Summerhaven, Mt. Lemmon — Computer Painting by kenne
Cabin in the woods
a place to be alone
imposing my philosophy
on no one else, writing
words once forgotten
now for future thought.
Once erect, now bent
I stand with a head high
walking the nearby trails
where I stop a hiker
hoping I might share my
knowledge of the mountain.
Catalinas, Catalinas,
beautiful mountains
with your many biomes —
the queen of diversity
soon to be memories
in a time lost in my mind.
— kenne
Blue Searchlight Sunset — Image by kenne
— kenne
View of Oracle Ridge from Butterfly Trail on the north slope of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Decade old burn area recovering nicely on the north side of the Santa Catalina Mountains. — Images by kenne
The Santa Catalina Mountains represent the “great escape” for year-round residents and visitors in Tucson, providing a refreshing escape from the desert’s summer heat. Surrounded by the Santa Cruz Valley to the southwest and the San Pedro Valley to the northeast , much of the mountains are still recovering from the 2002 Bullock Fire (28,957 acres) and the 2003 Aspen Fire (84,750 acres). To put those acres into perspective, the total acreage of the Santa Catalina Mountains is 128,000. Even so, there is a lot of beauty in the mountains that beckon us to this mountain Shangri-La. Recent rains have reduced the chances of forest fires in the Catalinas.
One of the trials on the north slope provides a striking hike in a pine forest with beautiful views of the San Pedro Valley to the north.
kenne
Yesterday we received a much-needed 1.6 inches of rain (patio reading) with even more at the higher elevations.
This image is from our patio, looking south past our neighbor toward the Tanque Verde wash.
Later in the day the clouds began to breakup, with still a heavy cover over the Catalinas.
This morning I walked along the Tanque Verde wash, which now has water flowing toward the Rillito river at Craycroft Road.
Images by kenne
Before the rains this weekend, I was leading a SCVN hike in Sabino Canyon, which involved crossing the Sabino Creek —
an easy task compared to what some hikers were having to deal with yesterday in Bear Canyon, located just east of Sabino Canyon.
kenne
