POST TWO FROM AJO - OUT ON THE GUNNERY RANGE

We have been hiking and driving a lot around the Ajo area. We went and signed up to be able to go out on the gunnery range and into Cabeza Prieta Wildlife refuge.  So yesterday we traveled out to the gunnery range that the public can go out to and drove around and did some hiking.  We have been out there quite a few times over the years and it is quite a place.  Not many people go out there because it is a hassle to go through the process of getting permission and a number of rules you have to follow.  Plus you got to get the combination of the locks!!

Lots of different soils and a lot of cactus.  Zeph has to watch his where he steps and really does a good job.  Of course he has been coming down to the desert most of his life.

And every canyon is different.

Pretty big saguaros.

Lots of flowers and more are starting to bloom.

Out by a big mountain called Hat Top there were quite a few poppies.

I wish I had taken pictures of all the weird saguaros that we have come across.

And of course since this is an old bombing and gunnery range, you see some of this out there.

A fire a few years ago came through the Hat Top area.

It burned off all the spines on the bottoms of the saguaros and burned up a lot of the chollas. 

We drove up to a pass between two valleys.  Good views.

Owls Clover is doing well this year with all the moisture.

Zeph know he has to have his picture taken.

A small barrel cactus overlooking the valley.