The number seven keeps insinuating itself into our lives lately. You probably didn’t notice in the last post, but most of the hikes and bikes came in somewhere around the seven mile mark, and a lot of them in this post do, too. I’m not superstitious or into numerology, but neither can I pass up the intrigue of a good coincidence.
When we pulled into the Pima County Fairgrounds (PCFG) on January 2, we never imagined we’d still be here nearly two months later (seven weeks, to the day of this posting.) Mostly it’s been the weather that has kept us grounded, and moving short distances around southern Arizona right now wouldn’t offer much improvement, so here we stay. It doesn’t feel quite as adventurous as we’d like, but we find more than enough to keep us from stagnating.
During a particularly nice bit of weather, we headed up the Catalina Highway for a second hike in the Mt. Lemmon area.
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| Our hike began along a short section of the AZT. |
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| choosing the Sycamore Reservoir Trail |
The Sycamore Reservoir was built long ago to provide water to an area prison camp, but the camp is long-since defunct, time and nature reclaiming much of the lake and leaving old concrete footings to the buildings and the spillway to the reservoir.
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| After an easy, scenic trek through a wash |
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| the trail climbs up to Shreve Saddle |
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| then descends toward the dam. |
Saguaro National Park (SNP) with the proximity of its Rincon Mountain District (RMD) and the plethora of trails has been a go-to destination while we’ve been here.
On this particular day, the sun was playing hide-and-seek, and we kept a watchful eye on the rain squalls moving in and around the park. Not that we were in a dangerous area, we just didn’t feel like getting drenched.
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| “Me, neither!” |
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| The moody skies stayed over the mountains… |
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| creating one rainbow… |
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| after another. |
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| Surprise! No, really this time! |
According to my own very scientific observations, crested barrel cacti are far more rare than their saguaro cousins. I’m not done counting how many cristate saguaros we’ve encountered yet, but it’s way more than one, which is how many cristate barrels we’ve seen.
We logged, predictably, seven miles on this outing.
Once the blustery front moved through, we went back for another SNP RMD hike that turned out to be one of our favorites of all time.
We had to start on the Loma Alta Trail, to get to the one we wanted.
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| My personal cougar-stomper. |
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| Gate to the one we wanted |
which was the Hope Camp Trail. Once we came down a long, gradual incline from the parking lot, the trail was mostly flat and wide, bordered by huge cacti.
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| like so |
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| and so |
This was also the trail along which we saw no fewer than four crested saguaros, as noted in my previous post.
Just after we had passed the Quilter Trail connector, a half mile from Hope Camp, a group of older gentlemen coming off Quilter called out to us. We backtracked to chat with them, and they told us if we went about two miles in the direction from which they had just come, we would discover an area where the recent rains had created beautiful cascades over the rocks. Our interest piqued, we took their advice.
The hiker-only trail became more interesting with each step. Saguaros
with arms are somewhere between 50-100 years old, and some never grow
arms at all. Saguaros without arms are called spears, but I like to call them pickles.
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| Those fellas were not wrong, look at this oasis in the desert! |
It was the perfect place for lunch, and why I didn’t take my boots off and cool my feet in the water remains a mystery.
Perpetual weekend events at the fairgrounds provided us with free entertainment several times right in our ‘backyard.’ We’re not really horse people, but a seat on the bleachers in the sun is a nice way to pass an afternoon. It was impressive to watch the powerful horses fly over the gates, seemingly effortlessly, in the Hunter/Jumper competitions.
Moving indoors, we watched two types of team penning competitions. These were fast-paced, exciting cowboy-style contests during which teams of two worked together to round up bull calves by number or in numbered sequence. The athleticism of the horses and the control the riders demonstrated was remarkable.
Also close to the fairgrounds is Colossal Cave Mountain Park. I mistakenly thought it required a fee and was only for visiting the cave, which is not something we were interested in doing. But, I discovered it was part of the regional park system, with plenty of non-fee activities. Off we went!
There is a very pretty Visitor Center with large gift shop, food, and even cocktails. Several signs picturing coatimundi are posted to advise against feeding them, and we kept a watchful eye out for some not to feed, but we never found any.
A short nature trail is accessible from the VC, and after we had poked around there for a bit, we drove up to the ranch and stable area to see if we could access some of the longer trails. The roadway was flooded, so we parked in the picnic area where we saw a trail marker sign.
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| All signs point to “no.” |
Just as I was untying my boots in order to wade through the water across the roadway, an employee came by in his pickup and offered us a ride through the water and up the hill. He gave us some info on the trails and told us a less watery way to get back to our car when we were ready. There is normally a butterfly garden and desert tortoise pen to enjoy, but the butterfly plants weren’t ready for them yet and the tortoises were hibernating.
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| I found some friends anyhow. |
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| We wandered down the Trail of the Ancestors. |
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| Know what we found at the end of the trail? I’ll give you seven guesses. |
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| Surprise! |
And then guess what we saw on the drive out?
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| How can this be? |
I was delighted to learn that there would be a dog agility competition while we were here, and I was ready bright and early to be, as it turned out, one of only about five non-competitor observers. No matter, it was still fun to watch the pups, especially when they misbehaved. My favorites from the blooper reel included a malamute who ran directly up on top of the walkway obstacle, stopped, and just looked around the arena happily smiling from his vantage point. There were more than a few dogs that behaved as if they’d just arrived at the dog park, and once in the ring, they took off as fast as they could to race joyously around, completely ignoring the obstacles. My favorite goofer-upper was a little mixed doggy that did about three obstacles, then ran straight over to stand at the judge’s feet, barking its head off at him. It ran off to do about three more obstacles and then right back over to scold the judge again! Hilarious!
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| Go, Dog, Go! |
Another cold snap was predicted to move through, so we planned a hike for the sunny day preceding it on the AZT’s Rincon Valley Passage.
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| a.k.a. Gabe Zimmerman Davidson Canyon Trail |
This section of the AZT is better traveled by foot, either horse or human, than by bike mostly because of several sandy areas and rocky washes.
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| Like a beach, only different. |
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| Looking for mortars in the rocks. |
This has been a wetter- and cooler-than-normal winter for southern Arizona, but that still makes it drier and warmer than almost any other place, and it has kept things very green in some areas. While the cool spells haven’t been exactly what we were hoping for in our first winter on the road, we can hardly complain, especially when the sun shines more often than not, and the usually arid land springs to such verdant life.
It’s not a bad way to spend seven weeks at all!
COMMENTS
That’s a great shot of a House Finch 🙂
Chasing Dirt Oh so glad to have given you trail inspiration! I don’t know if you’re like us (mostly me) but I like a new trail more than a repeat, even if the repeat is spectacular, and sometimes finding new ones is tough. Helping you find new ones is small repayment for the ideas your blog has given us!
I hope the May weather shines on you and that there is some flowing water left — that has been the reward for the weird winter here, and we have been spoiled by the transient oases. You will no doubt get a fabulous flower season, and I am sad that we can’t stay to see it (and you!)
Isn’t that little finchie so pretty? He posed perfectly on the roof of our car for me!
Your description of the dog agility trials is hilarious! Phooey on following directions! Let’s give out medals for being creative and crazy!
As always, your photos are wonderful. I know we have TBG to thank for that, and also for keeping random strangers from stealing you away. :-))
Chasing Dirt Yes, they had a tiki bar at the park! We didn’t partake, but I thought it looked pretty cool. My photo of the walkway there didn’t do it justice at all, but the VC & patio area is really pretty.
We have been talking about where we’ll ‘winter’ next year, and I don’t see how (or why) we wouldn’t be in Tucson for at least some of it. You being here is all the enticement we need! I would be happy to show you those elusive cacti, and you can help me find birds.
I still laugh thinking of those silly dogs. Just so funny😆
Did you like my photo of the finch (that is a finch, isn’t it?) I know they’re common, but they’re so pretty. That one posed for me on top of the car right outside the window.🐦
Laurel I love your House Finch photo! It’s easy to take a common little bird like that for granted, but as you said, they’re so pretty. Eric just walked by, looked at my computer, and said, “Great photo!” :-))
Would be so fun if we could all be together in Tucson (or somewhere else in Arizona) next winter!
Anyway, your photos are testament to how ‘not bad’ it is to be stuck in Tucson for the winter. While we’d all love better weather, none of us can really complain about the scenery or the trails or the endless things to do. Plus, if you’re REALLY lucky, while traipsing around this lovely desert, you MIGHT find one of the elusive ‘crested saguaros’…oh….wait….😂
Chasing Dirt I wish there had been more agility competitions while we were here and that this one had happened while you were still here. You’re absolutely right that we could all learn a lot from the pups. Their unbridled joy is wonderful to watch!
Tucson has been pretty darn good to us for our first winter on the road, and knowing that the weather is usually even better just ensures it won’t be our last. That is, if we’re not banned for my relentless saguaro mocking!
Chasing Dirt It’s sweet how you think I still got it. Imma keep you around!💙
The dog agility sounded like a blast to watch. I’ve seen them in tv, real life would be so much fun, plus your blooper reel description made me laugh!
Hope you and TBG are staying warm!
Chasing Dirt So glad this could help you find some hikes for next year! Hopefully, next year will be back to regular Tucson weather and more of the mountain hikes will be accessible, as well as the great desert trails. Chances are good we might be back in the area next year too, and would love to get out there with you, again.
Those dogs were fun! It wasn’t as slick as the stuff we see on TV, but it was still dogs, and you can’t go wrong watching them whatever they’re doing.
We are staying warm, I just wish we could sit outside to do it!😎