Looking Forward to Hiking Soon In The Catalina Mountains
Affective September 21, 2020 some of the trails are now open in the Santa Catalina Mountains after closure after the Bighorn Fire. These trails remain closed at the burn scar boundary due to hazards that can cause injuries.
One of the things I love about living in the Tucson area is its biodiversity. Being in a desert surrounded by mountains (Sky Islands) with different forest biomes.
In the summer we spend time hiking in nearby mountain forests. However, this summer has been a little different because of the pandemic and forest fires.
Mountain Trail
Sabbaths 1999, VII
Again I resume the long lesson: how small a thing can be pleasing, how little in this hard world it takes to satisfy the mind and bring it to its rest.
With the ongoing havoc the woods this morning is almost unnaturally still. Through stalled air, unshadowed light, a few leaves fall of their own weight.
The sky is gray. It begins in mist almost at the ground and rises forever. The trees rise in silence almost natural, but not quite, almost eternal, but not quite.
What more did I think I wanted? Here is what has always been. Here is what will always be. Even in me, the Maker of all this returns in rest, even to the slightest of His works, a yellow leaf slowly falling, and is pleased.
— Wendell Berry
Since I write and share poetry nature, I was not surprised to receive a Wendell Berry poem from one of my hiking buggies, Deborah. She wanted to know if I had posted it in the past, having not it gave me good reason to do so along with the video, “The Women Who Planted Trees,” by Emily Barker.
Sabino Creek Near Hutch’s Pool — Panorama by kenne
I wanted a good place to settle: Cold Mountain would be safe. Light wind in a hidden pine — Listen close — the sound gets better. Under it a gray-haired man Mumbles along reading Huang and Lao. For ten years I haven’t gone back home I’ve even forgotten the way by which I came.
This towering Saguaro, close to forty feet, fail across a trail near the Sabino Creek Dam. This big fellow had no arms even though it had to be well over 100 years old. There were no signs of disease so it may have just gotten too big for its root system.
The wilderness area of the Santa Catalina Mountains provides many beautiful vistas, massive majestic rock formations and several challenging hiking trails.
For the start of the fall hiking season, the naturalists scheduled a hike starting at the highest point atop Mount Lemmon.
In a prologue to frost and early fall colors,
we arranged a shuttle car at Marshall Gulch
so not to double back the six and a half-mile hike.
Having led this hike two months ago, it combines four trails leading down into and out
of the Pusch Ridge Wilderness to Marshall Gulch.
Beginning on the Mount Lemmon trail, we follow a forest service road through upper mountain meadows to the Lemmon Rock trail.
The two rocky trails provide a steep 1,800-foot drop through tall pines on rocky slopes lined with thorny shrubs with an occasional cairn marking the many switchbacks.
However, cairns are of little help if I misread a marker and attempts to create my own trail down an even steeper rocky slope.
Taking a wrong turn at a trail marker,
which was about an hour into the hike, was the beginning of my bad day on Lemmon Rock.
It quickly became apparent my pace was too fast for the rocky slope, I was proceeding down, planting my right foot, so to begin a slide, only to twist my ankle.
The pain told me this was not a slight twist of the ankle — Oh, SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! Holding back additional profanity, I quickly started getting up, checking out the damage.
Anyone who hikes with me knows I usually have my four-pound camera/lens on the left shoulder, which I balance with the left hand.
Not this time, since I was wearing a center-body camera harness — for the first time, not focusing on saving my camera.
In pain, I did a four-point crawl up to the trail after answering some ankle movement questions from a fellow hiker, a retired foot doctor.
Continuing to walk on the rocky trail was difficult — generating expressions of concern from everyone, some checking their backpacks for an ankle wraps.
Someone had a velcro Ace bandage, without which I would not have been able to continue the remaining five miles to the gulch.
The ankle wrap was a blessing, but having now given the experience, more thought, although a steep climb, the shorted hike would have been back up to the top.
We live and learn, or do we? Would I hike five miles again on a sprained ankle? I hope I never have to face the question.
How here I sit with my wrapped
black and blue swollen ankle iced down — I guess I won’t be hiking again soon.
While vacationing with family on the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina, we took in some of nature’s best. Since most of our time was spent on the shore side, we made a special effort to explore the sound side. (OK, I know everyone was being nice and trying to appeasing me.)In Nags Head there is Jockey’s Ridge State Park, which contains the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States attracting hand gliders and wind surfers from up and down the east coast. There are plenty of self-guided hiking trails, however we learned of a guided nature walk Wednesday morning that proved to be very information — at least for me. Our guide was a retired high school teacher/administrator that spends his summers as a park docent.
As it turned out, we had a our own personal guided nature walk, since our family were the only people on the walk. There were a lot of people in the park, however, most were on the high dunes watching the gliders. The maritime thicket of live oaks, persimmons, red cedar, wax myrtle, bayberry, sweet gum, red oaks, and pines grows best in areas protected by the large dune.
A lot of the older pine trees died a few year back then a large storm pushed saltwater in the low areas of the park.
Shifting winds are constantly reshaping the dunes. Because the Ridge is always changing, it is often called “The Living Dune.”
Looking out over Roanoke Sound.
The edges of the maritime forest contain a lot of marshy areas attractive to birds.
While on the nature walk, the docent told us about the Nags Head Woods Preserve, so after completing the walk, Joy and I decided to go for a short hike in the preserve.
The preserve is a nature conservancy containing the largest maritime forest on the east coast. The trails wind through marshy woods and wooded dunes.
The Nags Head Woods Preserve Center — Images by kenne
Trail Rock Guarded By Shin Diggers (agave lechugilla) — Image by kenne
This small agave can make a lasting impression if you run up against them, therefore the name “shin digger.” Here it seems to be providing this rock, security. In thick ground cover, the spins can be crippling to a hiker or horse.
On The Trail In Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
Box Camp Trail, June 2016
Sabino Creek Near Hutch’s Pool — Panorama by kenne
“Things of Poetry” — Computer Art by kenne
Death On the Trail — Image by kenne
The Hiker — Image by kenne
Sprained Ankle — Image by Jeff
Monday Morning Milers Hiking Mount Bigelow In The Santa Catalina Mountains — Images by kenne
While vacationing with family on the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina, we took in some of nature’s best. Since most of our time was spent on the shore side, we made a special effort to explore the sound side.
In Nags Head there is Jockey’s Ridge State Park, which contains the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States attracting hand gliders and wind surfers from up and down the east coast. 
There are plenty of self-guided hiking trails, however we learned of a guided nature walk Wednesday morning that proved to be very information — at least for me. Our guide was a retired high school teacher/administrator that spends his summers as a park docent.
As it turned out, we had a our own personal guided nature walk, since our family were the only people on the walk. There were a lot of people in the park, however, most were on the high dunes watching the gliders. The maritime thicket of live oaks, persimmons, red cedar, wax myrtle, bayberry, sweet gum, red oaks, and pines grows best in areas protected by the large dune.
A lot of the older pine trees died a few year back then a large storm pushed saltwater in the low areas of the park.
Shifting winds are constantly reshaping the dunes. Because the Ridge is always changing, it is often called “The Living Dune.”
Looking out over Roanoke Sound.
The edges of the maritime forest contain a lot of marshy areas attractive to birds.
While on the nature walk, the docent told us about the Nags Head Woods Preserve, so after completing the walk, Joy and I decided to go for a short hike in the preserve.
The preserve is a nature conservancy containing the largest maritime forest on the east coast. The trails wind through marshy woods and wooded dunes.
The Nags Head Woods Preserve Center — Images by kenne
