To kick start the loss of all the weight I gained over the holiday, I stepped up my exercise yesterday. Besides doing my regular fast-paced walk, I also took a hike through Palm Canyon in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in western Arizona. It's wasn't a long hike (1.3 miles), but it was a steep climb and very rugged. It was also lots of fun. I also got to see Spiral Labyrinth, which was really cool. All the activity helped me lose almost three pounds! Yay! 😀
Photo Description:
1) On the way to Palm Canyon we stopped at this oddity known as Spiral Labyrinth. It's in Yuma County Arizona in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. It's been here for years, but no one knows who built it. The Spiral Labyrinth is 60 feet wide and must have taken a long time to build.
2) You can follow a path that starts at the edge of the labyrinth and goes round and round, all the way to the center. At the center of the labyrinth is a large pile of momentos left behind by visitors.
3 & 4) These are some of the mementos at the center of the labyrinth.
5) I took this picture at the Palm Canyon trailhead. The terrain around Palm Canyon is rugged. The trail leads into the mountains.
6) The walls of Palm Canyon are sheer and rocky. The palms are hidden high up on the canyon walls. Can you find the palm in hiding this picture?
7) Somehow this California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera) found a place to sink its roots amongst all that rock. Fan palms live from 80 to 250 years or more. The sweet fruit (dates) from the fan palm is edible. Native Americans ate the dates raw or cooked, or ground into flour for cakes.
8) My friend snapped a picture of me on the trail wearing my fancy hiking hat.
9) There are lots of saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea) in this area. A saguaro with no arms is called a spear.
10 & 11) This is a whole grove of palms crammed into one crevasse. It was the biggest group of trees I saw.
12) I had to share this picture I snapped of the beaver moon from the night before last. Native Americans called November's full moon "the beaver moon" because it appears as beavers finish building their lodges in preparation for winter.
