Moonrise Over The Black Mountains — Photo-Artistry by kenne
We reached Mica Mountain as the sun was setting and set up camp two hours out from Manning Camp; our expected goal where we would get water and spend the evening. However, we did not have enough water to spend two nights in the mountains, so we decided we would turn back in the morning. Before setting up camp we watched the sunset and the moonrise.
Cold out! Feels like winter as we crawl into our sleeping bags. It must be the altitude. The full moon provided light, no warmth. The night was long. The tarp above us was attached at only three corners since Tom wanted one loose to flop in the wind, making noise that would keep the bears away.
After a long night of wind-driven noise and cold temperatures, we broke camp early to arrive back at the trailhead before the expected temperatures in the mid-nineties. As we reached a lower elevation, we could contact Tom’s wife, Pat, to give her our expected arrival time at the trailhead. Once we got our stuff in the car, all we could think of was going to Risky Business for a cold beer and French fries with mayo.
Arizona madrone is a small tree, sometimes a large shrub, found in the mountains of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Mexico. It can reach heights of 50 feet. The trunks of these trees are gray and checkered, and the branches are reddish with smooth bark.
Arizona madrones are found in canyon bottoms and hillsides in oak-pine zone at elevations of 4,000 to 8,200 ft. Look for this handsome tree while hiking in the mountains around Tucson.
The spring weather in the Sonoran Desert is alluring, with beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the upper 70s. However, many drought-resistant plants are dying, very few if any wildflowers are blooming due to a troubling draught in the Sonoran Desert. What makes the Sonoran Desert so diverse and beautiful are two rainy seasons, summer monsoon storms and steady winter rains. The two seasons still exist, but half the normal amount of rain.
— kenne
Loma Alta and Coyote Wash Trails (March 19, 2021) — Photo Essay by kenne
This panorama was created from three images taken from Wasson Peak, atop the Tucson Mountains March 13, 2015. The Tortolita Mountains are to the left, Santa Catalina Mountains in the middle, and the Rincon Mountain off to the right.
Douglas Springs Trail in the Rincon Mountains — Image by kenne
You tasted it. Isn’t that enough? Of what do you ever get more than a taste? That’s all we’re given in life, that’s all we’re given of life. A taste. There is no more.
Hidden Pasture Trail In The Rincon Mountains — Panorama by kenne
Hidden Pasture Trail is a 6.8 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located off of Mescal Road on the eastern side of the Rincon Mountains in the Little Rincons. Hiking to Hidden Pasture provides great Rincon Peak vistas to the west.
I’ve seen coyotes wondering by.
I’ve seen the sun hiding
Just over the ridge,
The morning shadows
Beginning to move
Across the rolling hills —
So peaceful, so quite.
Tucson Basin from Marana to South Tucson with the Tortolita Mountains, Santa Catalina Mountains, and Rincon Mountains
as seen from Wasson Peak in the Tucson Mountains — Panorama Image by kenne
“There are many people writing songs. That is absolutely wonderful.
Who knows, there may be some kid in diapers and he or she might succeed
in capturing in a few dozen words what great writers have spent years trying to say.
Just the right word in the right place with the right melody behind it and the right rhythm.
It might get around the world inch by inch, and people realize that this world is in danger,
that we’re in danger. That’s the way “This Land Is Your Land” got to be so well known.”
View of the Santa Catalina Mountains from the Douglas Spring Trail in the Rincon Mountains — Panorama by kenne
Turkey Creek Trail In The Rincon Mountains — Image by kenne
Catalina Sunset (View from Mica Mountain of the Santa Catalina Mountains) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Pistol Hill Road — Image by kenne
Hidden Valley Rock Formations — Images by kenne
Tucson Basin from Marana to South Tucson with the Tortolita Mountains, Santa Catalina Mountains, and Rincon Mountains
Becoming is Superior to Being 