Getting Our Bearings in Prescott

Saturday, 28 April 2018
Point of Rocks RV Campground — Prescott, Arizona
Temps: 80F (27C) / 49F (9C)

Woke up at 6:00a to a crisp 55F (13C) and the sun rising in a blue sky.  The cool air felt great.  Could have bundled up and eaten breakfast on the patio probably, but decided to leave that for another day.  Shortly after 8:00a, we left for a walk down to Watson Lake, which is accessed by a trail that starts down the loop a bit from our site.

The trail is rather rustic … dirt with lots of fairly large rocks strewn across it.  So one must pay attention to where one steps.  It is fairly well-marked, unless you step off the trail to climb the boulders … then one might have to search around a bit before finding the trail again.  We had no map when we started off … but did find one at the turnaround point … where the boat ramp is located.  There are quite a few trails in the area that we can check out while we are here … but that’s for another day.

Watch your step as you walk … stop to enjoy the scenery.

Watson Lake is a reservoir set in a landscape rimmed with rounded granite boulders … with vegetation protruding out of them.  It has some breathtaking views and is quite photogenic … even when the light is not cooperating for optimum photography.

Here we are at Watson Lake.

Since this was a recon walk, I didn’t have my camera with me.  We made do with a couple of quick snapshots.  The area is popular with people who like to go ‘bouldering’ … we settled for scrambling on top of some of the boulders to enjoy the scenery.  Even with campgrounds nearby, we had the trail to ourselves, only occasionally coming across a hiker … or people playing through the nearby disc golf course.

I’ll try for a better panorama when we go for a longer hike.  This will have to do for today.

Since we planned to drive into town for a look-see, we didn’t dally long, doing just about 2.5 miles (4 km) in/out, including a lap around the upper loop of the campground where our site is located.  Noting that the section of the trail we hiked is part of the 5-mile (8 km) Watson Lake Loop, we vowed to return tomorrow … get an earlier start … take our breakfast with us … and more drinking water for sure.  Since making that decision, we have learned that there are high winds in the forecast for Sunday, with gusts reaching 40 mph (64 kph).  So we will postpone the hike to another day.

Canada Goose coming ashore after a morning swim.

Cliff Rose blooms ... thanks for the ID Pam.

After a brief break at home, we headed into Prescott to get our bearings.  First stop — Costco; next — Walmart.  Then we went for a drive downtown.  We were going to take a walk, but the crowds in town for the annual Whiskey Off-Road — a biking event — had us backtracking on that idea.  Instead, we drove through some of the residential neighborhoods — nicely maintained houses … some old construction; some new — and even found ourselves at the campus for the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

We were home in time for a late lunch.  Afterwards, Mui went on the roof to re-secure the tarp around our spare tire … I did a few chores and put up the blog post for our last day at Davis-Monthan AFB.  By 4:45p, there was enough shade on the patio that I went to sit outside.

Enjoying the patio this morning after our hike.
We can get some shade with the awning open if the winds cooperate.
We get plenty more shade in the afternoon … which is good.

Could have gone out earlier probably as the temp was a comfortable @ 80F (27C) — and dropping.  But the afternoon had turned a bit gusty and opening the awning to cut down on the glare was not an option.  Plus the dust was blowing quite a bit — downside to being in a dry environment.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed a couple of hours of reading outdoors … and a bit of writing time, too.  By the time I came in around 6:30p, I was wearing a hoodie against the slight chill … mostly caused by the wind.  The temp was 73F (23C) on the gauge … just informing … not complaining ;-)

We will stay home tomorrow morning as the museum we plan to visit doesn’t open until 1:00p on Sundays.  If the winds aren’t bad, we’ll enjoy the patio.  Otherwise, there are catch-up chores to occupy us.

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