April & May are great months here in Arizona - the weather is warm (sometimes HOT!) and ideal to be on the lakes or rivers in our area for Kayaking.  Here are some photos of Cheryl & I and a few friends on a couple of trips down the Salt River

Cheryl was tooling along when we saw cattle on the right side of the river and a bull on the left side of the river.... so we just kept paddling through as they sipped the water.

After sipping a bit this bull decided to swim across the river to meet the rest of the heard.

Cheryl didn't think that Bulls could swim - However this Bull swam very quickly towards her as he crossed the river and what a sight to watch Cheryl paddle as fast as she could to get out of his way.

I decided to wear a cowgirl hat to protect my face from the sun - though it was in the 90's - on the water with the breeze if felt like low 80s.... wonderful day.

This is taken from my kayak - there were class 1 rapids on the Salt River as we kayaked - but now and then we would have beautiful calm waters where I could take out my compact camera and shoot a few images..... 

Here our friend Artiste rests in the shade of a tree.

As we kayaked - the 4 of us kept seeing 4 birds flying is formation around us.

They landed right near me - 4 beautiful long billed ducks.

After saying hello - off they flew in formation.

We saw so many Blue Herons here on the Salt River - very beautiful and Regal.

When the Heron would take flight, it looked so majestic (and Huge!)

We saw many cactus doves and cactus wrens perched on top of the Saguaros.

The Red Rocks of the canyons surrounded us.

Here is our friend Fluffy -Looking like a 'Bandito' wearing a 'cowgirl' scarf to protect herself from the Mesquite tree pollen and other pollens that were bothering her alot today.

We stopped for lunch at a clearing on the side of the river - here Cheryl has a Peanut Butter Sandwich and juice for lunch.

Here Fluffy gives thanks to the Goddess for a wonderful day on the river.

I had a little peanut butter and celery snack while we watched other Kayakers paddle by.

With Lunch done - we headed back on the river.

Another friend - Trula has the right idea - kayaking with a UV protected parasol.

Trula and Artiste & I are taking a little rest in the tall reeds before moving on.

One of the best things that happened today was seeing the Wild Horses along the Salt River.

Here Artiste is very close to one of the mares as she takes a few photos.

Though we don't always see the Wild Horses on our kayaking trips down the Salt River - today we were very lucky and saw 4 different herds of horses.  

No one owns these horses - they are wild and roam freely through the Reservation land along the Salt River.

Here a couple of the horses crossed right in front of us as we paddled down river.

This mare and her beautiful little foal were a bonus find.

The mare and a stallion were playing in the water - as the foal got out of the way - I was sooooo lucky to be so close to catch all of this action between this little family.

You can barely see the stallion behind the mare flirting with her as her baby looks on.

And with the baby less than a month old - the mare will go into heat again and the stallion is ready for action again.  What a wonderous sight to watch nature unfold - I felt like I was in the middle of the Discovery Channel in Wild World of Animals.  A wonderful experience.

Well after kayaking 12 miles down the Salt River this crew (minus Trula) was exhausted - but so happy to have had a wonderful day on the water.