It’s the time of year when the Monday hiking group take to the higher elevations — this Monday (Memorial Day) was the Aspen Loop out of Marshall Gulch picnic area on Mount Lemmon. There were eleven of us, Jim leading five in the loop’s clockwise direction and Edi leading the other six in counter-clockwise direction .
The normal snow and rain fall this past winter was below normal, so the trail was very dusty, even in this young aspen grove.
There were very few wildflowers to photograph — this American vetch was an exception.
Jim discussed with us our interest in leaving the trail to bushwack up to Marshall Peak — “Why not?” was our reply.
Parts of the area were destroyed by the Aspen Fire, which burned for about one month in June and July of 2003. Now some nine years later, many of the large trees have begun to fall with fast growing ground cover, such as New Mexico Locust and Aspen taking over much of the once shady area.
In some places the thorny New Mexico Locust had to be cut so we could reach the top of Marshall Peak.
Once reaching the top, Jim found the registry and recorded our names. It was also a time for some equipment repair.
Leaving the top, we bushwacked a more direct route back to the Aspen Loop.
Although shorter, the route was steeper with a lot of fallen dead logs and plenty of thorn-covered brushes. When I took this photo, I didn’t realize I was photographing where I would fall after stepping into a hole between two logs.
At this point, we are not far from the Aspen Loop trail, which can be seen to the left in this photo. With the other half of our Monday hiking group having just passed along the trail, we decided to follow them back to Marshall Gulch.
Finally, we are back on the loop trail.
Marshall Gulch is a popular place this time of year, even more so on this Memorial Day weekend.
The New Mexico Locust are coming into bloom on the mountain.
Jim stops to rest in a chair cut from one of the large logs along the trail.
Back at Marshall Gulch, my bandaged right wist and bloody legs are evidence of my fall (while protecting my Nikon) going down from Marshall Peak.
None of my outdoor experiences — hiking, river canoeing/rafting, and camping– involved backpacking. So, when one of my hiking buddies, Tom Markey, asked if I would be interested in backpacking from Redington Pass to Manning Camp via the Italian Springs Trail, I jumped at the possibility. I learned later that this is a hike Tom had talked about for ten years — guess we finally found someone willing to take it on with him — another crazy guy!
Although the road through Redington Pass is a very passable gravel road, Markey was hoping that our mutual friend, Tom’s truck, would be able to take us down a deeply rutted cattle road in his truck, shortening the fifteen-mile hike to Manning Camp by three miles. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the truck was not high enough to chance the old cattle road. So, strapping on our thirty-pound backpacks, we set off with Tom in the lead.
Since I was nursing an often injured left angle, I was more than willing for Tom to set the pace. Having hiked with Tom many times, it was not unusual for me to drop off the pace because of stopping to take photos. However, it was generally easy for me to catch up — not this time. As we hiked on, I realized that Tom was trying to make up for the time we lost, having to hike the additional three miles.
Not far into the hike, Tom’s pace was slowed by this guy in the middle of the trail — causing a trail detour. This was the first of two snakes we spotted on the trail.
The trail led through several rolling ridges. Here you can see Mica Mountain in the distance (higher point to the left).
After about an hour, we reached the point where the cattle road would have taken us. As the sign indicates, the Italian Springs trail is part of the Arizona Trail.
After hiking several rolling ridges, we finally reached a point where the elevation allowed us a beautiful view back toward the Catalina Mountains. In the distance to the left is Tucson. Although a wilderness area, we are not far from the metropolitan Tucson area. You can get an idea of where we started by looking right down to the base of the Catalina Mountains..
As the trail got steeper, it led us into more trees among large boulders. At least the increased elevation was providing cooler temperatures. However, the climb was beginning to take its toll — rest stops were becoming more necessary in the 5% humidity.
Now late in the afternoon and with each slow, calculated step, it was becoming clear that we would not have enough time to complete the fifteen-mile hike to Manning Camp before dark — even on this “supermoon” night.
“What does the trail look like ahead,” Tom would ask. My standard response was, “It keeps going up!” We began to feel pain from muscles we thought we had lost years ago. Our priority had now become finding a flat area to camp, leaving us four miles short of the goal of reaching Manning Camp. By not reaching Manning camp, where water was available, it would be essential for us to conserve our water for the return hike tomorrow.
Finally, we reached an area at the base of Mica Mountain, which provided an open flat space where we could spend the evening. It also offered a great view of the sunset and, later in the evening, the rise of the “supermoon.”
Tired and with the sun setting, we decided to pass on preparing a warm meal and begin preparing the campsite. This would also help us conserve water, which was needed to reduce the occasional muscle cramps we had started to experience.
As Tom worked on the campsite, I captured a few sunset photos before assisting him. Cooler temperatures came with the setting sun, but the afternoon winds were to stay with us all night. The following images in this posting would have been of the supermoon rising in the east, but I was too tired to crawl out of the warm sleeping bag into the windy, cold mountain air.
Morning brought a beautiful sunrise over the Rincon Mountains — this image looks down toward Redington Pass and the Catalinas. Anticipating hot temperatures in the past by mid-morning, we were eager to pack up the campsite and start down the trail.
Occasionally, we would turn to look back at Mica Mountain — “I can’t believe we did it!”
. . . and again.
With Mica Mountain framed in the background, Pat Markey took this photo of Tom and myself.
Finally, back at the trailhead, Pat was already there waiting — to our delight! She also had some much-needed water for us. We had been nursing what little water we had over the last several miles of our eleven-mile return from Mica Mountain. In our minds, the Italian Springs Trail lived up to its reputation of being the most challenging trail in the Tucson area. Completing the two-day backpacking hike was plenty of reward for two early seventy-year-old adventurers. However, there were moments when we were convinced that we were crazy to have taken on such a hike this time of year.
A View of The Santa Catalina Mountains From The Douglas Springs Trail
In The Rincon Mountains (March 16,2012) — Image by kenne (Click on image for larger view.)
Winter has returned to southern Arizona, with rain (much needed) at the lower elevations and snow above 3,500 feet. Currently, from our location near Sabino Canyon, the mountains are out of view.
At the end of one of our naturalists training sessions last October, Phil Bentley said he would be hiking Blackett’s Ridge late the following day to see the sunset and the full-moon rise on top of Blackett’s Ridge in Sabino Canyon, then hike down in the moonlight. Cool idea, I thought. As it turned out, I got the gathering time wrong, so Phil and I did the moonlight hike, but not together. It was a gorgeous moonlit night. (Click here for posting on last October’s hike.)
Since October, we have talked about doing the moonlight hike again. Last week we agree to do another moonlit hike, this time together, with an invitation being sent to all SCVN.
Debbie and Jerry
At the gathering time in the Sabino Canyon’s center parking lot, with Phil as our leader, Debbie and Jerry Bird, Tim Ralph and I set off to see another beautiful sunset to the west over the Tucson Mountains and full-moon rising over the Rincon Mountains.
With the skies partly cloudy, we couldn’t help but ponder the “what if’s” of more clouds moving in. The sun continued to occasionally peep through the broken clouds to the west, but the clouds to the east were minus the “broken” adjective.
The amount of clouds created a photographic challenge, but not to be daunted, I persisted capturing a few photos, all be they are dark and ominous — probably of things to come.
Phil playing his harp and Tim taking photos — Images by kenne
With the sun setting, and minus the expected moonlight, darkness was coming on quickly. Having a bite to eat and some water, while Phil serenaded us on his harp, we decided to start the hike down the ridge. The return pace was slow, as we stepped carefully down the steep slopes and navigated the many trail switchbacks. With little light, at times the footing was treacherous, and as fate would have it, on one of steep slopes, while placing my right foot on solid rock ground, I place my left foot on what turned out to be loose gravel — down I went, quickly pulling my camera to the front of my body. Because of the downward angle of the trail, it was a short fall on my butt. However, my backward momentum carried me into a large prickly pear cactus, an encounter not expected. Even with three layers of clothing, many of the prickly pear spines penetrated my upper left arm. I’m now award that this cactus comes armed with two kinds of spines; large, smooth, fixed spines and small, hairlike prickles called glochids. Removing my wind-breaker removed many of the glochids, but most of the large spines remained in my arm, since our only source of light was a flashlight. So, the spine removal task became Joy’s upon my return home. What’s the saying, “There’s always a first time for everything.” So be it! In case you are wondering, we are already considering another moonlit hike.
Monday of this week some fellow hikers and I hike a segment of the Arizona Trail, north from Hwy 83 and Sahuarita Road. The trail is an 800+ mile recreation trail from Mexico to Utah that connects mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, forests, wilderness areas, historic sites, trail systems, points of interest, communities, and people. Next week we are scheduled to hike south from Hwy 83 and Sahuarita Road.
About the only animals we saw along the trail was a heard of cattle. I didn’t know the name of the cattle, but Paul quickly said, “white faced,” and started singing “Where The White Faced Cattle Roam,” a song originally written by Buddy Williams. The video below is for Paul.
Yesterday, storms started building one the Rincon Mountains to the east and the Santa Catalina Mountains to the north as the sun was setting. What resulted was a beautiful double rainbow and a little rain for the foothills. It was actually raining when this photo was taken.
The image below was of the sunset as the rain moved into the foothills.
Early morning on the Catalina’s Overlooking Redington Pass to the east And the Arc-shaped Tanque Verde Ridge Along the Rincon Mountain Range High above the Sonoran Desert
The alpine village of Summer Heaven Showing the scares of wildfires past Fresh in its summer monsoon best Nestled against the blue mountain ridges Awaiting the rains building to the south
Cam-Boh Trail in the Saguaro National Park — Image by kenne
Tucson is located in the Sonoran Desert, one of the natural beauties of the American southwest and has one of our great National Parks, the Saguaro National Park. Since this is National Park Week, I would be remiss not to share some information on our neighbor park. The park is divided into two sections, lying about 20 miles east and 15 miles (24 km) west of the center of Tucson. Each section includes ranges of significant hills, the Tucson Mountains in the west and the Rincon Mountains in the east. The park gets its name from the saguarocactus which is native to the region. Many other kinds of cactus, including barrel cactus, cholla cactus, and prickly pear, are also abundant in the park.
The park was established as Saguaro National Monument on March 1, 1933, and changed to a national park on October 14, 1994. For more information on the park, click here.
Saguaro National Park
Cam-Boh Trail in the Saguaro National Park — Image by kenne
Tucson is located in the Sonoran Desert, one of the natural beauties of the American southwest and has one of our great National Parks, the Saguaro National Park. Since this is National Park Week, I would be remiss not to share some information on our neighbor park. The park is divided into two sections, lying about 20 miles east and 15 miles (24 km) west of the center of Tucson. Each section includes ranges of significant hills, the Tucson Mountains in the west and the Rincon Mountains in the east. The park gets its name from the saguaro cactus which is native to the region. Many other kinds of cactus, including barrel cactus, cholla cactus, and prickly pear, are also abundant in the park.
The park was established as Saguaro National Monument on March 1, 1933, and changed to a national park on October 14, 1994. For more information on the park, click here.
kenne
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