Tom & Diane's patio received rain on the 4th of July, alone with occasional watering.
Parts of the Sonoran Desert and the surrounding mountains have begun to get some much-needed summer rain to break the long drought we have experienced. Where we have received rain and/or water, the plants have responded well and are looking beautiful, such as the prickly pear and ocotillo in the photo of Tom and Diane’s patio. The Catalina’s in the photo background have received much rain, but as I learned on and early morning hike in Sabino Canyon today, almost all the water is running down the backside (north side) of the mountains, leaving areas like Sabino Canyon still bone dry.
This morning’s hike was my first hike in the canyon in sometime, since the Coronado National Forest closed till last Thursday. I will have more on the
A ocotillo plant in Sabino Canyon.
vegetation in the canyon in a later posting, but have included two photos to show draught resistant plants respond to the prolong draught we have experienced. Some plants, like the ocotillo plant in Sabino Canyon sheds its leaves to conserve moisture. Once the canyon starts getting some much-needed moisture, it will respond by leafing out.
On the other hand, many draught resistant plants like the prickly pear will die. Many of the desert prickly pear in Sabino Canyon have turned yellow or have already fallen over and have begun the decaying process. The third photo in the posting is an example of some stressful prickly pear. Even draught resistant plants need water, especially during long hot draughts.
(More on Sabino Canyon and the draught in a later posting.)
Catalina Foothills Smoked-filled Sunset, Monday, June 20, 2011 — Image by kenne
Late Monday afternoon, the skies got dark as the winds blow in smoke from the wildfires to our east. Here’s a short video showing the conditions Monday and how they had changed make to normal the following afternoon.
Summer hiking has now become a matter of “taking it to the streets,” the Summerhaven streets, that is. Since the Coronado National Forest is closed till we start getting rain, some of us are driving to Summerhaven on Mt. Lemmon and walking the streets of this mountain community. We arrive on the mountain about 7:45 a.m., with temps in the low 60’s, returning to 100 degree temps in Tucson around 11:00 a.m. Not a bad life!
Before the 2003 wildfire, Summerhaven was a community of over 450 homes and businesses. The fire destroyed over 300 homes/businesses. Since then, about a quarter of the homes have been rebuilt. Like the return of the forest, rebuilding has been a slow process. Still, there is much to see just by walking the streets, plus walking the two miles up to Ski Valley. Click here to see a Flickr photo set.
Most of the nearby higher elevation trails for summer hiking are not available because of the closing of the Coronado National Forest. This didn’t stop some of us from getting up early in the morning and heading to some Tucson Mountain trails locate west of Tucson between Irvington & Ajo roads. We will be going back in a week or so, meanwhile we will go up to Mt. Lemmon and walk the streets of Summerhaven next.
Although the Coronado National Forest is closed because of the extremely dry conditions, the Catalina Highway to Summerhaven remains open. For the time being, the Sunday Music Series will continue to take place as scheduled. This past weekend, the Tucson based, Bad News Blues Band performed.
The music and cool mountain air (72 degrees) made for a very enjoyable afternoon. When we returned to the Catalina Foothills, the temperature was 101 — nice contrast!
View from Tucson Mountains toward downtown Tucson and the Catalina Mountains– Image by kenne
The Coronado National Forest, which includes the Santa Catalina Mountains, is closed because of the extremely dry conditions in southern Arizona. These conditions have led to several wildfires south of Tucson, smoke from which had settled over Tucson as shown in this early morning photo taken from the Tucson Mountains west of Tucson.
