The Hazards of Being Out Standing in the Desert

I rarely post events about myself, believing that readers would rather see and read about the boot heel of New Mexico and southern Arizona, but an event occurred recently that merits a story.  The road grader at the Painted Pony Resort is a useful tool for road maintenance around the estate, but with all tools accidents happen.  In the case of the Galion road grader it was being used at the north end of the estate across the riverbed.  Water in New Mexico's rivers is an option and the San Simon does not flow but does get muddy during the rainy season.  Well, the grader got stuck in the mud and while trying to get unstuck it broke.  The arm that lifts front blade has a ball joint that the hydraulics use to lift the blade and this piece broke.  So, after the end of the monsoons and ground had dried out it was shovel time.  After digging out the grader and temporarily tying the broken arm so it was possible to raise the blade I got the grader moved and stored.  Then it was on to repair work.  Galion is no longer in business and this is the boot heel with an average population density of 1 person/square mile, so the repair work fell to me.  A replacement ball joint was found (from another grader) and purchased.  Then armed with sledge hammers, steel wedges, a come-along, heavy chain, and assorted tools I attacked the road grader and started dismantling the arm.  Of course all the parts were frozen on the grader with years of accumulated rust and covered by many layers of paint.  But with the use of a rust dissolver (PB Blaster) and lots of time with the sledge hammer it was possible to loosen and eventually move all of the seized parts except one, you guessed it, the broken ball joint arm on the shaft that raised the front blade.  Friends were helpful with suggestions and the most common comment was "try heat".  This sounded like a good idea but the size of the parts dictated something larger than a simple hand torch.  Heating a 70 lb piece of metal on a shaft several inches in diameter was going to require a significant heat source so I found a heating wand that fit a 5 gallon tank of propane.  With the new tool in hand I began heating and bashing, then heating and bashing some more.  I thought there was evidence of movement,  perhaps 1/16 of an inch.  Encouraged, I continued and it was at that point disaster struck.  While heating the broken ball joint arm I heard a loud pop and at the same time saw a fireball rising before my eyes.  Engulfed in fire, my response was to shut my eyes, drop the heating wand and dive to the ground.  Rolling around to make sure I was not on fire, I then got up and shut off the propane tank to prevent a grass fire.  The smell of burnt hair was all around and upon examining the heating wand I saw a broken and melted hose near the handle.  The failure of the hose and the resulting explosion shocked me, but I seemed to be intact.  Checking myself for other injuries I found my hand was burned.  Fortunately it is my habit to always wear long sleeve shirts and hats but no gloves that day.  So after making sure there were no grass fires and securing the site it was back to the main estate for some burn management.  Redness and swelling were becoming noticeable and I searched around for something to put on the burns.  Bag Balm came to mind and I used a liberal amount on the burned areas.  Bag Balm, a lanolin based product, was originally created for cow udders and is primarily for animals but the product works well on humans, it even accompanied Admiral Bird to the North Pole.  Liberal application of Bag Balm kept the burns moist and helped with the pain.  After the blistering and with continued use the healing process is progressing.  In response, I moved work back to the main estate and I'm concentrating on projects that only involve water, like irrigation.  I can deal with cracked pipes and getting wet while working, it is always better that getting burned.

The Galion Road Grader

The broken ball arm joint on the road grader

Well, maybe one more.

An image from the McCord trail looking across Cave Creek Canyon at the rhyolite outcrops towering along the west side of the canyon.

Still the Yosemite of Arizona

One More Image from the McCord Tail

Although not the best weather conditions for landscape photography, with some work one image did turn out.  A desaturated view from the overlook on the McCord trail, looking west across Cave Creek Canyon is shown below.  By desaturating the colors the differences in texture create a layered 3D effect with the rock outcrops appearing layered upon one another (click on the photograph to get a larger image).  This creates a diagonal composition with layers of rock outcrops running from the upper left (background layer) down to the lower right (foreground layer).  The layering effect is mirrored by the shadows which also run from the upper right to the lower left.  Notice also how the edges of the rock outcrops are sharp and crisp which lends to the layering effect and enhances the 3D appearance of the image.  All in all, a pleasing image of the landscape.

A view from the McCord trail above Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahua mountains.

Back on the McCord Trail

The Portal Rodeo Hiking Club headed out for a favorite hike along the McCord Trail.  Not having hiked in awhile a small group decided to check out Cathedral Rock while the majority completed the up and over to finish at Naturalist Journeys.  As with many plans this began to fall apart heading up the trail.  The steep climb from Cave Creek Ranch resulted in a long string of hikers as various skill levels sorted themselves out.  As a straggler (taking photographs) a late arrival at the overlook was guaranteed and as the majority of the group headed to the top of the ridge the small group decided to forgo Cathedral Rock and head back down hill.  While the slight overcast reduced the landscape photographic opportunities something new was seen.  An obsidian outcrop along the trail jumped out as the sunlight reflected off broken pieces of obsidian lying on the ground.  A dark grey with red inclusions and highlights, the outcrop shows no evidence of prehistoric mining activity and is the first outcrop personally seen in the Chiricahua mountains.  Generally obsidian nodules are found along the stream beds where they were tumbled to smooth round nodules.  Further down the trail a side route was taken to explore another trail not previously visited.  After about a quarter of a mile and in a wooded gully a Coues doe was found.  She was bedded down as I came around the corner and got up and watched me watching her.  Carefully getting the camera out the image below was captured.  I moved on and so did she, her bedding area vacant about 15 minutes later when passing by on the way back down the trail.  Although not a long hike, it was nice to see familiar faces of the hiking club and get out to explore a little more of the Sky Islands.

Obsidian outcrop

Coues whitetailed deer in the Chiricahua mountains

One Minute of Cave Creek Canyon

A time lapse spanning several hours compressed into one minute from the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon.  Taken from the mouth of Cave Creek Canyon in the Chirichua mountains just above the Portal Store this iconic view of the canyon is what most people think about when visiting the canyon.