This is my first trip since the COVID-19 pandemic became widespread; September 2021 with The Nature Conservancy as a legacy club trip. I had signed up a long time ago (close to a year?) and hoped the trip would happen. It has!

The Hart Prairie Preserve is a property acquired in the mid-90s by The Nature Conservancy. It is just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona and that’s where I flew into on Monday, Sept 20. Beth and Ashley picked me up at the airport, then we picked up another person at a local hotel. After a scenic saunter through a “historic” part of town (including seeing the Flagstaff train station) and lunch at the Galaxy Diner, we headed for the property. Everyone else (there are nine of us altogether) came in their own cars.

I can’t remember when I started supporting TNC. But I do remember that once I could not make my accustomed yearly gift because I had been unemployed for a while. I let them know and asked if they could still keep me on their roles as a supporter. They said absolutely, no problem, and that solidified my continuing support.

I love the approach they take, which is cooperative stewardship. They always try to find partners to work with and have what they do be a win-win situation. I love that.

After a short drive, we arrived at the front gate (obligatory picture ;)).

You can see the picture of the area where we’re staying (look hard on the right of the “pathway” picture to see the main lodge). Aspens and pines. Really lovely. And my cabin is Deer’s Ear, named after a flower.

The first night was getting used to the cabin and finding the facilities. Composting toilets quite close to me, sink and shower bathhouse a little further away. A small flashlight was thoughtfully provided, though it doesn’t show a strong light, it does show the path. I managed to get a little off course in the dark looking for the bathhouse, but finally found it.

The next day (Tuesday…today as I’m writing this), we did two walks around the preserve, one through the Bibb Willows, the meadow, and an aspen stand; and the other through the National Forest property behind our cabins.

First, Bob (the preserve property manager) gave us a rundown about the preserve and why it’s significant. So many things in nature are intertwined and in some ways we’re still just learning about all those connections. But hearing about what’s known in this specific place and how they’re working to manage and repair previous damage is inspiring.

We met outside, partly due to COVID-19 restrictions. Beth got a great picture of our “classroom.”

Here are some pictures of Aspen “eyes” (at least that’s what I call them, ’cause that’s what they look like!

And there’s a picture with a small violet object in the bottom center–that’s a butterfly that was hanging on to the plant in quite a breeze. I think Jay saw this first, and I was able to get a picture. Small but lovely.

By the afternoon walk, my tootsies were tired so I, and some others, were taking advantage of tree trunk seats. Beth caught us sitting down on the job!

The schedule is thoughtfully designed so today was a bridge to help us get used to the 8500 foot elevation. And the temperature! Days are mid-70s with lots of sunshine, so it can get very warm. But the breeze is still cool. And once the sun starts to go down, it gets very chilly (40’s/50’s), so layers are the order of the day.

But tomorrow is kayaking on the Verde river. Projected to be 90 degrees with 70-degree water. Very different. Not taking the camera but just the iPhone in a waterproof case, so we’ll see what kind of pictures come out of that!

Now, here are some other, general pictures I’ve taken in the first couple of days here.

Here are a couple Beth got of the lodge, which was as comfortable outside (where we had breakfast in the early morning sunshine) as inside.