A Day At The Zoo

Today,
     I took my 7 year old daughter to the Phoenix Zoo. It was the first time that I had been to the Phoenix Zoo since I was about her age and I must say that it was a pretty nice zoo compared to some of the many other zoos which I have visited all across the country. The weather was absolutely beautiful. When we arrived to the zoo, the sky was a clear blue color, there was a light crisp breeze in the air and the temperature was 78 degrees.
 
    I read online that the zoo is approximately 125 acres and because of this, I was slightly concerned that due to its size, my daughter may grow tired from all of the walking before we would be able to see all of the exhibits and animals. She actually ended up doing very well and seemed to have plenty of energy the entire time we were there.

    While I enjoyed the Arizona Trail (Native wildlife and Flora to Arizona) and the Tropics Trail (Wildlife of Central and South American Rain Forests) the most, my daughter seemed to enjoy seeing the giraffes, rhino and ostriches of the African Savanna and the Primates exhibits the most. However, I do believe that the highlight of the day and visit to the zoo for the both of us, was when my daughter was able to hand feed a giraffe. The look of joy and excitement on her face while the 25 year old, 16 foot tall giraffe gently ate the zoo provided food out of my daughter's hand was nothing less than priceless.

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A Hike Above The Lake

Today,
     I hiked the Prescott National Forest Service Trail number 95, also known as the Salida Gulch Loop Trail which is a moderate 4.1 mile hiking/mountain biking trail which runs along side of Lynx Creek and up over the top of some ridgelines to the Northeast of Lynx Lake in the Prescott National Forest. The hike allows for some amazing views South over the Bradhsaw Mountains, Northwest to Granite Mountain, Northeast to the mighty San Francisco Peaks North of Flagstaff and to the Black Hills sitting over the Eastern skyline of the town of Prescott Valey.

During the hike, I came across some petroglyphs which have been scientificly dated to be approximately 700 years old. I also noticed a fairly large amount of wild feline paw prints in some muddy and snowy areas along the trail. From my experience in the outdoors and studying natural wildlife, I came to the conclusion that the paw prints were placed in the mud and snow by what appeared to be a mid sized mountain lion who was probably in search of food and/or water. I am an amateur photographer on the side so I almost always have a camera at my side during my many outdoor adventures. I was able to obtain several good photographs of the landscape, petroglyphs and feline paw prints during my adventure down the Salida Gulch Loop Trail this morning and afternoon. I have attached 3 of the photos from my hiking adventure today to this blog.