September 2, 2025- Coming up to a ledge, on the trail between White Spar Mountain and Goldwater Lake, Hiking Buddy and I spotted nineteen American flags-the sign of a memorial to the 19 Wildland Firefighters, who died in 2013, at Yarnell Hill.
Other forms of death showed themselves nearby.
Beyond, though, are the many signs of life, for which these sacrifices have been made.
We made this short hike, as part of a run-up to my own seven-week absence from Home Base I, and from Arizona. I have had a good summer here, and now it is time to tie up loose ends. Connecting HB with an aficionado of her type of product was another result of today’s efforts. Finally getting through to a critic of local organic farming, earlier this morning, was another.
The rest of the week will see me on a worldwide prayer call, then up at Hopi for a brief visit with new arrivals in the Health Provider community and a Red Cross meeting here, on Thursday. Friday, I will continue my dry run of packing, as the weekend is full of special events, on which more, in a few days.
I have also carefully spoke my peace about other issues, and so far had little push back. Towards that end, I will not elaborate on my thoughts in this forum. We are all entitled to our own opinions, though not to our own facts.
No matter where I go, the sacrifices of those brave men commemorated above, and of others like them, will still figure large in my consciousness. They tied the loose strands of community, by giving their very lives.
August 20, 2022-The joyful minstrel, at Rafter Eleven, made songs up as she went along, including one about “There’s sticky glue, on my mailbox, where your name used to be”. She prefaced it all with Ray Stevens’ “The Mississippi Squirrel Revival”. Having been to Pascagoula, I can see every bit of such things as are described in the song-not happening. The city is a bustling shipbuilding center, or was, when I visited-but why quibble? Ray’s songs were a staple of my teen years, as counterpoints to all the heaviness in the music of the late 60s.
It was a lovely musical set, with romantic ballads and country-tinged novelty tunes, well juxtaposed. From there, I drove through a short, but intense, thunderstorm, and sat talking with some friends at Synergy-mostly listening, though, as they inveighed against designer drugs and pondered what benefit, if any, there was to psychotropic substances. Personally, I will pass on all of those things. My mind is active enough, without external help.
These activities were preceded by the annual American Legion Post 6 picnic, at Goldwater Lake. Fortunately, the day was sunny and mild, until well after the picnic was finished. So, during the time under the ramada, a few lingering conflicts between some embers were resolved, awards were given out to long-standing servants in the Post and I won a nice prize. The food was well-prepared and the mood, overall, was very pleasant. The lake itself is slowly rising, though still a long way from being in what I would consider a healthy state.
It’s been a fine day, and night, as I drove back under partly cloudy skies, with the rain being done for the day.
December 31, 2016, Chula Vista- I am taking the readership on a brief journey back, with one photo from each month, that sums up the month, for me. So, let’s begin.
January-
Pharaoh’s Face, with a barrel cactus keeping watch, south of the Agua Fria River, Black Canyon City
February-
Sunset, over Goldwater Lake
March-
Small pond, Banning Creek, northwest of Goldwater Lake
April-
Quartz Mountain, north of Copper Basin
May-
Granite Mountain, Prescott
June-
Cathedral Gorge, Pioche, NV
July-
Lake Redwine, Newnan, GA
August-
Kayla Mueller, who was killed in Syria. This is not my photo, but symbolizes the month of August, as I took no photos of my own, and the sacrifices of some Americans, in the fight against terrorism became front and center.
September-
View of Santa Maria Mountains, from Juniper Mesa
October-
Monarch butterflies, in Agua Fria watershed
November-
Agua Fria Fort, off Little Pan Trail, Table Mesa region
December-
White Christmas 2016, Prescott
So went the Year That The Common Man roared and I continued to explore.
March 13, 2016, Prescott- “It is not yours to keep, this ever-changing trail”- Laura and the Killed Men, “The Ever-Changing Trail” (All rights reserved, Laura Kepner- Adney and Sam Golden, 2015).
I sat, joyfully, in one of my favourite evening live music venues, The Raven Cafe, and listened to this Tucson country-folk band’s first set. The line above is from their a capella set closer.
They excel with instruments, also.
Include the video, as it happened that the evening was a fine counterpoint to two hikes I took this weekend, on Prescott Circle Trail. Yesterday afternoon, the spontaneity of which I wrote, a few posts ago, kicked in. I accepted the urge to do a “fill-in-the blank” hike, to the top of Badger Peak, which is circumnavigated by Section 7 of the Circle. The peak is also called “P” Mountain, owing to the large white first letter of my adopted town’s name.
Here are some scenes. The first two were taken from the access road, to which I transferred from Prescott Circle, at the half-way mark to the summit.
View from road leading to Badger Peak summit
View of Government Canyon spur, from Badger Peak access road
Communications Towers, Badger Peak summit
P is for Prescott, Badger Peak summit
View of Watson Lake, from Badger Peak summit
The third photo shows a communications station, atop the peak. The white circular arrangement is the top of the P. There is no access to the arrangement, in its entirety, without permission of the Yavapai Nation, which owns the mountain. The final photo shows Watson Lake and the Granite Dells, from the summit. This hike was four miles, round trip.
This afternoon, a friend, who had wanted my help with a remodeling project, postponed it until next week. This gave rise to spontaneous hike # 2: Segment 5 of the Circle. It is a ten-mile round trip, something I’ve not done during the Fast.until today. I was inspired in this by another friend, who is both older and physically smaller than I am, and who hikes and runs during this time period. So, out of my comfort zone I went- with enough water on which to fall back, in the event I felt weak. As it happened, that was not a problem, as the air was cool this afternoon, and the Sun was hidden by clouds, most of the time.
This segment goes from a point south of Upper Goldwater Lake, around the south and west shores of that body of water, above the west shore of Lower Goldwater Lake, which is closed to the public and through Prescott National Forest, to White Spar Campground. This hike was ten miles, round trip. Sitting here tonight, I feel refreshed and focused.
Here are some scenes of Segment 5.
Trailhead sign, Prescott Circle Segment 5
“Tree-pod”, south of Goldwater Lake
Note the “Tree-Pod”, on the right.
Gray granite boulders, south of Goldwater Lake
South shore, Upper Goldwater Lake
Pair of daisies, Prescott Circle Trail
Memorial to Yarnell Hill Firefighters
On the left are a pair of daisies, seen along the way, above Lower Goldwater Lake. The heart-shaped stone memorial, on the right, is dedicated to the 19 firefighters who died at Yarnell Hill, in June, 2013. It is atop a ridge, 1 1/4 miles southeast of White Spar campground.
View from Monument Ridge, south of White Spar
Trailhead, White Spar Campground
The Sierra Prieta range can be seen from Monument Ridge. On the right, is the trailhead at White Spar Campground. I spent only ten minutes, resting, at this very full facility. There were 2 hours’ back journey left.
On the way back, I stopped for several minutes at this lovely nook, Banning Creek.
Small pond, Banning Creek
Small pond, Banning Creek
There had been a fair crowd here, when I was headed towards White Spar. When I returned, only one lone bicyclist and I had the place to ourselves- and he was about to leave. I saw very few other people, the rest of the way, until I got back to Upper Goldwater.
Now, with the next two weekends booked, I will wait until April to take on the next segments of Prescott Circle- unless things get canceled and spontaneity calls.
February 15, 2016, Prescott- I spent yesterday afternoon not being a nuisance to anyone, and finishing my walkabout of Segment 6, on the Prescott Circle Trail. Long segments, such as this, can be broken into two manageable hikes. Today, I started at the trailhead that lies across a narrow, but busy, highway from Goldwater Lake. There was plenty of parking in the dirt lot, so by 1 PM, I was bound for the point at which I stopped on my last visit to this route.
The first part of the trail was dry, which was fine by me, as it was also the closest thing the trail offered to being steep. Mud, and snowpack, came a bit later, and were a constant, for the length of the trail. There are seven “fingers” of Government Canyon that impact this section of trail, but not as much up and down, as in the eastern part of the canyon.
Two hours after I started, the segment’s end came, at the three-way junction of Prescott Circle, Boy Scout Trail and Turley Trail. Boy Scout leads to Walker Road, near Lynx Lake. Turley, whose trailhead is a mile east of my house, brings one back towards downtown.
With my car back near Goldwater Lake, I tooled around the back country of Government Canyon, for about an hour, then headed in reverse.
Here are a few scenes from this workout, which resulted in 10 miles, altogether.
Western end of Segment 6, Prescott Circle Trail
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
Above, are two views of Goldwater Lake, which has upper(left) and lower (right) halves.
Snow appeared frequently, along the north side of the canyon, as one might expect.
Snowfield, on east side of “finger” Number 3, Government Canyon.
Junction with Boy Scout Trail
Limestone field, Seven Mile Gulch, Prescott National Forest
I reached my turn-around point (left), and felt the urge to look around. So, I did an extra loop, including this limestone outcropping, on Seven-Mile Gulch Trail. This became a two-mile loop.
The return hike was not strenuous, and I made it back to the west-facing section of trail, in time for a glorious sunset.
Sunset near Goldwater Lake, Prescott, February 14, 2016.
So it is that I have completed half of the Prescott Circle Trail. In truth, though, with trails, one is never “done”. The stunning scenery is here for anyone who needs a lift.
July 25-26, 2015, Prescott- There was, on purpose, little on my agenda this weekend. I went to a devotional gathering on Friday night, and caught up with my Chino Valley friends. The meal is always great. Actually, I end up with two meals, as the Veterans’ Potluck, where informal attendance is taken, happens the same night as the devotional. I have the heart, and a discretional-enough eating habit to attend both events.
Saturday gave me time to think, long and hard, about friends. I know who the true ones are, here, online and in other parts of the country. Those who have come and gone, at least meant well, initially-but fear, personality differences and age gaps can put a damper on any number of friendships. I was glad to have spent time with my faithful friends in California, Nevada, and Oregon and to have made a few new friends here and there in Alaska.
I have an outside chance to work for the Red Cross, though the word is that the folks in Washington already have someone picked out for the vacancy. We will carry on, regardless.
This morning, (Sunday), I sat and bantered with the Old Major for a bit, then joined my Baha’i friends at Goldwater Lake. It’s a fine, wooded, fishing reservoir, south of town, and we have gathered there, once a year, for a Cowboy Breakfast. I don’t have leather boots or a Stetson, but I did bring the sausages for grilling. One time, a couple of years back, I brought my solar oven along. We tried toasting bread in it and ended up with sliced hard tack. Heck, that’s part of a chuck wagon, right?
Book wise,this summer, I have finished Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Crota, Death and White Diamonds, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, and Looking for Alaska, and am a bit more than halfway through Seven Years in Tibet. I‘ve mentioned most of these before, but making a total list looks a bit better.
I have developed a habit of deleting most e-mailed requests for money. Along the same lines, I am getting rid of my land line phones, soon, since the only calls I get on them are from solicitors. My true friends and family all have my cell # number.
It was a nice weekend- little noise and the Second Wild Woman of the West, who frequents the bar & grill next door, wasn’t throwing any temper tantrums.
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