Cowpies and Saddle Mittens

Sonja and I took the dogs for a hike this morning. It had been a while since we took them on a really good walk, and since Harvey's arthritis seemed to be under control, opted for a nice 4 mile round trip into the red rocks of Sedona. We also chose this hike because it was so close to Sonja's work that we could go pick up some meds for the dogs to help get rid of these. But I didn't write this post to talk about fleas, as interesting as they are. I had no idea they were so hard to squish. They're heavily armored little suckas.

So, anyway, back to our hike. After a slow drive up a "high clearance vehicles only" road in our not-quite-high-clearance-Subaru, we started our way down toward the Cowpies. Actually, what we saw are a bit different than what you may be familiar with. According to this site, Sedona's Cowpies tend to be rather "swirly" and "vortex-y", not squishy and flattishly brownish-green. We only skirted the edges of the Cowpies on our way up to Mitten Ridge Saddle. For a little change of pace, I'll let most of the photos speak for themselves today (but, as always, you can click on the images for a larger version).

Luna, Sonja and Harvey on the edge of a Cowpie.
Happy dogs!
Mitten Ridge Saddle.

The rest of these are photos of some of the plants living on the edge of the Colorado Plateau.

Lichens on Slickrock.
I've titled this one,
"Little Yellow Flowers with Stick"
(haven't gotten an Arizona flower guide, yet)
Little Yellow Flower Without Stick.
Century Plant
Agave parryi
As you can probably tell, it was a very enjoyable way to spend a morning. Next month we're planning a hike down into the heart of the Sonoran Desert to try to catch the saguaro bloom that is forecast to occur within the next couple weeks.