Sycamore Canyon Painting — Photo-Artistry by kenne
I think back
Hiking the canyon
Up and down.
— kenne
Archive for the ‘Sycamore Canyon’ Category
Sycamore Canyon Painting Leave a comment
Sycamore Canyon Panorama Leave a comment
The Arizona Trail Runs Through Sycamore Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains — Panorama by kenne
“She was actually learning to love Arizona.
The beauty and color and solitude,
the vastness of it had called to something deep in her.
First, she had complained of the dust, the wind, the emptiness,
the absence of people. But she had forgotten these.”
— Zane Grey
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A Grassy Meadow Known As Thimble Flat Leave a comment
A Grassy Meadow Known as Thimble Flat (Thimble Peak On the Left) — Image by kenne
Thimble Flat
We gathered early one November morning,
now we were going to turn words into action
by hiking six miles to climb Thimble Peak.
Starting at the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground,
we hiked the Sycamore Canyon trail to the
Bear Canyon trail, then leaving the trail at a flat
grassy meadow called Thimble Flat to traverse
around a deep gulley, making our way through rocks
and brush to the base of Thimble Peak, where we paused
to determine the best way to climb this pinnacle on a
mountain ridge, overlooking Tucson known as Thimble Peak.
— kenne
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Sycamore Reservoir Leave a comment
Sycamore Reservoir Under Construction (1939) — Source Unknown
(Note: Thimble Peak In The Distance Through The Pass)
Sycamore Reservoir was originally constructed to supply water to the Catalina Federal Honor Camp, or Tucson Federal Prison Camp, located in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The camp held men subject to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. It had no security fence, boundaries were marked with stones painted white. 45 of the 46 prisoners were draft resisters and objectors of conscience transferred from camps in Colorado, Arizona and Utah, although Gordon Hirabayashi, who had challenged the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, was also held here.
This small lake has been made even smaller by flash floods which have washed huge amounts of rock and sand into the lake. Still, the reservoir and surrounding area remain a pleasant destination for a day or overnight trip.
The trail to where the dam is located. (October 2012)
Sycamore Dam (October 2012)
Above Sycamore Dam (October 2012) — Images by kenne
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Hiking Sycamore Canyon/Reservoir Trail 1 comment
1st SCVN Fall Hike, Sycamore Canyon/Reservoir Trail — iPhone Images by kenne
Today, we led a small group of ten hikers on the first Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) fall Friday Hike. This hike is annually done in the fall and spring. The hike is about 5.5 miles, starting in the old Prison Camp (Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds) the trail leads to the reservoir that supplied water to the Prison Camp. Click here for more historical information on the Campgrounds.
— kenne
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Hiking — The Stuff of Timeless Myths Leave a comment
Computer Painting by kenne
Hiking
moving on boots
kicking
aside trail rocks
shedding skin
like a snake
climbing
steep slopes
steadily on feet
wanting to stop
knowing each step
creating
a journey over
ecstatic mountains
following our guide
from behind my eyes
photographing
memories
collecting mind dropping
to be embellished
becoming timeless myths.
— kenne
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A Mariposa Lily In Sycamore Canyon Leave a comment
Mariposa Lily — Image by kenne
THE LAST HIKE IN APRIL
The desert blue sky, replaced
by high rainless clouds.
The brittlebush has no blossoms
nor leaves of green without rain.
Your song little bird sings of love
among the branches of thorns.
Nearing the saddle,
the winds chill the skin.
Pausing at the top, we wait
for aunt visiting from Germany.
Then I took my Nikon to capture
a mariposa lily dancing to the breeze
waiting for the moment the
wind will make a flower of gauze.
One eye, the button pushed as
April goes flying by.
— kenne
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Riding The Arizona Trail Leave a comment
Utah Couple Riding the Arizona Trail from Utah to Mexico — Images by kenne
Our April 27, 2017, SCVN Friday Hike was trail #39 (Part of the Arizona Trail) out of the Gordon Hirabayashi Camp Grounds to the Sycamore Reservoir. The trail head is near the horse corral where we met a couple from Utah who spent the night at the campgrounds before continuing on the Arizona Trail to Mexico. Now, that’s a real adventure!
— kenne
We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk.
The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness,
a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later
where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone.
— Robert Pirsig
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Sycamore Canyon Trail 1 comment
Sycamore Canyon Panorama — Image by kenne
Sycamore Canyon Trail — Computer Painting by kenne
Yesterday’s (April 28, 2017) hike from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds (4,880′ elevation) to the Sycamore Reservoir was the last SCVN Friday hike on our Spring schedule. Eleven people, including three guides, took #39 trail out of the campgrounds to the Sycamore Reservoir, a somewhat out of the way riparian area in the Sycamore Canyon in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness. The trail is 3.25 miles one way with an accumulated gain of 821 feet. The trail is also a segment of the Arizona Trail, providing majestic views, including Thimble Pear and Cathedral Rock.
This is one of my favorite hikes at the mid-level elevation of the Santa Catalina Mountains, so I was pleased to be the lead guide for the eleven hikers, which included three women from Germany.
The SCVN guided hikes will start again in June on Mt. Lemmon.
kenne
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Hunger Caterpillars On A Manzanita Plant Leave a comment
Genus Datana Caterpillars On a Manzanita Plant (Sycamore Canyon Trail, Santa Catalina Mountains, October 7, 2016) — Images by kenne
(Click on any image to see in a slideshow format.)
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Hiking The Sycamore Canyon/Reservoir Trail 3 comments
SCVN members Ann, Jeff and I were the guides for a small group of five hikers yesterday hiking the Sycamore Canyon/Reservoir out of the Gordon Hirabayashi campground. The campground is at 5,000 feet, a little over half way up Mt. Lemmon. One of my favorite hikes in the Santa Catalina Mountains, the trail leads up to Shreve Saddle where hikers stop to take in beautiful mid-range views before following the trail down to the reservoir, 2.5 miles from the campgrounds. The elevation change is approximately 600 feet.
A group picture at Streve Saddle.
The Sycamore Canyon Reservoir Trail just below Shreve Saddle.
Hiker Liz pauses to observe the waters of Sabino Creek flowing over the reservoir dam.
Liz is one of the new SCVN trainees.
Looking down at the base of the dam with a view of Thimble Peak.
Many Turpentine Bushes are in bloom in the canyon. — Images by kenne
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Sycamore Canyon Panorama 1 comment
Panorama View of Sycamore Canyon from Catalina Highway In the Santa Catalina Mountains (August 1, 2015)
— Image by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 