Red-tail Hawk Silhouette — iPhone 6 Image by kenne
Yesterday I was walking into Sabino Canyon to teach 1st-grade students how the Hohokam lived in the canyon and the Tucson basin hundreds of years ago when a friend spotted a red-tail hawk atop a tall saguaro cactus. Sadly, I didn’t have my Nikon camera with me, so I made use of my iPhone to capture an image. Not what I would like to capture, but it’s better than not getting an image at all.
— kenne
Sunset After the First Monsoon Rains (July 10, 2017)– iPhone Panorama by kenne
Children, a Stream, and Connecting with Nature — Computer Art by kenne
A picture may seem not what it is.
Two teens may appear more interested in a
phone than a stream slowly passing at their feet.
Like most images, it’s up to the viewer
to place it in some element of their reality.
Put in the contact the image was taken,
the teens are sharing pictures taken in
my iPhone photography class where they
learn to connect the eye, to the mind, to the heart.
— kenne
The SCVN Friday Hike last week was to Hutch’s Pool. This is a hike that is about eight miles from Tram Stop 9, which saves another eight miles by not hiking from the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center. About twenty hikers were hiking the Sabino Canyon Trail to the intersection of West Fork and East Fork trails. The East Fork goes to Sycamore Canyon, the West Fork to Hutch’s Pool. There are two water crossing to Hutch’s Pool, the first providing the lesser challenges of the two. Still, on this day the water was swift, just below the knee and ice cold.
Because of recent rains and snowmelt on Mt. Lemmon, the water flow was much higher than normal causing most hikers to turn back or take the East Fork to Sycamore Canyon. Five hikers decided to go on to Hutch’s Pool. The images and video or of their return crossing at the creek near where the Fork trail connects to the Sabino Canyon Trail.
Crossing Creek On West Fork Trail — Images by kenne
(Click on any of the images for a larger view in a slideshow format.)
Video by kenne
Swollen Streams in the Canyon — Image by kenne
We are children
of the canyon,
enthralled
by nature’s beauty.
Once hearing
the sound of water
rushing over rocks
and around boulders,
carrying the spirit
of the mountains,
we are drawn to
its siren call —
becoming
children of Achelous.
— kenne
Blackett’s Ridge Trail — iPhone Image by kenne
— kenne
— Oscar Wilde
Sedona Sunrise Panorama (June 15, 2016) — iPhone image by kenne
This panorama was taken atop airport rock, one of four main vortexes located in Sedona. It’s just a short walk up from the road leading to the airport.
On this particular morning, I was there at 5:30am MST. Although I captured several images with my Nikon cameras, this is a panorama taken with my iPhone 6. The energy I was able to take in yesterday morning is still with me.
I spent about an hour on the rock. The man standing panorama right was there when I arrived and still standing when I left. You don’t have to be at one of the four main vortexes to feel the energy found in the Sedona community. Still, many people visiting Sedona are not able to ride the vortex path — some are energy receptacles, some are not.
— kenne
Sedona Red Rock Scenic Byway (June 14, 2016)– iPhone Image by kenne
Arizona Black: Black to the touch — Image by kenne
— from Rafael Alberti’s A la pintura
A student hold a Two-tailed Swallowtail just after coming out of its cocoon. (March 9, 2015)
Just outside the Sabino Canyon Visitors Center, A Junior Naturalist (7th grader) showed a Two-tailed Swallowtail with wings still curved, just having emerged from her cocoon. This image represents the last stage of a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly, which began with a very hungry caterpillar hatching from an egg. The caterpillar will spend this phase of its life stuffing itself with leaves, growing plumper and longer through a series of molts in which it sheds its skin. Then, one day the caterpillar stops eating, suspends itself upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon where the caterpillar digests itself, eventually emerging as a butterfly. Cool!!
kenne
Images by kenne
June Road Trip Snapshot Droppings — iPhone Images by Joy and Kenne (Click on any of the tiled images to see a larger view in a slideshow format.)
In addion to taking many photos with my Nikon cameras during our June road trip, we took photos with our iPhones, which I just remembered. Here are a few iPhone “Camera Roll” images — each has some Photoshop editing.
kenne
Yesterday, I lead the SCVN Friday hike on Mt. Lemmon. The hike was one I had recommended when the summer schedule was being built, which involved hiking several trails from the parking lot near the mountain top. Since the hike would begin at the top and go down to Marshall Gulch, it was necessary to do a car shuttle by first leaving a car at Marshall Gulch, then driving on up the Sky Valley road to the mountain top.
Looking back up at Lemmon Rock Lookout
The hike began on a path next to the Trico electrical station, leading us to the Mt. Lemmon Trail, which we followed to the road leading to the Lemmon Rock Lookout. Just below the lookout is the Lemmon Rock trailhead. The trail is steep, dropping almost 2,00 feet over a distance of 2.3 miles, ending at the Wilderness Rock Trail.
View back up the mountain as we headed down the Lemmon Rock Trail
We began the hike from the top of the mountain in mostly sunny weather. By the time we reached the Wilderness Rock Trail, which is where we stopped for a snack, a few more clouds were gathering above the mountain. It was at this point on the Wilderness Rock Tail last year that we were caught in a storm as we headed back to Marshall Gulch. Then, as it was yesterday, the first half of the hike had only a few scattered clouds.
Ann, Jeff, Joyce and Barb
As we set around having a snack and sharing conversation, those of us who were also on the Wilderness Rock hike last year began to noticed that the weather conditions were beginning to look quite similar to last year, so we decided to continue our hike on to Marshall Gulch. Just a last year, not long after continuing, we began to hear thunder with a few drops of rain falling.
Joyce, Barb and Tim
The clouds got darker, followed by more thunder, lightening and rain, all of which continued for the remainder of the hike. I couldn’t help experiencing déjà vu thoughts and wondering if in some way I have been cursed by the mountain gods.
kenne
Kenne, Barb and Tim
iPhone Images by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 