Archive for the ‘Picacho Peak State Park’ Tag

Stages Of Life   Leave a comment

Image by kenne

For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?

And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
And how should I presume?

— from The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock by  T S Eliot

 

Missing my Old Hiking Buddy   6 comments

Tom Markey (Picacho Peak State Park) — HDR Image by kenne

We hiked together
on mountain trails
where in the spring
brittlebush blossoms
guide our way.

–kenne

Another Beautiful Spring Day   Leave a comment

Brittlebush Blossoms at Picacho Peak State Park — Image by kenne

Picacho Peak State Park   4 comments

Wildflowers in Picacho Peak State Park — Images by kenne

Picacho Peak State Park is a state park surrounding Picacho Peak in Picacho, Arizona. The park is located between Casa Grande and Tucson
near Interstate 10 in Pinal County. Its centerpiece spire is visible from downtown Tucson, a distance of 45 miles. The summit rises to 3,374 feet
above mean sea level. Wikipedia
 

Springtime In Picacio Peak State Park   Leave a comment

Picacio Peak State Park — Image by kenne

“In 1848, the Mormon Battalion constructed a wagon road through Picacho Pass. The forty-niners on their way
to California used this road. In the late 1850’s the Butterfield Overland Stage was carrying passengers through
this area. Picacho Peak’s most noted historic event occurred on April 15, 1862, when Confederate and Union
scouting parties met in the Battle of Picacho Pass during the Civil War. This was the largest Civil War clash to
take place in Arizona.”
— Source: azstateparks.com

Picacho Peak State Park In The Spring   Leave a comment

picacho peak-6083-Edit-1-72Picacho Peak State Park In The Spring — Image by kenne

A Sort Of A Song
Let the snake wait under
his weed
and the writing
be of words, slow and quick, sharp
to strike, quiet to wait,
sleepless.
—through metaphor to reconcile
the people and the stones.
Compose. (No ideas
but in things) Invent!
Saxifrage is my flower that splits
the rocks.

William Carlos Williams

There’s A Reason Why The Sonoran Desert Is Called A Lush Desert   1 comment

This time of year Picacho Peak State Park is an excellent example of the biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert.
Plants are at the greenest and wildflowers provide dots of color on the desert canvass.

The canvass of the desert
may appear to have no order.
Yet it is orderly,
but we don’t know why.

A poet has said;
If you want to know
where the flowers came from,
not even the spring goddess knows.

— kenne

Panorama west of Picacho Peak-72.jpg

Images by kenne

 

You Can Call Me . . .   Leave a comment

wildflowers (1 of 1)-28 scorpionweed blogScorpionweed — Images by kenne

You can call me

Blue Phacelia,

Wild Heliotrope, or

Scorpionweed,

But don’t call me

Weed!

— kenne

wildflowers (1 of 1)-35 framed blog

Golden Mexican Poppies, “Beauty’s Silent Song”   Leave a comment

wildflowers (1 of 1)-34 Poppies Art blog

A solitary I am here while legions are there,
Amidst this cursed soil I stand apart.
In this gray desert, a flamboyant flame of divine light am I,
Beauty’s silent song, a miracle from the sky.

— from A Poppy Flower, by Abdul Ghani Khan

wildflowers (1 of 1)-45 poppies blogGolden Mexican Poppies — Images by kenne

Capturing The Moment — Desert Lupine   1 comment

lupin (1 of 1) blogDesert Lupine — February 26, 2015 Image by kenne

Up at dawn
running
trails
upward
downward
wildflowers
wave
alone the path
blue & pink
poppy gold
opening
to the sunlight
standing
in long shadows

— kenne

Capturing The Moment — Mustard Evening Primrose   Leave a comment

wildflowers Mustard Evening Primrose blog (1 of 1)-27Mustard Evening Primrose — Photographed in the Picacho Peak State Park by kenne

Brittlebush Blooming Everywhere In Picacho Peak State Park   1 comment

Picacho Peak State Park Panorama (1 of 1)

Brittle Bush (1 of 1)-12 blog

Wildflowers (1 of 1)-4-2 blogBrittlebush Blooming Everywhere In Picacho Peak State Park — Images by kenne
Friend, Tom Markey and I spent a recent morning hiking in the Park and so much is in full bloom.
This posting focuses on brittlebush images with many more wildflowers to come.
Click here to see more brittlebush images in a slideshow format.

Poppy Season In The Sonoran Desert — Gold On The Mountains   1 comment

Poppy (1 of 1) blog

Poppy (1 of 1)-2 blog

Wildflowers (1 of 1)-2 blogMexican Gold Poppy Images by kenne

 Wildflowers abound

With plenty to go around —

Gold on the mountains.

— kenne

Morning Hike In Picacho Peak State Park   1 comment

Morning Sun (1 of 1)_art blogComputer Painting

Morning Sun (1 of 1)-2 blogMorning Hike In Picacho Peak State Park (February 26, 2015) — Images by kenne

One of the best places to see spring wildflowers in southern Arizona is at Picacho Peak State Park, so early yesterday morning Tom Markey and I drove up I-10 for an hour to the park, not to hike to the top of the peak, but to hike the west trail to observe and photograph the wildflowers. The rains this winter have not only produced beautiful wildflowers, but made the desert very green, which adds contrast to the views. This posting is meant to give you a feel for our hiking into the sun on the backside of Picacho Peak setting the stage for wildflower photos to be posted later.

kenne

Hiking The Picacho Peak Trails   1 comment

Picacho Peak State Park Photos by kenne
(Click on any of the images to see a larger view in a slideshow format.)

Driving I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix you cannot miss Picacho Peak, a majestic rock monolith on the west-side of the Interstate. The site of Arizona’s only Civil War battle, involving a Union cavalry patrol from California with Confederate scouts from Texas, the peak has served as a landmark by travelers for hundreds of years.

kenne