Archive for the ‘Sabino Creek’ Category
“Spring On The Rocks” (Sabino Creek near the dam.) — Image by kenne
“When you sit in silence long enough, you learn that silence has a motion.
It glides over you without shape or form, exactly like water.
Its color is silver.
And silence has a sound you hear only after hours of wading inside it.
The sound is soft, like flute notes rising up, like the words of glass speaking.
Then there comes a point when you must shatter the blindness of its words,
the blindness of its light.”
― Anne Spollen, The Shape of Water
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Recent rains at the lower levels of the Santa Catalina Mountains and snow on Mt. Lemmon have resulted in Sabino Creek flowing over the low-water bridges in Sabino Canyon. These bridges were built in the 1930’s and are still providing tram access almost four miles into the canyon for visitors.
The current water level is down quite a bit from a week ago when the bridges were all covered entirely by the flowing water, now the over the bridge flow is maintained by the daily snowmelt on Mt. Lemmon.
— kenne
Images by kenne
(Click on any of the images for a larger view in a slideshow format.)
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High Water Over Low Water Crossing (Bear Canyon Bridge, January 1, 2017) — Image by kenne
I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again
Been walking…
— from Fire and Rain by James Taylor
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Winter Rains and High Water Over The Sabino Dam — Image by kenne
Now you see it, now you don’t is a good way of describing water in the desert. Just three weeks ago there was no water coming over the dam in Sabino Canyon. We had about an inch over the weekend with much more up in the mountains that will continue to cause flow over the dam for a while now.
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Aster Wildflower In Late Fall — Image by kenne
Aster wildflower
Near a creek with no water —
No time for weeping.
— kenne
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The large cottonwoods, Arizona Sycomore, Ash, Willows common to riparian area along Sabino Creek share their color around the Holiday Season — nature’s gift to our beautiful canyon.
The trail leads through
the towering saguaros,
I search for yellows and reds
near the dry creek.
Leaves in sequence fall
fulfilling the plan
guarded by nature
in fragments of gold.
I stopped to wonder,
not knowing the random
planting in the entrails
of Sabino Canyon.
— kenne
Images by kenne
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Hooker’s Evening Primrose (December 12, 2016) — Image by kenne
It has been warmer than average for this time of year.
Except for a few small pools of water, Sabino Creek is dry.
Yet, above the Sabino Dam, a bee and I found this lone
Hooker’s Evening Primrose — a very pleasant surprise.
— kenne
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Late Fall In Sabino Canyon Near Sabino Creek — Image by kenne
“I know there is no straight road
No straight road in this world
Only a giant labyrinth
Of intersecting crossroads”
–Federico García Lorca
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Upper Sabino Canyon Panorama — View into Sabino Basin (Morning, November 18, 2016)
West Fork Trail Panorama (Trail to Hatch’s Pool, November 18, 2016)
Upper Sabino Canyon Panorama — View into Sabino Basin (Afternoon, November 18, 2016)
Panoramic Images by kenne
“Sabino Canyon is a treasure, and its greatest jewel may be its biologically rich streamside woodland, Such habitats are endangered ecosystems in the Southwest; only a small fraction have survived the influences of humankind and changing climate in the last century and a half. At least five other important communities of plants and animals are also represented within Sabino Canyon’s walls — in effect, the canyon offers us many of the lowland habitats of the Southwest in microcosm. In a similar way, Sabino Canyon’s history reflects in miniature our own evolving relationship with this remarkable region. The canyon’s easy accessibility adds enormously to its recreational, educational, and scientific value.”
— from Sabino Canyon – The Life of a Southwestern Oasis, by David Wentworth Lazaroff
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Father and Sons — Computer Art by kenne
Every father should remember that one day his sons
will follow his example instead of his advice.
— Charles F. Kettering
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Pampas Grass In Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
For many, pampas grass is an ornamental landscape plant, for others it’s an environmentally dangerous plant that crowds out indigenous desert plants and can become kneeling for wildfires. Sabino Canyon has a lot of pampas grass, fountain grass, buffel grass and other invasive plants. The battle to remove these invasive plants continues on National Public Lands Day as Sabino Stewards (Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists) and community members will be digging, pulling, and bagging invasive plants near the Sabino Creek area. This activity is one of several activities that will be taking place in the Coronado National Forest September 24th on Public Lands Day. All fees are waived for the day.
— kenne
Once an invasive species arrives, it’s about impossible yo get rid of it.
— Sean Hanna
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Bluff Trail, Sabino Canyon Panorama (November 3, 2011) — Image by kenne
The Bluff trail is a short (.2 mile) easy hike from the Sabino Canyon creekside above the dam to the Canyon tram road. The trail winds down along the ridge west of lower canyon riparian area, a result of the stream running through the canyon.
“The stream is the mountain’s gift to the desert, but the mountain is a fickle gift-giver,” David Wentworth Lazaroff writes in his book, Sabino Canyon: The Life of a Southwestern Oasis. Calling the Sabino Creek a fickle gift-giver is a perfect metaphor for describing the flow variations from a daily surface flow to dry, created by an unpredictable desert climate. Still, the diversity of plant and animal live along the canyon stream is perfect for Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists to provide educational experiences for children and adults.
More often than not, when I’m in the canyon area, I have a camera. Over the last five years, I have produced many canyon panoramas. The above image was one of my early ones, created in Photoshop by merging three images, which is sometimes tricky since I’m usually not carrying a tripod to make alinement much easier.
— kenne
“For many Tucsonans the canyon is an old friend. Weare on a first-name basis. On a sunny weekend morning we say, simply, ‘Let’s go to Sabino.'”
— David Wentworth Lazaroff
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This time of year if you are going to spend time in Sabino Canyon, it needs to be early in the morning. It doesn’t take long before the temperature can be in the triple digits — yes, this is Tucson, Arizona.
For a lot of us who love spending time outdoors and hiking, this time of year most of our time is spent up on Mt. Lemmon. Couple that with my trying to spend more time with Joy, except for checking the mail and an occasional meeting, I haven’t been in the canyon lately.
So, this morning after a little jog in the neighborhood, I headed over to Sabino Canyon where I went on an hour and a half hike in and effort to relieve my guilt.
We are still early in the desert monsoon season, so signs of the heat and dry air are everywhere. (Barrel cactus)
Sabino creek is dry . . .
. . . and the area above the dam looks like a beach.
Down stream from the dam rocks minis water flowing over and around them have taken on different colors.
Even so, there is still plenty of live in the canyon, here two squirrels are cooling themselves in the shade at the creek dam.
Here a busy ground squirrel checking me out before retreating into his cool den.
A late-blooming Saguaro can occasionally be found.
Desert Marigolds . . .
. . . attracting butterflies.
A gall produced by flies that inhabit creosote bushes.
An ocotillo leafed out from an early July rain.
Another ocotillo surrounded by prickly pear cactus whose fruit is beginning to turn red.
Prickly pear fruit.
Still, often under austere conditions, life goes on. (White–winged Dove)
The harshness of this land causes many to see the Sonoran desert to be a wasteland.
Those who have experienced the beauty of this amazing desert know it is not, but if left unprotected, it can become a man-made wasteland.
— kenne
Among all the geographic areas of the United States, the Southwest in general
and Arizona in particular is blessed with a panoramic beauty that almost defies description.
Only a limited number of poets, painters, and photographers
have been able to do justice to her splendor.
— Marshall Trimble, Arizona: A Panoramic History of a Frontier State, 1977
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Sabino Creek Mallard Duck (March 31, 2016) — Image by kenne
This is my second attempt at posting the image. In the first posting the image was not there.
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Cooper’s Hawk Above Nest In Sabino Canyon (October 31, 2016) — Image by kenne
Wind gusts ruffle the hawks feathers while watching over the large nest
high in an ash tree in the Sabino Canyon riparian area above the Sabino Creek dam.
Since this area is near where the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN)
conduct their nature program for elementary school children,
many students will have a opportunity to see activity near the creek
adding to the excitement of being on a field trip in Sabino Canyon.
— kenne
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