August 26 -- A Bike Ride, A Thunderstorm, And An Adventurer In Portal...

Hard to know where to begin...So I'll start at the beginning. Sunrise, 5:58am. 'Nuff said ---

Looking west

                                                                       Looking east

These were shot from my side porch...After a beginning like that, you'd think it couldn't be topped -- but you be wrong. After an early breakfast, I dropped the trash off at the trash truck manned by Tom -- $2 a trash bag, boxes, cuttings, etc free -- then hopped on my hybrid bike and cycled once again (I never get tired of the views, though I do GET tired) up to Portal then west along South Fork Road. One of my favorite spots to drink in the views is Vista Point, where you get above the thickly forested canopy -- 

That's Cathedral Peak in the center -- and to the right in the distance, if you know where to look, is Winn Falls, at 365 feet. It's in a deep cleft hidden from the sun for most of the year -- and in winter it freezes, a spectacular sight. Here are the peaks to the north of "Cathedral View" -- 

The clouds make it a truly memorable view -- and more about clouds later. I go to Sunny Flat Campground, my end point, and take a snooze on one of the campground tables there (well, more accurately rest my eyes). On the way back I pass by Silver Peak, looking glorious in a foreground of intense green and a sky flecked with clouds --

And just a little further down the road, the clouds are starting to build up -- and it's only 10:30am -- 

I arrive back at Faranuf at 11am, and am thinking of re-conditioning the redwood porch decks as they are getting weather-beaten from the sun et al, but to do that they have to be clean and not rained on for 24 hours -- and the skies are beginning to look ominous. At around 2pm I look off to the east and see a curtain of rain out Hwy 80 way. It's called "virga" if the rain evaporates before hitting the ground -- but this rain is hitting the ground...

Then -- it starts to rain. Then I see flashes of lightning -- and it's suddenly over me. Barely a mile away I see a lightning bolt strike the earth, and an ear-splitting crash of thunder follows immediately after -- which means the system is directly above me. That peal of thunder was so loud I thought my windows might shatter. Then the rain turns into a downpour, the wind picks up -- and the power in Faranuf flickers, and the Internet goes out. I take a look out the side porch, and though the worst has past, water is still pouring off the roof, and the grasses are bent from the wind -- 

Awesome -- a classic Arizona thunderstorm. Then just as soon as it started, it moves on to the west, and the skies clear up. I look out the back -- and the birds are in a feeding frenzy, especially the hummingbirds; this is the scene at just one feeder, so multiply this by 4 ---

And later I see a young male Black-headed Grosbeak at a back feeder tray -- 

I'm to meet 2 people from Friends of Cave Creek Canyon at the Rodeo Tavern across the border in New Mexico at 6pm -- Arizona time, 7pm New Mexico time. I arrive at the appointed time -- and they're not there. About an hour later one of them shows up; let's call him Tim (because that's his real name ;o) ) We've never met, so he proceeds to tell me his incredible life story. He's from Portland, Oregon and comes from a family of wanderers; one of his earlier relatives lived in Africa's Gabon, and became the director of a hydroelectric dam there. As for himself, Tim decided to see the country -- but he took a most unusual way of getting around. He ran -- literally. And he pushed his belongings in a 3-wheeled cart. He went down the West Coast, going from Malibu to Long Beach in one day as he wanted to get through the concrete jungle of Los Angeles as fast as possible. Down in San Diego he cut east near Interstate 8, staying on small roads and doing some cross-country. Again, he was running, and pushing a hand cart at the same time. He finally stopped in Portal, and has been here for about 2 years, doing odd jobs and video presentations of, say, snakes, for local herpetologists. What he REALLY wants to do, and make it his life's work (and into a coffee table book) is chronicle photographically traditional weddings. We're talking Amish,  Russian Greek Orthodox, Hasidic Jewish, Muslim -- you name it. Then he wants to travel the world, doing the same thing. He has big dreams -- and I think he can do it, because he has a vision, and the desire to accomplish it. EVERYone has a story, and Tim proves it. And he's just one of many fascinating people here in Portal, Rodeo, and the San Simon Valley...