Marley Makes 3

Hello everyone! So glad you are here!

Sunday 24.05.12, we went to a park where Al hiked at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Another young couple and a woman, as well as Al, were all from Wisconsin!

The original ranch was purchased by Calvin "Cap" Ireys in 1950 and when they were looking at various properties he and his family saw a dead horse laying in a field. When it came to making a decision on which property to buy Calvin asked his two children which one they liked best and they both said "the one with the dead horse on it" and that's how the ranch got it's name. Calvin and his family developed irrigation channels that had been started by Native Americans for growing crops and farmed the land. By 1971 Calvin decided to sell the ranch and approached another rancher by the name of Duane Miller who also was serving as Chairman of the Arizona State Parks Board. To make a long story short, the State bought this property which was one of very few state parks properties with riparian rights for the irrigation on the land but one condition of the sale was that the name of the ranch had to remain in the name of the park.

This map shows the park and the ponds. All of the water used to irrigate trees and vegetation is routed through pipes, channels and ditches with control valves in various areas to direct the flow for watering in the park. The irrigation system starts with an inlet pipe upstream in the Verde River and excess water that isn't used for irrigation purposes ends up in the lagoons which are stocked with fish by the State. The outlet side of the lagoons goes to a channel that flows back into the Verde River.

One example of the irrigation system.

We spotted a Blue Heron when we started out our hike.

I was surprised that we could see Tuzigoot National Monument from down by the river!

Marley and I sat here by this park and enjoyed the scenery...and waited. It was quite enjoyable! This is one of the lagoons.

Then we went to Old Town Cottonwood and walked up and down the main street...it's quite touristy with gourmet eateries and expensive gift stores. I bought tomato jam...so good on a burger! Also bought orange spice jam, a brownie and this amazing peanut butter cheesecake. We shared it and I rarely use the word decadent, but this would be one of those times. That's all I bought...total $40.

On to Monday, 24.05.13...We used the Shaka Guide App to lead us on a tour to Oak Creek Canyon. The views up through Sedona and 89A are just amazing. Of course I made a short video that will be included at the end.

This is the first stop, Slide Rock State Park. Cost is $20 for a vehicle with up to four people in it. They didn't count Marley but were adamant that we understand he can walk on a leash but may not go down by the water.

This park still has a working apple orchard on it.

There were several pieces of antique farm equipment. Here is the manure spreader and a water wheel generator. There are a few more pieces on the video.

The apple packing barn.

Slide Rock State Park, originally the Pendley Homestead, is a 43-acre historic apple farm located in Oak Creek Canyon. Frank L. Pendley, having arrived in the canyon in 1907, acquired the land under the Homestead Act in 1910. He succeeded where others failed by establishing a unique irrigation system still in use by the park today. This allowed Pendley to plant his first apple orchard in 1912. Pendley also grew garden produce and kept some livestock. Slide Rock State Park is one of the few homesteads left intact in the canyon today. The canyon road was completed in 1914 and paved in 1938.

Al went down to the water...Marley and I sat in the shade and shared a bench with a bunch of elderly Japanese (I think) women who chose not to go down the steps to the water.

I'm not sure what this was but I found it interesting, I'm assuming it was an old storage shed or something.

This huge boulder was alongside the river, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of water force moved this gigantic rock!

There were tons of people up and down the river, I great place to cool off from the Arizona heat!

I saw a sign painted on the beam of the Market that said

"Time...Spend it...Don't waste it."

Sounds like good advice.

As the Shaka Guide continues, we head up the canyon toward Flagstaff.

Just south of Flagstaff, Arizona State Route 89A winds through a breathtaking series of switchbacks into a scenic, smaller cousin of the Grand Canyon. Oak Creek Canyon is famous for its spectacular scenery.

There is a Native American Market Place at the scenic viewpoint where Al bought me a silver ring with a stone called wild horse, made by a native woman.

Marley enjoyed the views too, mostly he was just happy to be along for the journey!

Notice the switchback roads we came up to get up here!

We pulled off to let impatient drivers go by. I guess we were driving like retired people! LOL Anyway, this was a pretty little spot.

When Al ad I were here in 2007, we stopped at this place and shared a sandwich. It' obviously changed hands because it wasn't the same inside. The first time we were here, it reminded me of Jr. Sprecher's Bar where you could go in and get a handmade sandwich like mom used to make. Now it's a touristy gift shop with fancy food.

This historical marker was across the street.

Just one more photo pf Courthouse Butte

Stopped for a little break here. There is also a hiking trail but it was too hot for a hike today. A woman came along with a little dog and of course Marley had to loudly greet the dog. I apologized and the woman informed me that her dog was a service dog and well trained. Hmmm. OK. Well, Marley is going to be 9 years old this year. We've been working on it, but I think he just likes being loud sometimes!