We headed out into the Kofa Mountains of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert today in search of Desert Roses with neighbors Ralph and Roberta.

Ralph and Roberta’s baja bug got us there safely and in fine style.  We normally take a walking stick to help steady ourselves on rocky terrain and to help warn rattlesnakes we are coming.  (wouldn’t want to sneak up on them)

Here is what we are looking for, Desert Chalcedony Roses.  They form in weathered volcanic rock and have a white translucent appearance.  The bitryoidal surface resembles flowers, thus the nick name.

But we also found some real flowers and they were beautiful.

The terrain was rocky and the cacti were sharp.

This little guy came out to take a peak at us.

Only he wasn’t that little.  He was about a foot long… and not too shy either.

Then we found an interesting line of Chalcedony nodules embedded in the bedrock.

Roberta found a piece of pottery left by some ancient pottery makers.  She’s got sharp eyes.

We started to get pretty far away from the bug.

And then we started to play a game of “Where’s Ralph”.

There he is!  At the age of 84, Ralph sure does get around.

Billy got lots of exercise.

It’s hard to convey how beautiful the Kofa Mountains are.  The name Kofa comes from the abbreviation K of A which stands for the King of Arizona Gold Mine.  Millions of years ago, these mountains were actively volcanic, ejecting ash-flow materials from long, thin fissure vents.  These mountains sprung up as molten material broke through the stretched and overheated crust.

Evidence of volcanic activity could be seen all around.  This area is called the Kofa Mountain Volcanic Field.

That’s part of the formation of these sweet little rocks, the Desert Chalcedony Roses.

Some were coated with desert varnish… 

… and some had inclusions of Limonite, making them Fire Agates.

 After about 5 hours in the sun, we said goodbye to the desert and headed home.