Saguaro National Park-East — Image by kenne
Many hiking trails
Through the saguaro forest
In this desert park.
— kenne
Archive for the ‘Saguaro National Park – East’ Category
Saguaro National Park-East Leave a comment
Tanque Verde Ranch 1 comment
Considered one of the top cattle and guest ranches in the southwest, Tanque Verde Ranch is located on 60,000 acres of
Tucson’s most breathtaking desert landscapes in the Rincon Mountains foothills adjacent to Saguaro National Park and
Coronado National Forest.
Established in 1868, Tanque Verde Ranch is recognized as the last luxurious outpost of the old west providing guests with comfortable
accommodations, unparalleled amenities, and a vast array of exciting activities, including horseback riding, mountain biking,
fishing, hiking, and more!
Originally purchased and settled as a cattle ranch by Rafael and Emilio Carillo, the land was sold to Jim Converse
in the early 1900s. It was sold in 1957 to the Bob Cote family, which has owned it ever since.
Tanque Verde became a guest ranch under Converse, who saw the move as an opportunity to attract those
interested in cowboy life. The number of guest ranches in southern Arizona has dropped
since the 1950s from around 55 to seven or eight today,
A wall in the Tanque Verde Ranch sales office.
Kiva Dinning Room
A statue near the original ranch house.
Mesquite trees shadow the path to some of the cottages.
The Desert Garden cottage area.
These days, the ranch has added hiking, tennis, mountain biking and nature programs, as well as a health spa, for its guests.
It has also brought in televisions and wireless Internet.
Photo Essay by kenne
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Purple Owl’s-Clover Leave a comment
Purple Owl’s-Clover — Image by kenne
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Sunrise In Saguaro National Park–East (National Park Week) 1 comment
Sunrise In Saguaro National Park–East (National Park Week, April 22 to April 30) — Images by kenne
Living in the Tucson basin is like living in a national park since the Saguaro National Park is on both the east and west sides of Tucson —
two parks in one. In the 13 years we have lived in Tucson, I have spent much time hiking in this park.
— kenne
Saguaro National Park-West
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Douglas Spring Trail Leave a comment
Douglas Spring Trail — Image by kenne
On a chilly desert morning
we walk into sun rising
over the Rincon Mountains
in Saguaro National Park East.
— kenne
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Loma Alta and Coyote Wash Trails Leave a comment
Straggling Saguaro — Photo-Artistry by kenne
The spring weather in the Sonoran Desert is alluring, with beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the upper 70s.
However, many drought-resistant plants are dying, very few if any wildflowers are blooming due to a troubling
draught in the Sonoran Desert. What makes the Sonoran Desert so diverse and beautiful are two rainy seasons,
summer monsoon storms and steady winter rains. The two seasons still exist, but half the normal amount of rain.
— kenne
Loma Alta and Coyote Wash Trails (March 19, 2021) — Photo Essay by kenne
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Pistol Hill Panorama 1 comment
Pistol Hill Panorama — Photo-Artistry by kenne
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Nature’s Art Wall 2 comments
Nature’s Art Wall — Photo-Artistry by kenne
This art is from a photograph of a canyon wall and like all things, it is living and has intelligence.
But, we like to think that it’s just a bunch of rocks and minerals, therefore not alive.
When I took the photograph I saw a wall alive, no different than a saguaro cactus,
and in the moment its being. By doing so, I brought my experience to the picture,
adding color, light, and contrast enhancing the natural beauty of the world around us.
It is alive and has intelligence.
— kenne
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Eastern Collared Lizard 1 comment
Eastern Collared Lizard — Image by kenne
With fall in the air,
lizards will be out of sight
only to be seen on a rock
in the desert sunlight —
it’s the natural
order of things.
— kenne
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Smoke and Haze Leave a comment
Smoke and Haze — Photo-Artistry by kenne
We hike the park trails
Maintaining social distance
Oh, yes, wearing masks.
— kenne
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First Time In Awhile 3 comments
Jim and John Walking to the Broadway Trailhead In Saguaro National Park. — Images by kenne
Yesterday morning and this morning, it’s been cool enough to consider hiking in the desert.
So, when Tom called yesterday and asked me to go hiking, I felt a rush of energy pinned up since the spring.
Normally the hot desert days drive us up to Mt. Lemmon to hit the mountain trails.
However, this summer, the trails have been closed because of the Big Horn Fire.
So, this morning Jim, John, Tom, and I met at the usual meeting place outside the Bear Canyon branch
of the Pima County Library to mask-up and carpool to one of the many park trailheads.
Here in Tucson, we are not currently experiencing the orange sky the forest fires have created in California.
But, we have a haze covered sky coming from the many fires in the western states, making it easy to look directly at the sun.
Signs of our prolonged drought are everywhere. Even normally, drought-resistant plants are struggling.
We spent about 2 1/2 hours hiking various trails and washes in the Park. My friends have been hiking
these trails much longer than I, and if you are wondering, I’m the youngest of us.
HAPPY FEET!
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Morning Sunlight — Saguaro National Park Leave a comment
Morning Sunlight in the Saguaro National Park – East — Photo-Artistry by kenne
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Santa Catalina Mountains Seen From SaguaroNational Park Leave a comment
Santa Catalina Mountains from Saguaro National Park — Image by kenne
GENEROSITY
She brings him the licks
of a good guitarist,
a jarful of sky
from the tallest mountain
she has never bothered to climb,
shows him the shoeprint
of her favorite thief,
melting in a bank of April snow
just beyond her bedroom,
and when she kisses him
she tastes
a bundle of berries
too numerous to eat.
She stares into his beautiful
bloodshot eyes, believing
she looks
like the perfect gift
with those ribbons
in her hair; he cannot
refuse the ample lesson
her body was built
to provide. She has only
to ask him once
to fasten the fingers on
and set upon her nightly,
learning the stops
and limits of her song —
the vibrato of the dark
the spidery scales,
the frets along her spine.
— Charles Rafferty
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Sunrise On Wildhorse Trail 1 comment
Sunrise On Wildhorse Trail (Saguaro National Park – East) — Image by kenne
“Knowledge of that which concerns us infinitely
is possible only in an attitude of infinite concern.”
― Paul Tillich
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Twin Towers 5 comments
Twin Towers (Saguaro Cactus’ In Saguaro National Park-East, January 3, 2020)
— Image by kenne
There is something
about hiking
in the desert —
I’ve met that
something.
If your heart
was like mine
you would get it
and be with me.
— kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 