Lichens on rocks along the Wasson Peak trail. — Image by kenne
“Lichen is a composite organism consisting of a fungus (the mycobiont) and a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont) growing together in a symbiotic relationship. The photobiont is usually either a green alga (commonly Trebouxia) or cyanobacterium (commonly Nostoc).”
When teaching children about lichen, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists (SCVN) share this short poem:
October 7th, SCVN naturalist David Dean conducted an advanced training tour of the Biomes of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
We began the tour by meeting at the McDonald’s at Catalina Highway where David provided an overview of the biomes of the Catalinas. Before starting the car caravan up Catalina Highway, David covered the lower biomes, the Saguaro-Palo Verde (100′ – 4,000′), which includes the dominant cacti and legume trees; the Desert Grassland (3,800″ – 5,000′) with grasses, succulents & shrubs being dominant.
At about the 5.5-mile marker, we pulled off at Molino Basin where David lead a discussion on the Oak – Grassland biome (4,000′ – 5,600′) and Oak Woodland (5,000′ – 6,000′) biome. Here he used posters and the natural taurine to cover; Trees: Emory Oak, Mexican Blue Oak, Silverleaf Oak, Arizona White Oak, Alligator Juniper, Western Soapberry, Border Pinyon Pine: Shrubs: Mountain Yucca, Soap-Tree Yucca, Shindagger Agave, Sotol, Golden-flowered Agave, Beargrass; Grasses: AZ Panic Grass, Blue Grama, Sideoats Grama, Cane beard grass, Spidergrass, Bush Muhly, Bull Grass, Lehmann Lovegrass; Oak – Grassland: Oaks & Junipers, Chihuahua Pine, Buckbrush, Golden-flowered Agave, Mt. Yucca.
Our next stop was along the highway near Bear Creek to discuss the Riparian Corridor (Not a biome) where we found AZ Sycamore, AZ Walnut, Gooding Willow, Fremont Cottonwood, Velvet Ash, AZ Cypress, AZ Alder.
At the approximately the 5,400″ elevation we stopped at the Middle Bear Picnic/Green Mountain Trail Head to learn about Pine-Oak Woodland biome where the dominant plants are AZ Pine, Chihuahua Pine Silverleaf Oak, AZ White Oak, Emory Oak, Black Cherry, Alligator Juniper.
Next, we stopped at Windy Point Vesta(6,500′), a popular place for tourists driving up the scenic Catalina Highway. At this location, David talked about the Chaparral biome, which includes Silver Oak, AZ Madrone, Border Pinyon Pine, Alligator Juniper, Manzanita, Golden-flowered Agave, Beargrass, and Buckbrush.
At the 19.3-mile highway marker (7,825′), David leads a discussion on the Pine Forest biome where the dominant plants are AZ Pine, SW White Pine, Ponderosa Pine and occasional Douglas-Fir.
As you can see, David used live plant specimens on his posters.
Ever wonder how Mt. Lemmon got its name? The highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains (9,152′) was named after Sara Plummer Lemmon, a respected botanist from New Gloucester, Maine, who arrived in Arizona after living in coastal California. Her Arizona fate was sealed when she attended a botany lecture in 1876 led by her future husband, John Gill Lemmon, and the whirlwind romance was on. After four years of courtship, the two wed and worked together cataloging the flora of the West, which would lead them to the Coronado National Forest in the southern section of what was then the Arizona Territory.
A discussion on the last biome in our tour, Mixed Conifer Forest (Above 8,000′) took place at Bear Wallow (8,100). Here David illustrated the common plants in the Mixed Conifer Forest: Ponderosa Pine, AZ Pine, SW White Pine, Douglas-Fir, White Fir, Quaking Aspen; Silverleaf, Netleaf, and Gambel Oaks; Rocky Mountain, Big Tooth, and Box Elder Maples.
In hindsight, I wish I had done both photography and video of the biomes tour. Near the end of the tour, I did think about doing a video clip, which is what follows.
Note: Much of the copy in this posting is from David Dean’s handout, Biomes of the Santa Catalina Mountains
Park Ranger and Kid at Mesa Verde National Park — Image by kenne
During our recent visit to Mesa Verde National Park, I watched a Park Ranger at a demo table doing something we as naturalists do at Sabino Canyon to education visitors to the canyon — couldn’t pass up taking a photo and watching the child’s reaction.
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist at Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) programs and nature demonstrations start in October.
— kenne
“Children the world over have a right to a childhood filled with beauty, joy, adventure, and companionship.
They will grow toward ecological literacy if the soil they are nurtured in is rich with experience, love, and good examples.”
— Alan Dyer
Image by kenne
friends hiking Box Camp naturalists lead the way for fellow hikers always stay on the marked trail black and white in shades of gray -- kenne
Meadow Trail on Mt. Lemmon — Panorama by kenne
Profound commitment to a dream does not
confine or constrain: it liberates.
Even a difficult, winding path can lead
to your goal if you follow it to the end.
— Paulo Coelho
Image by kenne
Water
Pressure of sun on the rockslide
whirled me in a dizzy hop-and-step descent,
Pool of pebbles buzzed in a Juniper shadow,
Tiny tongue of a this-year rattlesnake flicked,
I leaped, laughing for little boulder-color coil —
Pounded by heat raced down the slabs to the creek
Deep tumbling under arching walls and stuck
Whole head and shoulders in the water:
Stretched full on cobble—ears roaring
Eyes open aching from the cold and face a trout.
— Gary Snyder
“I am a poet who has preferred not to distinguish in poetry between nature and humanity.”
Hikers in a New Aspen Grove Up from Marshall Gulch On Mt. Lemmon — Image by kenne
In 2003 the Aspen Fire destroyed many homes in Summerheaven and thousands of acres on Mt. Lemmon. Last Friday the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists led hike was on the Aspen Loop that goes through some of the areas destroyed, now recovered by new aspen and pine groves.
A precursor to the Aspen Fire was the Bollock Fire, 2002 in the eastern part of the Catalinas. Parts of the area burned in 2002 is now experiencing the Burro Fire that started Friday and has now consumed 9,000 acres. The Burro Fire is one of a half-dozen wildfires in the Coronado National Forest. Did I say it is hot and very dry in southeastern Arizona?
— kenne
Slideshow images by kenne
Hiking the trail near the old ski run on Mt. Lemmon is a short hike with a good elevation change for the first hike of the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists summer schedule on Mt. Lemmon. With temperatures now going over 100 degrees down in the valley, temperatures in the 60’s make for great summer hiking conditions.
The nice mountain weather conditions not only attract hikers but campers. The trail led us across campers with an open fire. Currently, the dry conditions in the Catalinas have caused the Forest Service to place Stage 1 restrictions on having wood burning campfires. We made sure the campers understood the restrictions, helped them cover the fire and called in the sighting.
Images by kenne
We continued on back down the trail to the trailhead led by naturalist Ricki Mensching.
Next week’s hike will be on the Box Camp Trail. We will be hiking to a rocky overlook providing a view into the upper Sabino Canyon and will be led by naturalist Tim Ralph.
— kenne
Upper Sabino Canyon Panoramas by kenne (February 10, 2017)
— kenne
Seven Falls in Bear Canyon — January 2012 Images by kenne
This Friday the SCVN hike will be to Seven Falls in Bear Canyon. The trail crosses the creek coming from Seven Falls seven times and there should be plenty of flowing water at the falls.
kenne
Naturalist David Lazaroff and several other naturalists with the 2011 SCVN Training Class, Day 1 — Image by kenne
I was a member of the 2011 Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) class. During the fall training I wrote the following poem, posting it on this blog:
STANDING AT THE ALTAR OF NATURE
When we stand
at the altar of nature,
we stand with the greats;
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry David Thoreau,
and John Muir,
each having helped define
our relationship
with nature and language –
“every natural fact is a symbol
of some spiritual fact,
. . . words are signs of natural facts.”
Nature’s beauty becomes
a source of spiritual energy
connecting all things
into a universal whole
with the energy of our
thoughts and will.
We stand at nature’s altar
not separate from her,
seeing her in the flowers,
insects, animals, mountains,
creating a unified landscape
of our inward and outward senses.
Like all relationships,
the experience depends
on the degree of harmony
between us and nature,
therefore becoming a gift
granted while walking with nature
as she is embraced in our minds –
Enlighten, she shares her secrets,
making the universe more “transparent.”
Yet the gift may only offer a glimpse,
to be shared in images and words,
charming all living things.
Commenting on my poem, SCVN member, Walt Tornow, wrote that my poem ”. . . captures beautifully my feelings about being in the mountains.” He went on to share the following:
GOD, GRACE, AND GRATITUDE
Finding God in the wilderness …
Here for the grace of God am I …
Grateful to be, to be here, and be given the opportunity and capacity to enjoy the many gifts/ blessings around me.
– Walt Tornow
Naturalist, Gwen Swanson, demonstrates “panning” to students in the “Strike It Rich” program.
This creekside activity allows children to learn about the difference between rocks and minerals
by panning for garnets in the sand along Sabino Creek, and the importance of water in forming the canyon.
Image by kenne
SCVN Training nature walk with naturalist, Bill Kaufman (Fall 2011) — Image by kenne
The Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists training class went on a bird walk this morning (January 2, 2017), led by Jean and Mark Hengesbaugh.
Images by kenne (Click on any image for a larger view in a slideshow format.)
Jean recorded the following eBird list of observed birds:
Sabino Dam and downstream riparian, Pima, Arizona, US
Jan 2, 2017 7:37 AM – 8:46 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) 13 species
Gambel’s Quail 6
Great Blue Heron 1
Mourning Dove 2
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Gila Woodpecker 4
Verdin 2
Cactus Wren 2
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher 2
Western Bluebird 10
Curve-billed Thrasher 2
Northern Mockingbird 2
Phainopepla 10
House Finch 6
The Hengesbaugh’s lead a bird walk for the Tucson Audubon the 1st Saturday of each month in Sabino Canyon. (Must pre-register through Tucson Audubon.)
Blackett’s Ridge Trail — iPhone Image by kenne
— kenne
— Oscar Wilde
Camphorweed Grunge Art by kenne
–Daniel Kahneman
