Phoenix Zoo

One more Phoenix attraction that we hadn't visited up till now was the zoo. I love zoos so I'm not sure why we hadn't made it here yet. We passed signs for it on the way to the botanical gardens (they're close). Walking to the entrance you pass over a bridge over a pond and I figured it was a good sign when I was taking pictures of ducks and turtles before I even got inside :-) Half a day wasn't long enough to see the whole zoo, but I would say this is one of the better zoos we've been to. It's quite large and many of the animals are in quite natural settings.

one of the unofficial residents of the zoo (not in a cage) love those ears!

coyote

turtle convention (more unofficial residents)

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Phoenix Climbing

After spending the morning at the arboretum we went to the nearby Queen Creek climbing area for the afternoon. I don't know if we were having a bad day or weren't used to the rock, or whether the grades are really stiff here, but we struggled on 5.9 sport routes whereas normally we'd find that grade straightforward.





The next day we chose a climb called The Crying Dinosaur which is on the end of Superstition Mountain, accessed via Lost Dutchman State Park, just near where we were staying. It took us a while to find the route, partly because you can't see it until you've already gone too far on the main trail. It was easy but fun, with great views from the top, and a long free rappel on the descent.







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See also Shelley's blog post

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Another spot we hadn't made it to on previous trips to Phoenix was the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It has some similarities with the botanical gardens but it's outside town, in a more natural setting. It also includes plants from other countries, for example there's a big Australian portion. And there's a pond and a creek. Overall, I think we liked the arboretum better.

One of the excitements at the arboretum was seeing a (wild) rattlesnake. Everyone out here always warns us about the rattlesnakes when we're going hiking but we've never seen one till now. I had walked by some bushes beside the main path and heard a noise that didn't sound like the typical bird or lizard, but I couldn't see anything so I kept going. A few minutes later Shelley called me back - she'd spotted a snake. We couldn't see the whole snake since it was under the leaves and branches, but we could see its middle section moving slowly along. It was quite large, maybe 2 inches in diameter? Finally it's tail came into view with its identifying rattles. Considering Shelley says she doesn't like snakes, she was quite calm and interested. Especially considering it was only a few feet off the path. But it was obviously uninterested in us, and just going about its business.

We also saw some red cardinals, but they didn't cooperate enough to get photos. They are such colorful bright red birds.



















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Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden

We had a great visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix / Tempe (recommended). In addition to all the great plants (and occasional wildlife), they also had a Chihuly glass installation in the garden. We went in the afternoon, which was a little hot, but the advantage was that we could stay till dusk and see the glass lit up in the dark. Of course, I took a ton of photos :-)















The big glass sculptures are made of lots of separate pieces of glass (each "spike"). I understand that these aren't numbered or anything, so each installation is unique because the pieces get put together in different ways each time. Another one of those artistic endeavours that involve a mind boggling amount of work.

I carried my macro and telephoto lenses the whole time, but I ended up taking all of these with the 18-250. I continue to be amazed at what cameras can do these days, virtually in the dark. And as usual, shooting raw and processing in Lightroom makes a huge difference.

See all 56 photos as a slideshow or overview

See also Shelley's blog post