On days when I feel grumpy and out of sorts, the best thing for me to do is go take a walk, preferably somewhere out where there are no people around. Phoenix has an urban wilderness inside the city that only a few people know about. I’m one of them, and from time to time I go down to the Rio Salado to restore my soul, and see what I can find in the way of pretty rocks. Today, Octobber 8, 2015, was one such day, and this is the record of my walk.

Trolls love bridges. This is a meme I’m trying to establish.

Being under the bridge is even better than being on the bridge.

This is what passes for a river in the urban wilderness. As pretty as it looks, you don’t want to get too close to this water. It’s dangerous.

I found fresh coyote tracks, probably made this morning. No human tracks nearby, so it’s not a dog. In my fantasy world, this is a wolf or warg track.

The river is a ribbon of green through a harsh landscape.

…

. . .Walking carefully.

There are flowers in the wilderness. This grows on some kind of bean tree.

The path I must walk looks unfamiliar to me.

I am always on the lookout for striped stones. This is a cleancut beauty, but just a little too large to take home with me.

There is a rest area. Here I stop and watch the birds. A large hawk of some type is flying about, but he is too fast and far away for me to catch with a cellphone camera. Airplanes fly across the city about once every 3 minutes. I drink some water and get ready to take my own picture. This is the turning back marker for the hike.

About halfway thru the hike I take my own picture. These are the moments when I feel most in tune with nature.

Men are never far away in Phoenix. On the other side of the riverbank is a giant open pit gravel mine.

This is the road leading back to civilization.. . .

I find more of the violet flowers on the return trip. I am taking the easy way back on the access road above the river.

My last glimpse of the river–a side stream feeds water into the main channel. It is wild, beautiful, and polluted.

These are the treasures found during my hike. Yes, one of them is a golf ball, miles away from the nearest golf course.

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If you can identify those violet flowers or the red conglomerate rock in the last picture, or if you just like to take your own river walks, why not leave a comment?

–Ken

Did you know there is a Stonehenge monument inside the United States? In fact it stands on a high down overlooking the mighty Columbia River just inside the Washington state border. By happy accident, I learned of its existence and made an epic journey to see/visit it.

The last leg of the trip started in Bigg’s Junction, Oregon at this colorful location on the wrong side of the river.

First, I had to cross a mighty river. Luckily the local trolls had built a mighty bridge.

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And then I had to climb the mountain.

Then I got lost on the top and went the wrong way.

I met wild creatures who ran away from me. (There are 2 deer in the next photo.)

I saw magnificent sights . . .

and then I arrived.

The site was unguarded, so . . .  I spent some time exploring it.

Mystic writings told me that Stonehenge had been built as a monument for the honored dead.

g

There was much to see, and I looked at everything.

When almost ready to depart, I took this picture with my son James to prove that we had really been here.

o 

Having seen this wonder, James and I resumed our journey. We had far to go and other marvels to behold before returning to my own trollcave.

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Historical note: in 1983 I visited the original Stonehenge monument near Salisbury, England. It rained on me.

If you have ever been to Stonehenge, or have crossed the Columbia River, why not leave a comment?

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