Southeast View from Oracle Ridge Trail Toward Mt. Bigelow and Mt. Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains (June 27, 2014)
— Image by kenne
Archive for the ‘Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists’ Tag
Capturing The Moment — Oracle Ridge Trail Panorama 4 comments
Lichens, Lime Green Growths On Rocks 5 comments
Lichens on rocks along the Wasson Peak trail. — Image by kenne
“Lichen is a composite organism consisting of a fungus (the mycobiont) and a photosynthetic partner
(the photobiont or phycobiont) growing together in a symbiotic relationship. The photobiont is usually either a green alga
(commonly Trebouxia) or cyanobacterium (commonly Nostoc).”
When teaching children about lichen, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists (SCVN) share this short poem:
“Alice Algae took
a lichen
to Freddie Fungus,
but now
their relationship
is on the rocks.”
— kenne
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Music In The Canyon, A Photo Essay 7 comments
Music In The Canyon, A Photo Essay by kenne (To see larger images in a slideshow format, click on any of the above images.)
Yesterday, Friends of Sabino Canyon had their annual Music In The Canyon fund-raising event and from all appearances, it was a resounding success. Both the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) and the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Patrol (SCVP) were among the many volunteers helping to contribute to the event’s success. By having a children’s area and SCVN information/recruitment booth, we were able to not only entertain children, but show event goers some of the programs we are able to conduct for the community with funds generated by Friends of Sabino Canyon.
This photo essay starts before the gates opened at 11:00 am to after 3:00 pm, which I was able to take during breaks from helping man the SCVN booth.
kenne
listen to nature
and hear the music of life
life pursues music
— kenne
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Becoming More Keenly Alive To Everything Through Nature Leave a comment
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists training 8th grade students to become youth naturalists after a nature walk in the canyon.
— Image by kenne
“The end and aim of all good education is to make man more
alive to everything, or in other words to make
everything more keenly alive to him, to make ‘sermons in stone,
and symphonies in running brooks’ an everyday possibility.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright
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Capturing The Moment — Saguaro Ribs 3 comments
Dusty Talks To Kindergarten Students About Saguaro Ribs — Image by kenne
Good show, Dusty!
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Panning For Garnets In The Canyon After The Rain 4 comments
In front of Sabino Dam.
Above Sabino Dam
Pointing to a Cooper’s hawk nest.
Kenne with a fellow naturalist, Dave showing five 3rd grade girls how to pan — Images by Darcy McCue (Parent)
Low hanging clouds still draped the canyon.
Overnight rains had ended.
Cold temperatures chilled the morning air.
Excited third-graders walk to Sabino Canyon Center.
No busing from the nearby school.
Gestured to a group of five girls to tag along.
Teachable moments abound the mile and a half to Sabino Creek.
Questions increase over the creek activity, “Strike It Rich.”
The teacher had prepared the students well.
First, nature walk near the creek.
Examined the five minerals found in Catalina Gneiss —
Quartz, feldspar, garnet, magnetite, and mica.
Using the mineral’s colors, began jiving —
“Two white, one red, one black, one shiny.”
After the nature walk, a brief geology lesson —
What made the canyon what it is today.
Lesson done, it was time for panning.
Students were sure they would find gold.
Not so in “them there mountains.”
Panning for sand rubies (garnets) was the game.
Activity completed with no cold, wet feet —
Only cold parents standing watch.
Another fun day in Sabino Canyon.
(Moral: Don’t expect cold, wet weather to dampen the spirits of 3rd graders in the canyon.)
— kenne
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Reintroducing Desert Bighorn Sheep To The Santa Catalina Mountains 4 comments
Images by Bill Kaufman
Desert bighorn sheep had been documented in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson for over a hundred years before disappearing in the late 1990’s. Now the Desert Bighorn Sheep Society is working with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to reintroduce the bighorn sheep in a multi-year project. Thirty bighorn sheep were released November 18, 2013 in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness area of the Santa Catalina Mountains; an additional 30 next year, and 30 more the following year. As part of the restoration process, each sheep has been fitted with a GPS satellite collar for monitoring.
One of our Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist, Bill Kaufman, was invited to be at the release this past Monday and graciously provided the photos in this posting.
Click here to listen to an NPR story done on Monday’s release.
kenne
Related articles
- Pusch Ridge: new home to bighorns (azstarnet.com)
- Bighorn sheep released in Catalinas (azstarnet.com)
- Bighorn Sheep to Once Again Roam the Catalinas (publicnewsservice.org)
- Bighorns will be reintroduced to Tucson-area ridge ()
- Bighorn sheep relocated to Tucson-area mountains (azdailysun.com)
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Hiking The Sabino Canyon To Bear Canyon Loop 3 comments
A few postings back, I shared photos and a video of our recent hike to Thimble Peak. This was a twelve-mile hike from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds, where we took the Sycamore Reservoir trail to the Bear Canyon trail, then on the Thimble Peak trail and back, all under windy but beautiful weather. A good part of this hike was in the Push Ridge Wilderness area of the Santa Catalina Mountains
A week later, the SCVN Friday hike was scheduled from Sabino Canyon to Hutch’s Pool, with the option of taking the East Fork trail to Bear Canyon trail, looping back to Sabino Canyon Center. The loop hike is also a twelve-mile hike through the Push Ridge Wilderness, this time continuing on the Bear Canyon trail through the Seven Falls area of Bear Canyon. The significant difference for this hike was the contrast of a cloudy day vs. the blue sky weather a week earlier– both were very alluring hikes.
Near The Start Of The East Fork Trail — Images and Video by kenne
At the fork where Box Camp Canyon merged into Sabino Canyon, six of us opted to take the East Fork to Bear Canyon, the others taking the West Fork to Hutch’s Pool. Once at the saddle between Sabino Canyon and Bear Canyon, we began heading south on the Bear Canyon trail. At this point, most of our hike through Bear Canyon was downhill.
Once we reached Bear Canyon Creek, the trail crossed it, running parallel to it, veering to the left where the creek runs into Seven Falls. The view above Seven Falls allows one to see all the trail switchbacks that are not visible from where the south part of the Bear Canyon trail leads to Seven Falls.
After hiking down through Bear Canyon, it’s hard to understand why anyone would hike to Thimble Peak through Bear Canyon, rather than coming from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds. The distance maybe a little less, but the gain would not be worth the elevation change.
The following video contains photos and video clips from the loop hike, November 15, 2013.
kenne
The Bear Canyon Trail comes in Next To Seven Falls, With Sun Light Peeping Through.
Related articles
- Capturing Moments To Remember – Five Naturalists Hike To Thimble Peak (kenneturner.com)
- Seven Dry Creek Crossings To Seven Falls (kenneturner.com)
- In Hiking, The More The Struggle, The More The Reward (kenneturner.com)
- Sacred Holy Tree In Bear Canyon Creek (kenneturner.com)
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Bear Canyon Trail Above Seven Falls 6 comments
The Sun Peaks Through The Clouds Above The Seven Falls Ridge And The Bear Canyon Trail Coming From The Upper Canyon
— Images by kenne
Related articles
- Capturing Moments To Remember – Five Naturalists Hike To Thimble Peak (kenneturner.com)
- Seven Dry Creek Crossings To Seven Falls (kenneturner.com)
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In Hiking, The More The Struggle, The More The Reward 7 comments
Hiking Blackett’s Ridge — Images by kenne (Click on any of the images to view in a slide show format.)
One of the most popular and difficult trails in Sabino Canyon is the Blackett’s Ridge Trail. The is 6.2 miles with an elevation change of 1810 feet. Starting at the Sabino Canyon Visitor’s Center, the trail attracts runners and hikers alike, some making the trek several times a week. As part of a published hiking schedule, the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) lead, hikers up to the trail’s end, providing a close-up wow-view of Thimble Peak, the canyon riparian area and the Tucson valley. Once up on the ridge, first time Blackett’s hikers begin to feel as if the trail will never end with several up and down climbs before finally getting the trail’s end in site.
Often at the end of the trail, chipmunks will greet the hikers. This behavior occurs because some good intending hikers wrongly feed our little friends. On this particular hike, a Cooper’s Hawk soured above the canyon.
kenne
“There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life,
and beyond which life cannot rise.
And such is the paradox of living,
this ecstasy comes when one is most alive,
and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.”
― Jack London, The Call of the Wild
Related articles
- Sabino Canyon reopens (azstarnet.com)
- A Non-Official Friday Hike In The Coronado National Forest (kenneturner.com)
- Seven Dry Creek Crossings To Seven Falls (kenneturner.com)
- SCVN Hiking Guides Share Slices Of Mt. Lemmon Apples (kenneturner.com)
- Mt. Lemmon Fall Colors And The Story Of The First Ski Slope (kenneturner.com)
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Cooper’s Hawks In Sabino Canyon 2 comments
Adult Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk Chicks — Images by kenne
(Click On One Of The Gallery Images For A Larger View Of All The Images)
This spring, as Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists (SCVN) led elementary school kids on nature walks through the Sabino Canyon riparian area, if we were lucky we would be able to a pair of cooper’s hawks either rebuilding an old nest, taking turns sitting on eggs or bring food to the new chicks. A few days ago, three chicks were observed out on nearby limbs. This past Saturday, I was able to get some photos of the chicks. After getting a couple, an adult brought food to the chicks, after which the adult left the nest, perching on a lower limb near where I was standing — classic right time, right place.
kenne
(Click here to see images in my Flickr account.)
