese.

Still on a mission, we headed to Bog Tank for osprey, where we had seen them before.

We weren’t there 5 minutes, I had barely gotten out of the truck with my camera when we saw an osprey overhead… coming toward us.

With a lot of luck, (and a ton of practice), I actually captured my illusive shot. The osprey got his prize.. and I got mine. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you intend, but if you’re patient and take what comes one can get more than they sought.

by kritterspaw

Chasing the Weather

There is something to be said about chasing the weather.

I posted about Granite Dells here …. https://kritterspix.com/2022/03/25/blue-sky-blues/

Granite Dells is a picturesque lake with almost 2 miles of 1.4 billion year old Precambrian granite boulders protruding the water’s surface.

When we were there previously we got nothing but blue skies. So we decided to go back when weather predicted clouds. Tuesday was the day, according to the forecast. So we made reservations at the Watson Lake Park campground, feeling lucky to get a spot. Oh, but wait…. the forecast changed! Now it was Monday. After much cajoling of the City of Prescott, we were able to move our reservations to Monday.

This is the second time in a row we moved our reservations to accomodate the weather. Both re-scheduled launch times proved fruitful, as the weather the earlier night we arrived was the best it had been the whole time we were there.

It pays to be flexible and change with the weather.

Interestingly enough, Granite Dells is a sunrise spot as the sun peaks over the rocks to yield its lovely light. Of course, this can be a blessing or a curse with its harsh light and dark shadows. It all comes down to the clouds and how they may play out. Sunsets are equally opportunistic with the sun at one’s back and glows she may cast on the rocks, along with any light the clouds may cast on the water below.

For our re-scheduled visit, we got sunset light with clouds; and sunrise blue sky.