Success! We finally captured photos of wildlife with our new “Stealth Cam”.   Catching photos of wildlife has eluded us until now. With this new camera in our arsenal we expect to catch more candid photos, but at least this is a start.

I did discuss these photos with the park ranger. His counsel was, at all costs, to avoid this deranged creature, as it appeared to be mad as hell, had bad dance moves, and was likely to have rabies.  Or, at the very least, a complete lack of good judgment. Yup. Roger that. Been told that. Wrote the book.

We are camped at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Maricopa County just north of Fountain Hills, AZ. This is a great campground, particularly if you like hiking and mountain biking. Fountain Hills is aptly named after a huge fountain that shoots off water over 300 feet in the air every hour (has the ability to shoot water almost twice that high for special occasions!).

We have taken a number of hikes here, but today was a mountain biking day. We traversed the Bluff  to Pemberton to Delsie trails, all told about a ten mile peddle. Being the first time in over a year on the bike, I felt every bump and climb and was ecstatic when we made the bend and coasted home.

The real story here, though, is the sunset/mountain views! The views, particularly at sunset, are breathtakingly beautiful; you might easily say magical. The mountains and landscape change from minute to minute until finally darkness sets in. At which time, the coyotes and other wild creatures (ahem) start baying at the moon.

Farewell to McDowell – for now!