Socks and Hiking in the White Tanks

Well, the day has come. My eyes are getting old enough that I gave in, and decided to use a magnifying glass for sewing closed the toes on the socks that I make. It sure makes it easier to see the teeny tiny stitches, so I don't drop any by mistake when I'm doing the finishing work.

I was working on finishing up this pair of socks for one of my Sock-a-Month clients, when my husband got home from work and suggested that we take a bit of time to enjoy a hike in the White Tanks, west of Phoenix. I'm game!

We tried the South Trail tonight, since we hadn't been on it yet. It is a relatively easy mile to where it joins up with another trail, though it is a gradual up hill the whole way. My calves were feeling the work on the way in. We set a timer for 45 minutes, so we would have enough time to get turned around and back to the car before we lost the light.

We don't just do serious hikes though. I'm always on the look out for a good picture. And Eric is a very good sport. "Hey dear! Go force push that saguaro!!" I giggled, he giggled, and an epic shot was born.

We also spotted this little fellow. The lizards are hard to see sometimes, with their perfect camouflage coloration against the rocks. And they usually skitter away before I can get close. This one actually stayed still enough that I could use my telephoto lens from a distance to capture his portrait. "Can she see me? I'm very still. I'm a rock. Don't eat me. Rock."

We did get back to the car, just as we were losing the light. The sunset was beautiful. In just a month, I'm suspecting it will be too hot in the desert for hiking. But for right now, it is wonderful.

And yes, I finished up the socks when I got home, and put the listing up in the Etsy shop. So I'm feeling all accomplished this evening! Good day.