Hutch Mountain

 

Hutch Mountain

One day while at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Arizona, we decided on an off-road exploration on a road called Hutch Mountain Road.  This was a new route to us, and we had no idea what to expect – let’s see what we found!!

Stoneman Lake was supposed to be a lovely lake, full of perch and northern pike fish, formed by a depression left by volcanic activity over 8 million years ago.  The lake is a “closed system” lake, meaning that all water in it comes from run off from nearby mountains, and that there is no outflow of water.  However, as you can see, apparently there hasn’t been any water/snow run off in quite some time.  The lake is still a depression in the ground, but appears to be very dry for a very long time, with no fish able to survive.  I feel especially bad for the homes on the opposite side of the “lake” – they have no nice lake view.

This image is of some dried sea grass, or perhaps seaweed.  I thought the peaks and mounds looked a bit like the waves might have looked, and couldn’t resist capturing this image!

As we continued to drive along, hoping to get to the top of Hutch Mountain, some elk ran across the road right in front of us.  This image was taken after they crossed the road, and stood a bit off to the side, checking us out.  I was a bit taken aback by how large they are, compared to deer..   You can get an idea of their size by comparing them to the trees behind them.

Sadly the final part of the road leading to the top of Hutch Mountain has been closed, and we weren’t able to reach the top.  However, I did enjoy the autumn colors that we beginning in northern AZ!

Enjoy!