Gillespie Dam Bridge

So, the other day when it was nearing sundown and I was looking for a place to camp, there happened to be a bright green field with egrets. And just as happendly the road went up a hill. And there, atop the hill, was open land. I pulled in and spent the remains of the day watching the egrets fly a short distance to their roost.

The next day, motoring down the far side (of the hill) and passing over the Gila River, I spied what I thought must be storks. On the other side of the bridge a large family of motorcyclists was clambering up to THE INTERPRETIVE CENTER so I went on.

But this time I had it to myself.

American White Pelicans

(Are there German White Pelicans?) 

The history of the bridge:

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=54936

Swirling Birds & Egret

An article about the place.

Run This Way

Gila River Spring

Tues, Apr 9. 5:27 pm

They ranged from blue-black

through tan 

to Pink. 

And through their many dialects 

I could hear their exortations, 

   
            "Pet me."

I demurred, 

saying my touch was 

not quite right. 

Perhaps, 

      I said, 

                someday 

                             she 

                                     may 

                                              come here.

(my journal says the Day Use Area near Glenwood.)

Whereupon there came a clamor. "Why isn't she here?!?!!" They kept it up for some minutes until, despite the difficulties we had, I knew I couldn't go on without her.

Iconic Arizona

A photographer, a real one, not just a happy-snapper like me, once bade me look at the screen of his large-format digital. It was a typical day at Grand Canyon where, for the last 30 or so years, they've been blaming the occlusion on L.A. and, more recently, on smog from China. Regardless, *I* remember being able to see across CLEARLY in the late sixties when The Bright Angel and Hermit trails provided Spring training. But the filter he was using cut through the haze....and there it was!

My Little Sony, DSC-W830, has a Zeiss lens that does better, for the price ($120.00), than any other I tested. I try and view it as a source of entertainment: buying three or four cameras and bringing 'em all back. Walmartz gets free product testing.

But it just can't capture the light!   (Florence-to-Kelvin Traverse, via Cochran. The road to Cochran "deadends" at the river. Mapsource/Basecamp shows a bridge across a mere 1/2 mile from the bottom photo, but between the mud & a real need for a machete, I wussed out.)

The bosque of the Gila River is an impenetrable thicket of catclaw. Bring yer machete....

I've only been stuck a couple of times, but I didn't enjoy it. So I walk when I hear that little voice saying "Youse may wanna go have a look."