Pleasant Harbor continued

I guess for as long as I'll be spending my winters at Pleasant Harbor, I'll be adding photos of the beauty that surrounds us here. Hence, a continuation page.

On a particular sunny winter day, I sat at my site in the Rosette and soaked in the view. Yes, there's a lot of traffic coming and going in this part of the park, and with it comes the constant hum -- and often roar -- of vehicles big and small, but it's pretty easy for me to block that out, to look above it to the distant mountains and to the nearer trees and shrubs that grace our carefully-manicured grounds.

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Just outside the grounds of our resort is a plethora of hiking trails that is part of the larger Maricopa Trail that, after years in the making, now connects 10 regional parks of Maricopa County. This photo was taken near the Beardsley Trail, a section of the Maricopa Trail that extends behind Waddell Dam. The water is Lower Lake and can be accessed from a road off State Highway 74 between the Pleasant Harbor Resort turnoff (87th Ave) and the Lake Pleasant Regional Park turnoff.

It was a cold winter this particular year, and to prove it, the snow descended upon the mountains leaving a beautiful blanket that lasted several days. We winter guests at Pleasant Harbor are here for the sun and warmth, but there were very few who didn't admit that the snowcaps were a beautiful sight.

There are many things around this park that we residents never tire of seeing, and at the top of the list are the wild burros and the hot-air balloons that fill the sky with brilliant colors. These shots were taken from Lake Pleasant Parkway, one of our main routes to a shopping area.

It was a sad day when this near newborn burro got separated from its herd and mom while in the park at Pleasant Harbor. All day long members of the park staff took part in keeping watch on the little guy, keeping him hydrated and making sure he didn't wander off into traffic. Finally, shortly after six in the afternoon, a staff guy spotted what he thought might be the mother out near 87th Ave. It was no trouble getting the babe to follow him out to the adult burro because throughout the day it had bonded with the staff following closing behind whereever they went. However, once they made the long journey across the dry sandy area, the adult donkey had wandered off, not to be found. But, the park guy continued leading the baby across 87th Ave and into the desert just as the sun was starting to set. Most everyone in the park knew of this incident and kept tabs on the progress, hoping for a reunion of mom and baby. Though we didn't see it, we were told that, indeed, a herd with the mom was found in the desert, and the baby and mother each recognized the other's scent and were reunited. It was unforunate that the baby had been separated from its herd by, accounts say, inconsiderdate four-wheelers who revved its engine, causing the herd to scatter and leaving the baby behind.