In this age of the Novel Coronavirus, things are changing day by day, moment by moment. I just got word that the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center and parking lot have been close to the public. However, since Sabino Canyon is in the Coronado National Forest, access is still available through the Overflow Parking Lot north of the Canyon’s main entrance. A fee tube is located there that accepts exact change for an $8.00 day-use pass. At least, for now, we can still experience springtime in the Canyon.
November 8, 2019, SCVN hike in Pima Canyon — Images by kenne
Pima Canyon is one of several canyons in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness area of the Santa Catalina Mountains in northwest Tucson.
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) are devoted to helping people of all ages
appreciate the natural wonder of Sabino Canyon and the Coronado National Forest,
managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
The SCVN led hike started at 8:30 am with 20 people at the trailhead (2900 feet
elevation) hiking to the lower dam a one-way distance of 3.2 miles (3750 feet elevation).
Once at the natural dam the hikers took a brief rest and had a snack before returning to the trailhead.
(The SCVN Guides were Kenne Turner, Jeff Orenstein, and Jane Gellman.)
The July 5th SCVN Friday Hikes began at the Sky Valley parking lot
where led guide Phil Bentley greeted everyone and covered the SCVN Safety Rules.
This was a six-mile loop connecting three trails, (Aspen Draw, Mt. Lemmon Trail,
and the Meadow Trail) with an elevation gain of 1,200 feet.
One of the interest points on this hike was the Lemmon Rock Lookout staffed by the Forest Service personnel.
The original tower was erected in 1928.
On this day we were able to get a tour of the Lookout
since Phil called ahead and talked to the Forest Ranger on duty at the Lookout this summer.
The Osborne Fire Finder.
View down into the Tucson Basin and the Santa Rita Mountains.
After the tour, we took a snack break before continuing the hike.
A little music from our leader.
Always a fun time hiking in the Santa Catalina Mountains. — Images by kenne
Miller Creek Trail in the Rincon Mountains — Digital Art by kenne
“When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
Cochise Stronghold In The Dragoon Mountains — Panorama by kenne
This rugged natural fortress was, for some 15 years, the home and base of operations for the famed Chiricahua Apache Chief, Cochise. Cochise and about 1,000 of his followers, of whom some 250 were warriors, located here.
Born in present-day Arizona, Cochise led the Chiricahua band of the Apache tribe during a period of violent social upheaval. In 1850, the United States took control over the territory that today comprises Arizona and New Mexico. Not hostile to the whites at first, he kept peace with the Anglo-Americans until 1861, when he became their implacable foe because of the blunder of a young U.S. Army officer, Lt. George Bascom. In that year, Cochise and several of his relatives had gone to an encampment of soldiers in order to deny the accusation that they had abducted a child from a ranch. The boy was later proved to have been kidnapped by another band of Apaches.
During the parley, Cochise and his followers were ordered held as hostages by Bascom, but Cochise managed to escape almost immediately by cutting a hole in a tent. Bascom later ordered the other Apache hostages hanged, and the embittered Cochise joined forces with Mangas Coloradas, his father-in-law, in a guerrilla struggle against the American army and settlers. The capture and murder of Mangas Coloradas in 1863 left Cochise as the Apache war chief. The U.S. Army captured him in 1871 and prepared to transfer the Chiricahua to a reservation hundreds of miles away, but he escaped again and renewed the resistance campaign. The following year after negotiating a new treaty with the help of Thomas Jeffords, the band was allowed to stay in their homeland.
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?
For many, pampas grass is an ornamental landscape plant, for others it’s an environmentally dangerous plant that crowds out indigenous desert plants and can become kneeling for wildfires. Sabino Canyon has a lot of pampas grass, fountain grass, buffel grass and other invasive plants. The battle to remove these invasive plants continues on National Public Lands Day as Sabino Stewards (Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists) and community members will be digging, pulling, and bagging invasive plants near the Sabino Creek area. This activity is one of several activities that will be taking place in the Coronado National Forest September 24th on Public Lands Day. All fees are waived for the day.
— kenne
Once an invasive species arrives, it’s about impossible yo get rid of it.
Images by kenne (Click on any of the images for larger view and slideshow.)
For you non-locals, Mt. Lemmon (9,157 ft.) is in the Santa Catalina Mountains, part of the Coronado National Forest in southern Arizona.
At this time all National Forest Services continue to be closed because of the government shut-down. However, access to Mt. Lemmon via the Catalina Highway is available since the highway is a county highway.
The Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) are part of the Forest Service and regularly provide educational programs, nature walks and hikes — the schedule is published on the SCVN website.Some of the SCVN members continue the hiking schedule (unofficially), recently hiking the Bear Wallow trail to take in the fall colors.
Parts of the trail goes through the area where the original Mt. Lemmon ski slope was located back in the 40’s and 50’s. Since part of SCVN mission to the public is to educate, Ricki Mensching shares the story of early skiing on Mt. Lemmon during the Bear Wallow hike this past Friday. Current skiing takes place each at winter at Ski Valley, the southernmost ski destination in the continental United States, and receives approximately 180 inches (4.6 m) of snow annually (Wikipedia).
Today is day four in the Government Shutdown. Sabino Canyon Recreational Area, which is in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona is closed. The Coronado National Forest covers about 1.78 million acres in the mountain ranges of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.The US Forest Service provides a lot of services in the National Forest, which are now suspended until funding is again available.
Today’s Non-Official Friday Hiking Group.
Sabino Canyon Recreational Area is a very busy place, year-round. Many of the services, events and programs, i.e., school programs, nature walks, hikes and demonstrations are provided by volunteers — Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (Click here to learn more.) All these activities are not happening until the Government Shutdown is over.
One of the regular programs is Friday hikes. For a few of us, today’s hike went on as scheduled, unofficially, from the old Prison Camp on the Sycamore Canyon/Reservoir trail (3.5 miles one-way with a 821 feet gain). By doing so, we made sure those following the published hiking schedule would still have an opportunity to hike after showing up.
It was an enjoyable day hiking in the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountains — check out the beautiful blue sky.
kenne
Sycamore Reservoir Area With Thimble Pike In The Background.
Nais Metalmark Butterflies on Ceanithus Fenderli Bushes — Images by kenne
It’s all about timing, and this was the moment!
Yesterday, while hiking the Aspen Loop on Mount Lemmon, we came upon plants steaming with butterflies and quickly concluded that the bush was the caterpillar host for these butterflies. We discussed possible names.
The butterflies are the nais metalmark and the host plant is the ceanithus fenderli. “Males perch and patrol near the host plant for females. Eggs are laid singly on leaves or flowers. Caterpillars rest in shelters of leaves tied together with silk and emerge to feed on leaves and fruits. Mature caterpillars hibernate in leaf litter.”
These scenes were very impressive!
Since I’m not a butterfly expert, I hope I have done my homework well.
A Panoramic View of the San Pedro Valley from the Green Mountain Trail in the Santa Catalina Mountain (north).
View from the Green Mountain Trail south toward Tucson with Thimble Peak in the crosshairs. Thimble Peak is the Highest Point in Sabino Canyon. — Images by kenne Click here to see a slideshow of photos taken on this SCVN lead hike last week.
David Medford has been at the lookout since 2010. Here David takes a picture of a group visiting the lookout.
David, supervised by Gus, takes a group picture with the Tucson valley in the background.
View out of the southwest corner of the lookout cabin.
View from behind Osborne fire finder.
Images by kenne
The above plack reads: Lemmon Rock Lookout Tower was erected in 1928. It is the oldest lookout still in use on the Forest. This general locale has been used as a fire lookout since the Coronado Forest Reserve was established in 1902. The current lookout structure was constructed according to 1920’s standard plans. It contains a work area, kitchen, sleeping area, and fire finder in the same room. This lookout played a role in the first aerial fire patrols which flew over the Santa Catalinas beginning in 1921.
The earliest Forest Service fire towers were trees cleared of branches with a simple platform on the top. They were constructed in locales which provided an open view of the surrounding forest. The first wooden tower was built about 1915. Numerous wooden towers were erected during the 1920’s, along with the establishment of telephone lines for reporting fire conditions.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees stationed a camps on the Coronado National Forest during the 1930’s provided personnel for fire prevention work and additional fire tower construction. Architectural plans were developed throughout the Southwest Region for standard lookout towers made of wood and steel at this time. Few fire towers were built after World War II because of increasing dependence on air surveillance. Today, 50 permanent lookout towers remain on the forests of Arizona. Most are used seasonally, throughout the dry, windy spring and during the first rains of summer.
The Forest Service has always emphasized fire detection and suppression to protect the timber reserves. Fire guards patrolled on horseback or searched for fires from high vantage points in the early years of this century. Wildfires were suppressed as quickly as possible, although forester and conservationist Aldo Leopold, in a review of Southwest fire activities between 1919 and 1923, reported the beneficial effects of fire in maintaining pine forests and in brush control. The Forest Service now emphasizes prevention of fire damage rather than strict suppression. This, fire may enhance natural conditions and reduce fire hazards. Modern fire fighting equipment such as airplanes and fire retardants, sophisticated communication systems, and fire management plans help protect and maintain forest and range lands today. The lookout tower, used for almost a century, still plays a valuable role in protecting our forests resources.
This Lookout Tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Please help us protect it.
******
When on Mt. Lemmon, visitors are encouraged to take the short hike down the Meadow Trail to the Lemmon Rock Lookout.
Last friday, lead my naturalist Edi Moore, we started our hike from Palisades on Mt. Lemmon. We hike to the top of the trail, turning right to Incinerator Ridge. (The overlook was where Summerhaven dumped their garbage years ago.) We again turned right at Leopold Point or as some call it Peck Basin Overlook and hiked to Barnum Rock. The hike provided many picturesque views of the San Pedro Valley below.
The weather was great, providing plenty of photo opts. (Click on Photo Set above to see a slideshow.)
Blooming Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
November 8, 2019, SCVN hike in Pima Canyon — Images by kenne
The July 5th SCVN Friday Hikes began at the Sky Valley parking lot
One of the interest points on this hike was the Lemmon Rock Lookout staffed by the Forest Service personnel.
The original tower was erected in 1928.
On this day we were able to get a tour of the Lookout
The Osborne Fire Finder.
View down into the Tucson Basin and the Santa Rita Mountains.
After the tour, we took a snack break before continuing the hike.
A little music from our leader.
Always a fun time hiking in the Santa Catalina Mountains. — Images by kenne
Miller Creek Trail in the Rincon Mountains — Digital Art by kenne
Cochise Stronghold In The Dragoon Mountains — Panorama by kenne
Hikers in a New Aspen Grove Up from Marshall Gulch On Mt. Lemmon — Image by kenne
Sabino Canyon Picnic Site with View of Thimble Peak (February 2017) — Image by kenne
Pampas Grass In Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
Nais Metalmark Butterflies on Ceanithus Fenderli Bushes — Images by kenne
Madera Canyon on the northwestern face of the Santa Rita Mountains in the Coronado National Forest — Image by kenne
