FINALLY!!! PROOF THE ILLUSIVE WILD BURROS DO EXIST!!!!

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE??? IS IT A DESERT ILLUSION?? Finally, I got to see the famous ( and very vocal) wild burros of the Sonoran Desert!! Dennis and I decided to take our walk out into the desert today. We had heard that there is a cave in one of the hills out there, and we were on a mission to find it. We walked  quite a ways out...I found a really pretty and quite large Chainfruit Cholla cactus on the way....

..We walked all around the bottom of the hillside and tried and tried to find a cave entrance somewhere above us. The terrain was getting quite rocky...this is a big boulder raised right out of the desert floor...I thought at first it was a tree...

Alas ,we couldn't locate a cave anywhere..but...all of a sudden, Dennis poked me and whispered,"Look just over there", and I couldn't believe my eyes! A burro spotting of the first kind! We stood very still, and they were very wary and keeping a close eye on us. It's hard to sneak around out in this desert. The ground is very crunchy in this area with lots of small cinder-like rocks that "crunch" with every step you take. I knew I needed to get a better picture, so we crept a couple steps, then stopped a minute...crept a few more, then stopped again. I finally got a good shot or two off!

...Double bonus..a mommy and her baby...She was watching us closely, as you can see in this next shot..

...I asked Den,"Do burros ever get aggressive to humans?" (Like he should know...he hasn't encountered many wild burros recently.)  This one was staring me down...Den didn't answer my question, but I felt it would be wise to just let them be. There were about 10 of them in a group and you could hear them chewing something..Den and I couldn't believe it, but they were nibbling on the Chainfruit Cacti! They must have cast iron stomachs, not to mention the other end! Look at this one chowing down...

What a great find this was!! I also noticed what a great and beautiful view we had from the foothills and couldn't resist this shot...

We had clouds over us where we were, but the sun was out over the distant mountains...The above photo is looking back toward our campground.... I noticed a neat couple cacti that were growing so close they were almost joined...

...This is an Organ Pipe Cactus on the left, hugging a Saguaro on the right..I didn't want to stare at them, so I left them to themselves, too.You usually don't see them in such close proximity!  We decided it was time to walk back toward our camper, about a mile or so. As we were walking, suddenly something scurried up out of the brush and ran off...scared the bejesus out of me!... We stood and watched as a big  Desert Jackrabbit the size of a dog hopped of across the desert in front of us.
What a fun walk we had today! You never know what you will find....that's what is so exciting . I don't think I would be as anxious about walking around in the desert after February...I think that March is the season the rattlesnakes wake up from their scaly nap, and I don't want to scare on of those up on a walk!!
 We got back and I fixed us left over beef brisket for lunch... What started out as a cloudy day was turning into another award winner...You know where I spent my afternoon...outside, soaking up Sol. They still are calling for rain next week here, but it is sooo dry....a shower wouldn't hurt.   We still want to find out where this cave is in the hills beyond Hickiwan, so we will try again, rest assured!
Speaking of showers, it 's time for me to shower up! I love my camper shower...I see so many people with beautiful campers and motor homes go to the shower house to take their shower...different strokes, so they say, but I wouldn't give up our great little private shower for anything!!
FYI.....I did find out a lot about the stone maze and it's history with the Tohono O'odham Nation, and I will post that tomorrow...it is VERY interesting, so stay tuned!!!