I got quite a scare today as I was hiking out at Dreamy Draw. A swarm of what had to be thousands of bees flew directly over me. Fortunately, they were passing a few feet off the ground above me, so I didn't pass directly through them, but the sound of their buzzing alone was pretty intimidating. I was concerned that they might attack me, but fortunately they didn't worry about me and kept on moving along in a westward direction. I don't know that they were killer bees, they might have been "non-killer" bees or whatever the appropriate terminology is, but they sure gave me a startle!
The weather this week has been just about perfect other than a cloudy/hazy day or two. And today was 85 with blue skies, lots of sunshine, and very little wind - a near perfect day for my liking weather-wise.
Aaww summer is back, at least for a weekend! It was 98 yesterday and supposed to be 98 again today and it felt like it was well on it's way this morning when I went for my 45-minute hike. I think the record high for yesterday was 100, so we came close, not sure about today. I saw a Roadrunner in the parking lot area today. The parking lot area was mostly full.
Just returned awhile ago from my Columbus Day hike. It's nice to have a day off as a Government employee that others don't have off. ...LOL... It was a nice day for a hike too, temps in the mid 80's warm, but not too hot. I went for about an hour hike, and mixed in a little running as well. The parking lot was nearly full when I arrived mid-morning, but it was mostly empty as I left about an hour later. Good workout today. One thing I do like better about this time of year than summer is that I can cover more ground faster without getting in danger of heat stroke!!
Today was the first day I was back out at Dreamy Draw in about 2 weeks. I wasn't able to go last weekend because my car needed to go into the shop last Monday, so I just parked it over the weekend until I could get it in the shop.
Today it was very cloudy in the morning, though by mid-morning it was mostly sunny. The temperature has dropped quite rapidly over the past couple of weeks. It's been in the mid-to-upper 80's all week, with the overnight lows in the low-to-mid 60's. A little too cool for me, I miss those summer days!! But at least we have 80 degree sunny days in October, much better than back East!
The parking lot was full this morning. This is the other thing I don't really care for about hiking or running this time of year - the trails are always full, and you are lucky if you can get a 5-minute span of time alone. But still nice to be able to get out in autumn and get a little hiking & running in despite the crowds.
I put in a 45-minute run/hike this morning & a 60-minute hike/run yesterday morning @ Dreamy Draw. Quite a few people out on the trails both yesterday & today despite the 105 temperatures. But it was a beautiful weekend out there with a lot of sun, blue sky and just a few clouds.
We had a late season monsoon move through Phoenix yesterday which brought up to an inch of rain in some areas of the city. So I was rained-out from my run/hike yesterday, but it was a quite beautiful day today, with a deeper blue to the sky than usual and a cool 80 degrees in the morning, though the humidity seemed quite high - maybe around 30%. There were quite a lot of people at Dreamy Draw this morning as well, always annoying when the "cool-weather" hikers and exercisers come out from their summer hibernation, but September is one of my favorite months in the valley because its still hot, but not too hot and usually the monsoon humidity dies down in September, though it hasn't quite yet.
I saw the Roadrunner again at Dreamy Draw this morning - this time out on one of the more populated trails. Good to see him back or to welcome a new one! I wonder why I had not seen one in so long.
Temperatures spiked up again this weekend in Phoenix to a high of 110 today, which is typical weather for mid-to-late July, but hotter than usual for late August. Despite the scorching temps, there were quite a bit of people out at Dreamy Draw this morning, perhaps they didn't get that memo!!
Anyway, by the time I came off the mountain after my 55-minute hike/run, there weren't too many cars left in the parking lot. On my way out I saw a Roadrunner, near the entrance gate. I hadn't seen a Roadrunner out there in over a year, though I use to see one around the parking lot area quite regularly last year. Not sure if this is the same one, or a different one. But nice to see this unusual bird out there again. Nothing says "southwest" quite like a Roadrunner.
We had quite a bit of rain from some monsoon activity last night and early this morning in the north central part of Phoenix, and a lot of cloud cover this morning which kept temperatures in the upper 70's to low 80's, but we were at 54% humidity this morning when I was driving back from Dreamy Draw. Not so unusual for August though which is usually the most humid month in Phoenix. Despite the humidity, the cooler temps and cloud cover brought out a lot of people to Dreamy Draw this morning. I put in a 55-minute run/hike/walk but stuck to some of the less populated trails to avoid the part-time work-out peoples....haha
A very nice morning out at Dreamy Draw today, with early-morning temps in the mid to upper 80's. Yesterday was warmer and seemed more humid as well. I got a good work-out in yesterday, doing about a 65-minute hike/run. Today I took it a little easier as I was a little sore this morning when I awoke. In addition to the hike/run yesterday I also worked-out on my elliptical in the evening. So this morning at Dreamy Draw I just did a 45-minute hike/run/walk. We had a couple of cloudy days and even some showers this week in Phoenix, so I'm glad it was such a nice sunny weekend. Starting to get into my "summer form" now - LOL....
As I've said before, what a difference a few degrees makes around this city!! Today, with the high temp only to reach about 100 and the morning temps in the upper 80's (which is a cooling trend for PHX), there were more people than usual at Dreamy Draw today. Although the autumn months maybe better for hiking, I really prefer the mid-summer season because it keeps the crowds down. Usually the temps stay above 100 in Phoenix well into September, so I hope we get back to that soon. A beautiful day none the less.
The photo by the way is of the maintenance shed that the park rangers use. Often posted on the front of the shed is some information about the wildlife in the area (rabbits, snakes, birds and the like) or some other park information.
It was good to get back out to Dreamy Draw again this weekend. I wasn't able to make it out last weekend as my car was in the shop. It's still hot and still very few people out on the trails mid-morning. I saw a pair of Jack Rabbits today, one of which was particularly large!! Cottontails are quite common sightings, particularly around the parking lot and picnic areas, but the Jack Rabbits I usually only see on the trails and even then I don't often see them on the more populated trails.
Wow! Really humid out in Phoenix and Dreamy Draw both yesterday & today. I heard on the radio driving back to my apartment today that the humidity was 64% (really high for the PHX) and temperature was 92 degrees. Bad combination! So much for that "dry heat" theory - I blame "Global Warming." Hahaha, just kidding.
At any rate, due to the heat and humidity and that it is July 4th, I only counted about a half dozen cars in the parking lot when I went for my mid-morning run today. I like it like this - get your sweat on when you are exercising, burn off some of that fat, and I can hike the trails or run the concrete path without those annoying cyclists or horseback riders!!
I saw quite a few baby chipmunks today and a group of baby Quail - tis' the season I suppose!
Well, it is definitely starting to heat up in the valley and at Dreamy Draw too - which I like because there are much fewer people out there this time of year, even in the morning hours, and because with the higher temperatures you get a better sweat going! Good for burning some fat and opening up those pours! Haha...
Even at 9:30am there were only a smattering of cars in the parking lot when just last weekend the lot was nearly full. What a difference 10 degrees makes around here...
It sure seems like there are a lot of Flycatchers @ Dreamy Draw this summer. They nest here in the summer, but I've never noticed so many before as I have this year.
Today during my morning run/hike/walk I saw a baby Cottontail Rabbit - I don't recall the last time I have seen a baby rabbit - been a long time! And I also saw a Nighthawk - I haven't seen one of these birds in years and I didn't even know they were at Dreamy Draw - as many times as I've been out there, I've never seen one before. It apparently had a nest near one of the more obscure trails in the park, as I approached it the bird flew off and landed nearby and then tried to draw my attention to it and away from its nest. I didn't look for the nest as I was afraid to disturb it to the point that the bird might abandon the nest. When I returned on the trail about 30 minutes later, the bird did the same thing again - pretty cool! I regularly see Doves and Cactus Wrens nesting out there, but this is the first time I've ever seen a Nighthawk there, let alone one nesting, and I've been going out to Dreamy Draw since 2003, and going out there weekly since 2007...And last Sunday I saw a small (possibly juvenile) rattlesnake - very dark brown colored. It was in the brush near the main concrete cycling path as I was walking along. I had to move away from the side of the cycling path to avoid it, and it still turned back to face me with rattle going! It was warning me...I like some species of snakes like California King Snake or grass snakes, but I'm not a fan of rattlesnakes - just too aggressive and dangerous! This is only the 3rd rattlesnake sighting I've had in what I estimate to be about 300 trips to this park - so pretty rare sighting, only about 1% of the time. And I've seen one species of grass snake before, a few weeks ago, near the picnic area.
My favorite recreational area or park for that matter in the greater Phoenix area is the Dreamy Draw Recreation area located at Northern and Highway 51 North. It is the lesser known, lesser travelled, and most northern part of the Squaw Peak area. The area attracts a lot of walkers, hikers, cyclists, and mountain bikers during cooler months, but during summer (May - September) there may be only a smattering of cars in the parking lot. What I like about this area is the 2-3 mile long concrete "sidewalk" which is good for walking or running (though watch out for speeding cyclists!) and the easy accessibility of the trails in the area. Plus there seems to be more wildlife on this side of the park - I regularly see rabbits and chipmunks along with the occasional Roadrunner or snake.
I'm not quite certain of the park's history, though the dam was apparently engineered by the Army Corps of Engineers some years back and it was at one time also a mining area - I assume copper mines. In my hikes out there, I have recovered a few "mining artifacts" of which the nicest is a wheel from a mining cart. I suspect that the area is also a likely "staging area" or Incident Command Post (ICP) for the local National Guard unit which is located nearby at 51st St. & McDowell.
