Lost on the Arizona Trail, the Rincon Valley #8 near Cienega Creek

Most of the really interesting things we saw on our hike today today would have been missed if we hadn't got lost. We got an unexpected introduction to railroad repair and maintenance!

Today we probably saw about 20 different railroad maintenance machines... and I took over 200 photos of them all! It all happened in about an hour when we missed a turn in the Arizona Trail.

It has been kind of fun to figure out what some of these machines might do.

This guy is pulling a heavy duty air compressor.

And this machine we actually got see doing some work.  Do you see the rack folded up on the front end?

Well, it gets extended out on the track and holds laser levelling equipment for levelling up the track. AFTER the old ties are removed (see them on the side) and the new ties are replaced, they use laser  to find the optimum elevation of the rail to make for a smoother ride.

The machine can grab the rail that is attached to the ties and lift it about one to two inches.

Then these vertical paddles are driven down on each side of the tie...

and while the tie is lifted, it packs the rock underneath so the tie will stay at the desired height.

How cool is that?  I watched this operation with absolute amazement!

Then following behind the track levelling machine was the sweeper and edger. This guy grooms the edge of the road bed and then sweeps it clean.

We got lots of waves from the workers...

and there were lots of waves given.

We even got to see a train come thru on a different track, so that completed our railroad class today.

We started our hike today at the parking lot of the Gabe Zimmerman Trail and headed off to the north east and walked down Davidson Canyon to Cienega Creek.

Crossing Cienega Creek was pretty easy... no one fell in.  There were rocks that we could step across on.

Occasionally we came upon new flowers... and this Desert Lupine was the first I've seen this spring.

The trail soon took us out of the creek bottom where we could see a railroad bridge and the rich green cottonwood trees in the creek canyon.

We were still on the right trail...

These little markers kept giving us assurance of which way to go.

It was just after going under this railroad bridge that we unknowingly lost our way... we missed seeing the next marker and headed mistakenly down a frontage road along the railroad.

The Desert Marigolds were smiling on the day welcoming us... glad to see us enjoying their beauty!

I love this Soap Tree Yuca in bloom.

We were early enough in the day that the morning sun had not burned off last nights raindrops.

On a distant hill we saw this castle-like house... and there was a lot of discussion about stopping by there for coffee.

We passed by close to this grandfather saguaro...

And this skeleton saguaro continues to stand erect on the hill... continuing to hold his arms high.

This Desert Evening Primrose opens in the evening, but does not stay full open much of the next day. I have had trouble catching a good shot of these flowers.

We've seen several when hiking on the local Loma Alta desert loop around and after sunset. When we came back the next day we could not find any of them. We were thinking they were being eaten by the javelina's. When fully open they are about the size of a pansy.

The Desert Zinnia's have been blooming for at least a couple of weeks.

The Desert Marigold is of the longest blooming and most common desert wildflower.

Can you tell me the name of this tiny desert flower?  It looks like a daisy... but all the daisies are much larger. Help me with a name for this little gem.

Martha making it safely across on the way back.

We had a surprise visit with a couple of Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

What gorgeous dogs! The owner told us that the mother is going to have babies in April. We were all leaving the parking lot about the same time as these dogs.

This map shows the Arizona Trail as it goes from the Gabe Zimmerman trailhead north... that's the route that we had planned for today.  The Arizona Trail is over 800 miles long and is divided into 43 sections called Passages.

This map shows the Arizona Trail from the Mexican border to Utah border.

The remaining photos are not mine... they are images taken off the Arizona Trail site and credits are with each photo. There are certainly some outstanding viewpoints along this trail.

I don't know how much of the trail we will ever get to hike... but Arizona is full of spectacular views.

In order to complete this entire trail there was a huge push to get it done for Arizona's Centennial Anniversary... so a lot of workers put out extra effort to reach the goal on time.

This is a photo taken at the dedication of the Arizona Trail.

Several bikers enjoy this trail as well.  I think I would like to do some sections of the trail on a bike. They even do bike races on this trail.

And some enjoy seeing the back country on horseback.  So take your pick.

No doubt the part of the trail thru the Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular of all.

To see all the different Passages of the Arizona Trail, click on this website.  From this site you can click on any one of particular interest... like the one we started on this past week was Rincon Valley #8... and it is 14.8 miles from the Gabe Zimmerman trailhead to Hope Camp.  The website gives an excellent trail description, tells about all the interesting spots along the route.  This section touches Colossal Cave Mountain Park. This would be fun to break into a couple or more sections and instead of hiking back to the starting point, park a couple of cars about 7-8 miles along the trail where the trail crosses a road or other accessible point, like the Colossal Cave Mountain Park campground.

"We like to hike not to escape life... but so life does not escape us!"

Cinque Terre... it Calls Me to Come Back

Cinque Terre is pronounced Chink-weh Tay-reh ...and roll the r's!  Cinque means five.  Terre means lands... or in this case it's five villages.  Truly this an extraordinary place to visit.

We were able to visit four of the five villages in one day trip from the cruise ship.  The first one was Manarola... and this photo shows the character that is common in all five.

Each are very colourful villages, clinging to the steep mountainside, sea on one side with terraced mountain vineyards around each village... and each had extremely difficult access by land.

There is a walking trail between all of these villages. You can see the white handrail along the trail carved into the rugged cliffs.  I walked out on this trail to get that first 'poster photo' to introduce  you to Cinque Terre.

In the centre left of this map you can see 'Cinque Terre' in the water fronting a thin black line with villages dotted along it.  These villages are so small only two of the five are mentioned in this map.

The five villages from top to bottom are:

• Monterosso
• Vernazza
• Corniglia
• Manarola
• Riomaggiore

This is the main street in Manarola.  There are no vehicles in these villages.

But there are lots of boats.  Fishing and agriculture are the two main livelihoods here.

Getting the boats up the boat ramp to it's parking place takes several strong men and a boat dolly... and to get it back into the water takes the same effort in reverse.

This signboard shows the whole village with topography lines... the terraces.  The thicker beige coloured line is the main street that leads to the boat ramp and the ocean.

We arrived near the first village in a 48-passenger tour bus... and I took this photo out the window as our bus wound its way close to the village.

The parking lot on the outskirts did not have very many cars.  You must remember that these villages were built between 400 to 900 years ago... long before anyone ever thought about designing communities to accommodate vehicles.

There are few roads into these villages.  A vehicle road was just opened in June 2012 to Vernazza... and it ends in a parking lot one-half mile from the village.

When trains arrived in Italy these little villages blossomed with the new access to the world.

This tunnel is for foot traffic only... and it was long!  It goes from the train station in Riomaggiore to the main part of the town.

Four of the five villages of Cinque Terre have passenger ferry service... and after our first train ride to Riomaggiore we went by ferry to the other villages.  At the end of the afternoon we took the train again and went all the way to La Spezia where our tour bus met us to take us back to the cruise ship.

All of the villages in Cinque Tere are built around a stream, which provides the necessary source of potable water.  The stream runs down the valley to the ocean and the houses are built on the adjacent hillsides.

This water wheel has been in use for a long time and was still in operation.

What could be nicer than to live next to a stream with your window open to the sound of the babbling water?

All the homes here are made of stone and mortar. It was not until more recently that the owners started to stucco and paint them a variety of colours.

When our group stopped to view this bell tower our tour guide told us how the tradition of stucco and painting the houses different colours came to be.

When one of the fishermen was out in his boat many years ago... he likely had been in the sauce when he looked up at his village and couldn't tell his house from any of the rest.

So he decided to paint his house so he could tell which one was his. Soon others liked the idea and picked a different colour for their house until today we have an amazingly colourful community.

Each of the villages has a church... but there was not time to go into each one as long as we were trying to stay with our tour group.

Red geraniums at noon bade us farewell as we were leaving Manarola.

Flower boxes on balconies were quite common.

In Riomaggiore the boat access to the ocean was easier...

part of the village was closer to sea level.

We saw a lot of laundry hung out to dry... a community without clothes dryers.

There was an absence of any American fast food franchises.

This village invited us to rent a room and stay a while.

Both of us thought it would be easy to stay here a month... if we could get wireless internet!

With produce like this we could enjoy staying here a while.

We watched several guys dive off the high cliffs at Riomaggiore... just like in Acapulco.

30 minutes in this village was not long enough... we will have to come back and soak up more of this!

The advantage of taking the passenger ferry between villages afforded us excellent photo opportunities from the water.

The train did more to open up these villages to the world than anything.  There is very little open track above land in these parts... almost all the track is thru tunnels or over bridges.

We did not stop at this village of Corniglia...  every village has a church.

Hopefully we can come back here again.  This village had the least attractive boat access... hence no ferry service.  But it appears they keep some fishing boats right near the shore.  The rain caught us off guard here.

When we got to Vernazza we were pretty wet...

So we took cover in the church where I just sat and meditated for 20 minutes to dry out while Shirley took lots of photos inside this humble church.

Just in front of the church was this amazing mosaic done with three colours of stones.

We didn't go very deep into this village before it was time to catch the ferry to Monterosso.

From the harbour at Vernazza we could see Monterosso thru the rain.

And all the way to Monterosso it just poured...

Monterosso was not quite as appealing to us in the rain.

We all hurried from the dock to get to the village... looking for some shelter and some food.

It wasn't cold, so to sit outdoors under an umbrella was just fine... and the pasta here was wonderful.  We had the table behind the petunias.

As we ate we watched people in rain gear braving the elements.

The rain let up about the time we finished our meal, so we went exploring this last village before heading back to the ship.

These were the only bicycles we saw in Cinque Terre... likely locals ride them from outside the village into Monterosso.  Didn't see anyone riding bikes inside the village.

When stucco flakes off the wall you see the stones, bricks and mortar.  Building maintenance is a constant.

Very interesting striped designs on the church and two nearby buildings.

The train has totally changed this ancient community... it brought the world here and it allowed the local people access to the world.

When it started to rain again we ran for cover under this train overpass.

The needles on these Mediterranean pine trees are just like our Ponderosa Pines... but the branch structure is like a common green vegetable... hence they call them Broccoli trees.

"Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time." -Steven Wright