Golfing at Rancho del Lago... Our Home Course

This golf course has an amazing amount of birds and wildlife... and as we golfed today, we focused on capturing some of the natural beauty of this challenging course.

This is what Shirley looks like after making a par on the second hole at Rancho Del Lago Golf Club.

I thought we had to use up this TEN PLAY card or it would be worthless... but didn't realize it had already expired until I'm doing the blog and saw the date! Oooops! Too late now. Already used it!

It's only a couple of minutes to the golf course from where we live in Del Webb Rancho Del Lago. Looking back at the clubhouse from the first fairway 150 yard post.

I have never seen a more abundant ocotillo than this one near the second tee box.

Aren't the blossoms amazing?

Being snowbirds, we have always gone back to Canada end of March... but this year we had to come back to clean out our home which just sold.

To see the desert flowers in April is truly a special experience for us. And the golf course is loaded with photo opportunities.

The third hole has water which I'm sure is magnetic! It gives me a chance to see the frogs when I retrieve my ball.

These Brittlebush flowers are at the end of their blooming season.... but I sure do love them. They are so cheerful.

There are a few places on the course where the cactus gets a little abuse. Note Rincon Peak in the background.

You can see where players are storing their golf balls... and will likely never get around to retrieving them. It it like a golf ball vending machine. You see the balls... you maybe need another ball... but it's just too hard to climb up to get one.

I'm sure this poor prickly pear cactus feels like it is living in a war zone.

It is always nice to see the shy quail along the golf course... but tough to get a photo of them.

We saw several of these little ground squirrels.

And we couldn't count how many bunnies we saw.

The first time I ever played here I saw a family of javelinas... but they tend not to show up here very often. This sculpture of a javelina is from the Desert Museum. We did see a family of them the other evening near Walgreens as we went on a walk while waiting for a prescription.

I don't know how this road runner knows we just picked up a sandwich at the clubhouse after nine holes... but these guys are smart... and if you ever leave the golf cart for a minute they will soon be eating your lunch.




There is not a lot of water on the course, but Shirley did better than me on this unlucky 13th hole. With a mulligan I was able to par it.

To right in the background is Mica Mountain... a peak I'll always remember having hiked over that mountain a couple of weeks ago... 8666 feet elevation.

From the green on 14 I saw new solar panels going on the roof of a nearby house.

I have no idea what kind of flower this is... but had to catch a photo of it.

We both had a delightful day on the course... and we both had a few pars... and some chances for birdies.  It was a perfect day for golf.

As we were playing out on the last hole I caught this turtle basking in the sun. Doesn't this water look like Gatorade?

A selfie seemed like the best way to remember the day on 18.

"I find that as I am getting older the only way that I can break 90 is to take about 17 mulligans."

Sonoran Desert Museum -the Blooming Cactus

As we entered the gates to the museum we were greeted with this blooming Saguaro... the ocotillo also in full colour.

Close up of the ocotillo blossoms.

They told us that there are two kinds of owls... Barn owls and all the rest. And that Barn owls are on every continent except Antarctica, because there were no rodents to eat on Antarctica.

It is fun to watch the hummingbirds... but hard to catch good shots of these quick moving birds. This mother is on her nest.

I have a friend who says these birds are mice with wings.

Century plant in bloom.

Adenium Winter Remedy.

California Poppies.

Another Saguaro in bloom.

Thurber Cholla... such a soft blossom.

Hybrid Torch Cactus -the "Flying Saucer."  For me this was the highlight of the day. The flower was about 10" across.

As we left the museum I took this shot of Shirley with her red hat.

"Sight is often reinforced by other senses. A flower looks different when you can smell it."
-Henry Grunwald, Twilight: Losing Sight, Gaining Insight

Just don't get too close when smelling cactus flowers.

Hiking Pistol Hill

This morning looked like a great day to take another try at hiking Pistol Hill. In the background is Rincon peak... it still has a skiff of snow on it.  I was close to the top of Rincon just last Thursday.

Last week Shirley and I took a try at climbing to the top of Pistol Hill, but hiked up the road to the satellite towers and there was no trail to the top. We tried just scrambling up the hill between the cactus... but soon gave up and decided there had to be a better way. Today we found it.

As we started our hike a young man and his dog were just coming off the trail... so I talked to him. He runs the hill every week or so.  Good for him! He helped us get off on the right route to the top.

As we started to climb a part of our hike was in the early morning shadow side.

Shirley found this heart beside the cactus, so we took a picture and left the rock for others to enjoy.

Our lighting this morning was great for taking pictures.  Good contrast... nice shadows.

We saw a couple of these guys along the trail. Don't know who he was... but it reminded me of petals of a dead sunflower.

There were many Common Sotol on Pistol Hill.

I should have put a coin on the rock to help to show the size... which is about 8 or 9 inches across. You can see how it was split apart... and the beautiful white quartz was sandwiched between a reddish stone. A part of me wanted to take it home with me. But I just took a picture and left it there.

Since I'm working on a design in rock facing a wall, I am taking about 4-500 pounds of white quartz back to Canada... and it didn't take me very long to collect it.

I need help to know what shrub this is.

Shirley gave me her best smile as she came up the trail, surrounded by Common Sotol and Ocotillo.

I took a few shots of the dead flower of the Common Sotol.

You can see the stalk coming up from the base of the Sotol.

Close up of the Sotol.

On the top of Pistol Hill Shirley is scanning the horizon in the distance.

We could see 360 degrees around us... and to the south behind this stone cairn, the Santa Rita's.

Saguaro's don't grow on top of Rincon... but they are plentiful on Pistol Hill.

A survey pin on the top said Pima County, Monument No. 3

Tucson is surrounded by four mountain ranges... and we could see most of them from here. To the east is the Rincon Mountain Range.

To the south is the is the Santa Rita's... with Mt. Wrightston.

To the west is the Tucson Mountains and to the north and north-east is the Santa Catalina's with Mt. Lemmon... the whitest to the right.

On the way down I got a shot of a die-hard Ocotillo that just wouldn't stop blooming. Does it not know it's December?

We were almost back at the truck when I came upon this agave... and asked Shirley to stand beside it to give some scale to the plant.

This is the flower and fruit part of the agave.

And this is the base.

"My most memorable hike could be classified as 'Shortcuts that Backfired'."