Cathedral Rock Panorama by kenne
Suffering occurs when we want
other people to love us in the way
that we imagine we want to be loved,
and not in the way that love should manifest itself
— free and untrammeled,
guiding us with its force and driving us on.
— Paulo Coelho
Cathedral Rock Viewed from Blackett’s Ridge — Panorama by kenne
soft the sky
fills
and softly
spills
soft the drop
drips
gently down
and soft my foot
falls
soft the ground
and down the ground
fills
gently down
— Hugh Prather
Cathedral Rock in the Santa Catalina Mountains
Cathedral Rock in the Sedona Verde Valley
In a Magritte sky
clouds formed
from the smoke
of a stemmed pipe
one sunkissed on
Catalina peaks
the other an
Upflow Vortex
each a cathedral rock
named in history
remaining covered
invoking mystery
concealing nothing.
— kenne
“We are surrounded by curtains.
We only perceive the world
behind a curtain of semblance.
At the same time,
an object needs to be covered
in order to be recognized at all.”
– René Magritte
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
the Upper Box Camp Trail In The Santa Catalina Mountains — Images by kenne
(Click on any of the images to see a larger view in a slideshow format.)
This past Friday the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) led hike was down the Box Camp trail for about 2 1/2 miles and back. This trail is one of several connecting trails leading down to the base of Sabino Canyon, and before the highway up to Summerhaven, was the main supply trail to Mt. Lemmon. The Box Camp trailhead is in a thick ponderosa forest at 8,000 feet and our planned hike took us down to a more open oak woodland area providing beautiful vistas of the Tucson basin. Later the fall, some of us are planning to hike the Box Camp trail and connecting trails to the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center (approximately 14 miles).
kenne
Cathedral Rock In The Clouds — Image by kenne
— kenne
“We are surrounded by curtains.
We only perceive the world
behind a curtain of semblance.
At the same time,
an object needs to be covered
in order to be recognized at all.”
–René Magritte
Fellow Hikers At Cardiac Gap in Esperero Canyon (January 23, 2014) — iPhone image
Yesterday, Bill Kaufman and I shared the lead hiking the Esperero Trail to “Cardiac Gap” with 22 hikers, which is a seven mile difficult hike with an elevation gain of 1200+ feet.
A couple of weeks back, Bill was dealing with some medical issues, so he asked me to take his place as the lead. By the time of the hike, Bill was better, so we agreed he would lead about 2/3’s of the way, leaving the last third of switchbacks up to Cardiac Gap. Although the temperature was in the 50’s the humidity was higher than normal for the desert. After you climb to the gap, I was sweating — note the drop of sweat on the end of my nose in the above picture.
The view from Cardiac Gap, even on a cloudy day, always makes the climb worth it, where you look down through the deep Esperero Canyon, with Tucson in the distance. The view is framed by a grassy area around the upper edge of the canyon, called Geronimo Meadows.
Each time I have hiked the Esperero Trail to the gap, I have talked about going on for an additional 2.5+ miles and up another 1,500 feet to Bridal Veil Falls, but so far it has only been talk.
Even more challenging would be to take on another three miles, the most difficult part of the Esperero trail, up to the summit, Cathedral Rock. I’m told that this part of the trail is in very poor conditions and would involve some bush wacking. The out and back hike would be over 16 miles with an elevation change of 6,000 — now I have to find someone willing to hike it with me.
kenne
Cardiac Canyon (January 13, 2012) Image by kenne
Sedona, Arizona has many famous rock formations and one of the most photographed is Cathedral Rock. Carved from the Permian Schnebly Hill formation, a redbed sandstone formed from coastal sand dunes near the shoreline of the ancient Pedregosa Sea. The trail is short (1 1/2 miles one-way), but very steep up to the saddle. I had to turn back due to an ongoing “charley horse” problem, but spent time on flatter trails in the area.
Cathedral Rock Images by kenne
Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona — iPhone image by kenne
In the age of social media,
capturing the moment
allows the parallel universes
of past,
present, and
future
to coexist
in the moment.
This iPhone image
of Cathedral Rock
was sent via
Facebook,
Twitter and
StumbleUpon —
Capturing the moment
has become
sharing the moment.
kenne
(My Nikon images will be posted in the blogging universe later.)
