Archive for the ‘Coronado National Forest’ Category

Three Cochise Stronghold Panoramas   Leave a comment


Three Cochise Stronghold Panoramas by kenne

Cochise Stronghold is located west of Sunsites, Arizona, in the Dragoon Mountains at an elevation of 5,000 ft. 
This beautiful woodland area lies in a protective rampart of granite domes and sheer cliffs, once the refuge
of the great Apache Chief, Cochise, and his people.  Located within the Coronado National Forest, it is managed
by the Douglas Ranger District. — Source: https://cochisestronghold.com/

Cold Mountain   Leave a comment

Snow On The Mountain — Image by kenne

6

Men ask the way to Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain: there’s no through trail.
In summer, ice doesn’t melt
The rising sun blurs in swirling fog.
How did I make it?
My heart’s not the same as ypurs.
If your heart was like mine
You’d get it and be right here.

— from Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems by Gary Snyder

Too Close To The Edge   Leave a comment

Tucson Basin, August 31, 2022 — Panorama Image by kenne

Blue sky above

a winding highway

on a sunkissed morning.

Tourists in rental cars

stop at Windy Point vista

climbing boulders

for a better view — 

children too close

to the edge.

— kenne

Wilderness of Rocks Trail   3 comments

Wilderness of Rocks Trail In the Santa Catalina Mountains — Image by kenne

“One recognizes one’s course by discovering the paths that stray from it.”

– Albert Camus

 

Tree On The Ridge   2 comments

Tree On The Ridge — Photo-Artistry by kenne

Tree Tops

In the yellow sunset
a blue haze glows
on the ridgetop
shadows binding
through juniper trees.
Hikers turning back — 
Know what I mean?

— kenne 

A Recent Drive Up The Catalina Highway To Ski Valley   3 comments

Yesterday (08/05/20), I drove up the Catalina Highway to Mt. Lemmon. The highway was opened to the general public last Saturday morning for the first time since the Bighorn Fire began in early June. The mountain town of Summerheaven, successfully protected from the fire, is now open for business, although still having to follow HOVID-19 business regulations in Arizona.

Oricle Ridge-72Oracle Ridge and Mt. Lemmon Fire Station

Before entering Summerheaven, there are two ridges going north; Red Ridge and Oracle Ridge. Both ridges were severely burned during the 2003 Aspen Fire that destroyed almost all the homes in Summerheaven. Over the years since the Aspen Fire, the forest canopy has still not returned on these ridges. However, a lot of ground cover containing some bushes and small trees had returned. On June 17th, the two ridges were again burned. On June 19th, I posted two time-delay videos of the fire coming through the area pictured in the above photo. The fire station and most of the pines behind it were spared — not true of the storage building and new growth since the 2003 fire. It has now been 50 days since the fire occurred. Note how green the scared area has become with the return of ferns on the mountain slopes.

Except for the highway and Summerheaven, the public is not allowed to go anywhere in the National Forest. From what I was able to observe from the highway, most of the hiking trails with trailheads near the highway are ok, at least partially. Parts of Lower Butterfly Trail and Green Mountain Trail don’t look good from a distance.

My guess is that the trails in the forest around Summerheaven were burned like the two ridges north of Summerheaven. From a review of burn scar maps, the Marshall Gulch area to the north and west, which would include Carter Canyon, has been badly burned. For those of you who hike this area, It’s possible a lot of the Marshall and Mint Springs trails were destroyed. We may not know until November.

Since Sabino Creek originates along the Marshall Gulch Trail, the monsoon rains can result in a lot of potential flash flooding coming down through Sabino Canyon. So far, the rain amounts are very below average, but we are still in the monsoon season.

— kenne

Slideshow

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Images Taken From Catalina Highway by kenne

 

Wilderness of Rocks In Pusch Ridge Wilderness   Leave a comment

Wilderness Trail August 2011 - 2011-08-12 at 12-22-35-72Wilderness of Rocks In Pusch Ridge Wilderness — Images by kenne

Words by:  Edward Abbey, Aldo Leopold, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
John Muir, and Wallace Stegner

 

Wilderness FloorWilderness Floor

Giant Two-tailed Swallowtail — Photo-Artistry   1 comment

Two-tail SwallowtailGiant Two-tailed Swallowtail — Photo-Artistry by kenne

 

 

Wildflowers In The Meadow   Leave a comment

SCVN Weds Walk 08-01-12Wildflowers In The Meadow (Mt. Lemmon) — Image by kenne

Wildflower Meadow, Medawisla

The many-
oared asters
are coracles;

the goldenrod
pods, triremes.
They do not

plan their
voyages
to please us.

The tangle
of brambles
and drupes shifts

only slightly
when the wind
attempts to

part the knee-
or waist-high stalks
and thorns. What will

you do or
be in that state
you fear and look

forward to,
when none of
them needs

us, after
the last
seeds leave?

— Stephanie Burt

Santa Catalina Prairie Clover   Leave a comment

Santa Catalina Prairie CloverBee On Santa Catalina Prairie Clover — Image by kenne

 

Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly   3 comments

Black Swallowtail

Pipevine SwallowtailPipevine Swallowtail Butterfly On Thistle — Images by kenne

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun.
And find your shoulder to light on.
To bring you luck, happiness, and riches.
Today, tomorrow and beyond.

— An Irish Blessing 

 

Yellow-eyed Junco On The Forest Floor   1 comment

SCVN Weds Walk 08-01-12Yellow-eyed Junco (Coronado National Forest) — Image by kenne

Yellow-eyed Juncos shuffle through the leaf litter of pine and pine-oak forests with fire in their eyes—
a bright yellow-orange gleam that instantly sets them apart from the more widespread
Dark-eyed Junco. Otherwise, they share many of the markings of the “Red-backed”
form of Dark-eyed Junco, including a gray head, two-toned bill, reddish-brown back,
and white outer tail feathers that flash when they fly. This specialty of the southwestern U.S.
also occurs in mountain forests through Mexico to Guatemala. — Source: allaboutbirds.org

Santa Catalina Mountains   2 comments

Douglas Springs HikeView of the Santa Catalina Mountains from the Douglas Spring Trail in the Rincon Mountains — Panorama by kenne

Fly Amanita Mushroom   3 comments

SCVN Weds Walk 08-01-12Fly Amanita Mushroom — Image by kenne

Fly amanita is the most iconic toadstool species, with a white-gilled,
white-spotted, usually red mushroom, and is one of the most recognizable
and widely encountered in popular culture.
As the mushroom matures, the can becomes flatter
and recognizable in Victorian literature, including
Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

Ladybug Convention   Leave a comment

Ladybug ConventionLadybug Convention — Image by kenne

 

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