Reece's first hunt, campout and wildlife experience this past weekend was so fun! We pursued turkey on his hunt and saw a lot of sign at water tanks but they were moving thru, determined to get wherever they were heading and not sticking around long.
One morning we had a beautiful black bear in cinnamon color come in the waterhole until we started talking a bit loud in out excitement. The bear shot out of there quickly.
Still, a memory was made. We saw dozens of elk everyday, red-tailed hawks screeching away in the skies, squirrels everywhere, Arizona bird varieties we were guessing at what they were and animal tracks to identify like turkey, deer, bear, elk and small birds and mammals.
It was quite the zoo and a blessing just to see Reece enjoying all the discoveries, asking questions, showing me things I missed, turkey scat too. He did not want to leave on Sunday! He loved his first experience.
After all, this was his first camping trip with his dad Mike and me, his papa.
On a trip to explore an old road we ended up on the edge of the Rim overlooking Pine, Arizona. To our surprise there were both an American flag and an Arizona flag right on the edge. We unfurled them to let them fly a bit better. We noticed a Tupperware container held down by a rock. Inside there were a couple of notebooks with names and dates of visitors and the reason this spot was chosen. Cabin owner saw their cabin a thousand feet below from this beautiful vista and decided to maintain this secret spot for those that stumble on to it like we did.
What warmed my heart is Reece told me his favorite part was being here with me. My favorite part was Mike and Reece exploring everything I get to see with regularity and take for granted at times.
The forest thinning going on currently is a great fire fighting tool that will preserve the area for centuries. The restoration efforts are to be congratulated!
Preston Becker helped greatly coming up with me early in the week pointing me to likely spots to hunt.
Sheri Wright also came up after Preston left to explore a few days with me prior to Reece and Mike's arrival. What a great 8 days for me!
