Pinal Mtns trip

[CouesWhitetail]

The latest storm brought snow to the mtns near my house. My husband was off work today so we went up to let the dogs play in the snow. I am guessing we had about 10 inches, although some places it had melted a fair amount.

 

For those that might be wondering how the road is up there, we got up to sulfide del rey picnic area and used 4WD to get there. There is lots of snow on the road well below there and several people had obviously spent some time in the ditches getting unstuck. But it's not that bad if you don't drive like the crazy teenages we saw flying around and getting stuck several times. Anyway, it was beautiful and we had a nice walk and romp in the snow.

 

Our new dog Julie is only about 1 year old and after having her for a week or so, we now gave her the nickname Tigger because she is an amazing, springy, spastic jumper. She was just wild with energy and joy up there in the snow. She was bouncing all over the place. I tried to take photos of her, but she was in constant crazy motion and so I had many misses while trying to photograph her. here are a couple of the misses:

 

 

 

 

And then finally I got her in the frame. She likes to run FULL tilt at you and you have to be real careful she doesn't smack into your knees. She still is all puppy-like in her lack of control and coordination.

 

 

 

Molly, our 13 year old dog is much more subdued but she loves to dig and she certainly enjoyed being out in the snow. Here she is digging a hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are a few pics of the jeep and surroundings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and here is a shot looking south from the pinals.

 

 

 

We thought this sycamore was very interesting looking. In addition to the neat branches and snow, it had a very green appearance to the bark. Can't say I have seen a sycamore so green before.

 

 

 

And finally, here is my husband and the two dogs in the snow. (this is about take 5 due to Julie not sitting still!)

 

 

It was a beautiful day and very fun to watch Julie romp around in what I suspect was her first experience in the snow.

 

Amanda

[willhunt4coues]

THAT IS SOO COOL. IF I TOOK MY DOG I WOULD PROBABLY LOSE HER. DID YOU HAPPEN TO SEE ANY DEER OR OTHER GAME?

CLAY

[Outdoor Writer]

Nice pix, Amanda. Glad it doesn't snow in Glendale. -TONY

[CouesWhitetail]

Clay,

 

Didn't see any game, but there were of course lots of deer tracks. I did see some odd track that I never figured out. Looks like a grouse or something, but we have no grouse up there that I know of.

 

The snow was alot lower down the mtn a few days ago, like down to 4K I think. But it's drawn back up now to maybe 5300 ft with the snowiest areas being above 6K.

 

Sure is nice to get out in the snow!

 

Amanda

[Kilimanjaro]

nice pics Amanda!!

[coueshunter]

Amanda, fantastic pictures. I recognize the places you took the photo's and showed them to my family, they were jazzed about the amount of snow up there. It will be a cold bowhunt this year........thanks for the pictures..............Allen...............

[elkhunter]

the first picture looks like a trail cam pic of a mt lion that was leaving the frame, looks good, gotta love dogs runnin

[BowNut]

Looks great I need to try another Dec. trip up there. The last time we tried it we almost made it to Sulfide Del Rey in 2wd but some guy in a suburban had stopped on a hill to look at deer tracks and with 3 to 4 inches of ice on the road that is were he sat. And that is were we sat behind him!! Even with 4wd it took a lot of shoveling dirt to get turned around. Thanks for the pics Amanda