Feb 8, 2010
Saguaro Lake and the Tonto National Forest (which has over 2.9 million acres of pine and cactus, NW of Phoenix). There are over 900 miles of forest system trails.

The Fountain Hills at Saguaro Lake. During peak season (summer), line ups of over 2 hrs to launch your boat can occur and sometimes you are turned away because there is a limit on the amount of boats that are allowed. Not sure yet, what the birds are; I do know that Brewer's blackbirds are abundant in the SW of Arizona.
The main lakes in the surrounding area are Saguaro, Canyon and Apache. There are numerous lake in Arizona and recreation includes, boating, fishing, water skiing and sailing.

The superstition mountains and wilderness area has alot of history. The mountain range covers 160,000 acres of desolate, rugged terrain with up to 6,000 ft elevation. Legend has it that Jacob Waltz (a "dutchman" which is slang for German) came to the Supertition mts in search of precious metals (gold & silver) in the 1870's. He found bags of rich gold ore, drank heavily and spent money lavishly. He never told where his 'stash' was and years later, he was found dead in the desert (Apaches lived and frequented the area and did not like intruders). In 1931 an Adolph Ruth came to the area in search of this lost mine. He was found beheaded and now the region is known as the "Curse of the Superstition Mountains"). Today, there are many claims that people have 'found' the mine and the stash but nothing has been proven and many more people have died due to the rugged terrain, desert conditions and in winter, severe cold and flash flooding or sometimes, snowstorms.

Above, the Cholla Cactus (pronounced Cho-ya). It has small tubercles or projections with sharp spines. It is also known as the "jumping cactus" because if you just brush against a spine it detaches and almost "jumps."

The barb attaches to your skin and is extremely difficult to remove. You are 'warned' to take a fine toothed comb with you and pry the barb out of your skin, then use pliers to remove the rest of the barb. Doesn't sound like fun!!!!