Blue Ribbon Bass

Papago Park was once a State Park, and that was when they dug the ponds and used them as holding ponds for bass.  The hatchery was between a couple ponds but is now only a concrete base. The ponds are still holding bass even though they had originally shipped bass from Papago Park to waterways throughout the state.

Eventually, it became cheaper to purchase from commercial fisheries to stock Arizona waters (including Papago, but Papago doesn't get stocked with bass).

Bunch of fingerlings here - attempting to survive long enough to become 'blue-ribbon bass.'

 Here are some bigger ones.

Nothing huge in these pictures, but there are some decent ones out there. And if you do the catch & release, it doesn't really matter how big they are but rather how well they are biting.

Views From the 'Office'

When I was taking pictures of lichen last week, I was also looking out for other shots to take. There was some haze in the air - dust and particulants, but not terrible (believe me, I've seen it bad).

<Click on any of the pictures for a larger image>

Up on Camelback Mtn looking toward the Papago Buttes.

Pretty much the same spot, just looking back toward the mtn.

Another spot looking towards 4 Peaks to the east. A bit of snow left up there. The tiny spots in the sky to the left of the rock are most likely swifts flying around.

Looking over downtown Phoenix as the sun sets.

Looking back at Camelback from Papago.

Papago Buttes (the ones on the National Guard property)

Winter Solstice & the Tree of Life

The Tree of Life sculpture at the corner of Galvin Parkway and McDowell was built in 1991 as a boundary art project using transportation 1% for the arts program (1% of all highway programs funding went to support the arts).  Scottsdale & Phoenix arts programs were also involved.  Anyhow, the sculpture is supposed to be a terraced 'garden' collecting and distributing rainwater to several terraces all in the shape of a tree. Kind of neat. 

It is also supposed to be a solstice marker. I can find very little in that regard on-line, and I think I now know why that is.  The winter solstice was Dec 21, but as solstice means "sun stands still" it should still have been the same on the 22nd and 23rd.  The 21st had clouds and the 22nd did as well. The 23rd was a clear day, and I climbed atop the shortest of the pillars supposedly aligned with the winter solstice sunset.

As you can see the shadows begin to align.  If the true sunset were not blocked by a small ridge in Papago Park (the sun disappeared a full 5 minutes before offical sunset time) the shadows may have aligned.  But in the last shot the shadows clearly do not align.  Very disappointing. No wonder so little is said of it being a solstice marker.

This is probably due to modern technology. They likely had all the right calculations determining exactly where the sun would be at the exact time of sunset.  They never figured in the reality of terrain affecting the viewabililty of the sunset.  As it was quite the opposite for the indigenous people, they were able to make very precise markers for the 'magical' time of solstice.

All in a Day's Work

We had a college intern at the park the other day and I got to show him around to get an idea as to the scope of Papago Park. There's a lot more to Papago than meets the eye. The Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Municipal Stadium, Hall of Flame Museum, and Papago Golf Course are all part of Papago Park. Anyhow, it was nice to visit all these things showing him around. We ended the tour at Tovrea's Castle, not part of Papago Park, but City owned and in the process of renovations.

Something new at the Desert Botanical Gardens - I like this one.

Always fun to look up at the giant cardons

The view from the top of Tovrea's Castle

And from the cactus gardens below looking up.

Nice Sunset

Took this picture today looking to the north at sunset in Papago Park.

Believe it or not the colors are pretty accurate. So often the sunset colors get washed out or something and the colors just don't come through. That and the buttes are lit nicely - not over darkened. Didn't use a tripod, just an electrical box and tilted the camera up on my hand.

OK, this loaded just fine. The other day I had nothing but trouble trying to load pictures, so I gave up. I know its been a bit long since my last post...I'll try to get better...