National Forest Critters

If you look at the top picture you will see a bear standing next to the tree.  He is covered by some branches but you can see his lighter colored snout.  He came out of the woods and spotted us.  We were sitting a little ways away from a water tank filled with water.  At the time that was the only water in the area because of the drought so the animals were coming to the tank to get a drink.  We figured if we sat quietly eventually something would come in for a drink.  The bear saw us and then tried hiding behind the tree.  He then peeked at us from around the tree.  It was cute but we made sure we were ready to hop in the 4wheeler and get out quickly if he got aggressive.  We knew he must be pretty thirsty so we left and hoped he got his drink.  

The mule deer are plentiful and we always see a few every time we go out.  Now that the drought is over we can't sit by a water tank and wait for the critters to come to us.  We have to ride around and seek them out.  We have seen several small herds of elk.  They are always too fast to get pictures but I will keep trying.  We have seen turkeys and coyotes.  We are seeing more coyotes now that there are more rabbits hopping around the forest.  The forest is very green now after almost 7 inches of rain.  We now know what the monsoon season is like and are hoping it is over soon.

  

Covered Bridge

 The little town of Pinedale close to where we are staying has this covered bridge on the one road through town.  It is the only covered bridge in Arizona.  There was a plaque near the bridge that explained it was built as part of the bicentennial celebration.  So it isn't as old as you might think.  You can drive through with a car but we opted not to try our truck although it probably would have fit.  

It had been so dry here and with forest fires starting all over the place they finally closed the forest.   Most of the national forests in Arizona were closed over 4th of July which put a damper on some of the tourism.   Now it has rained enough that they have reopened some of them.  Ours is open again but the rain has been spotty.  There are areas where the rain washed lots of debris on some forest roads.  Other areas not far from us still haven't gotten any rain and the fire danger is still extreme.  There is rain in the forecast every day so hopefully the rain will hit where it is needed.  

Fire Towers

 We took a 4 wheeler trip to see the fire towers in the area.  The picture on top is of the fire tower at Juniper Ridge.  That is as close as we got to it.  The road got really rough and narrow and we were traveling alone so we didn't want to chance anything happening to us with no help close by our location.  The fire tower at Deer Springs is easier to get to even though part of the road is badly rutted.  There is a lady that is stationed there and she will answer questions but she can't come down while she is working and they don't allow anyone except authorized personnel up in the tower.  

The tower she was in was the oldest one we have seen that is still being used.  It was not very modern at all.  We were told the other one at Juniper Springs is much bigger and nicer.  The fire danger is so high now that everyone is on high alert watching for fires to start.  They have closed all of the national forests in Arizona - so we have been told-- to all public activity, no campiing, hiking, atving, so we are done 4wheeling for awhile.