Pandemic Kids (1st Graders) In Sabino Canyon Recreation Area — Image by kenne
In the last week of October, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) began offering nature classes to elementary school children four days a week, the first time since March 2020. The number of children per day is a maximum of 30 students that are divided into six groups. Masks are required except where social distancing is possible. The children have been perfect about wearing masks, even though it may not be a school requirement. Some field trips have been canceled due to COVID outbreaks at the schools. All the SCVN members have been vaccinated. Still, some naturalists have tested positive and have been self-quarantining.
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist (SCVN), Ed Rawl, died April 18, 2020. Ed loved everything about being out in nature and teaching his love of nature to children. He completed the SCVN training program in 2010, one year before I did. During my, training Ed was one of the naturalists I spent time observing. He was a factor in my choosing to teach on Thursdays in the elementary program.
Ed Rawl; Thursday Elementary School Program (3/3/16)
Ed taught on Thursdays from January 2010 to January 2019. He loved being with the kids and remained active in the program until a series of health issues began to take a toll on him.
Ed Rawl (January 10, 2019)
Ed was the Thursday Day Coordinator in December 2014 when Alexa Von Bieberstein, who had been an SCVN member since 2007, was returning to Germany.
When I was Vice President of Public Interpretation, I called on Ed several times to help guide groups of hikers.
Dan Granger and Ed Rawl with Members of the American Senior Housing Association (11/07/14)
Ed Rawl Guiding Some of the Appalachian Mountains Club Members to Hutch’s Pool (04/08/14)
SCVN Friday Hikes with Ann Nierenberg, Ed Rawl, Dan Granger and Tim Ralph (6/22/12)
Ed loved hiking in the Santa Catalina Mountains and was an active guide in the SCVN Friday Hikes.
Ed Rawl and Naturalist Jan Labiner Hiking to Seven Falls (10/17/2013)
When not doing the regular SCVN Friday hikes, he would hike with friends, or often alone.
Hiking to Thimble Peak — Naturalists Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Phil Bentley, and Alexa Von Bieberstein at the Gorden Hirabayashi Campground (11/07/13)
One of the most memorable experiences came in November of 2013 when Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Alexa Von Bieberstein, Phil Bentley, and myself hiked to Thimble Peak. On a windy and chilly morning, we began our hike out of the Gorden Hirabayashi Campground.
Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Alexa Von Bieberstein, and Phil Bentley (11/07/13)
One of the subjects we teach is geology, how the Santa Catalina Mountains were
formed, and the importance of water in the formation of Sabino Canyon. Twelve
million years ago, the Santa Catalina Mountains were just a range of hills, but the
earth’s crust in western North America was being stretched. What resulted were
huge blocks with steep vaults forming an up-and-down landscape called the
Basin and Range Province.
Naturalist, Kenne Turner with 3rd Grade Students (Sabino Canyon Dam Area) — Images by Teacher
Sabino Canyon is composed of a hard metamorphic rock called “Catalina gneiss.” Gneiss contains rock and five minerals; quartz, mica, feldspar, magnetite, and garnets. Over time water and earthquakes have eroded the gneiss rock carrying smaller rocks and minerals down streams like Sabino Creek. The minerals are deposited along the creek edges, which created a natural laboratory to learn about the minerals by panning for garnets. Need I say, kids love panning for garnets.
Students panning for garnets in Sabino Creek.
“For many Tucsonans, the canyon is an old friend. We are on a first-name basis. On a sunny weekend morning, we say, simply, “Let’s go to Sabino.
— from Sabino Canyon: The Life of a Southwestern Oasis by David Wentworth Lazaroff
2020 is the Year of the Nurse and Midwife by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Health Assembly (WHA) as the year to honor nurses and midwives to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale who is considered the founder of modern nursing. Nurses and midwives are vital to providing health services to our communities. These people are devoting their lives to caring for mothers and children, giving lifesaving immunizations and health advice, looking after older people, and generally meeting everyday essential health needs. And they are often the first and only point of care, yet the world needs 9 million more nurses and midwives if it is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030.
The vital role of the nurse becomes a metaphor for those of us (Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists) involved in teaching elementary school children about the importance and survival of saguaros in Sabino Canyon and the Sonoran Desert.
SCVN member, Debbie Bird, telling third graders about the “Nurse Tree.” (She also got the attention of an elderly couple visiting Sabino Canyon.)
Often, for young saguaros to survive, they are located near another faster-growing tree that shelters the slower-growing plant by providing shade, shelter from the wind and sun, or protection from animals that may feed on the young plant. Such a plant is called a nurse tree. A metaphor easily understood by the children in conveying the important relationship between the tree and the saguaro. They get it!
— kenne
“Even though they’re dead, they are not gone — trees find a way to help each other out postmortem.”
November 8, 2019, SCVN hike in Pima Canyon — Images by kenne
Pima Canyon is one of several canyons in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness area of the Santa Catalina Mountains in northwest Tucson.
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) are devoted to helping people of all ages
appreciate the natural wonder of Sabino Canyon and the Coronado National Forest,
managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
The SCVN led hike started at 8:30 am with 20 people at the trailhead (2900 feet
elevation) hiking to the lower dam a one-way distance of 3.2 miles (3750 feet elevation).
Once at the natural dam the hikers took a brief rest and had a snack before returning to the trailhead.
(The SCVN Guides were Kenne Turner, Jeff Orenstein, and Jane Gellman.)
Madera Canyon is always a beautiful canyon in which to hike especially in the fall when the
Arizona Sycamores are in color. This SCVN Friday hike, in the Santa Rita Mountains,
provided a nice contrast to our usual hikes in the Santa Catalina Mountains.
This image is looking down on Madera Canyon below some of the higher pikes in the Santa Ritas
(The highest is Mt. Wrightson on the right with an elevation of 9,453 feet.)
Our hike began down near a dried-up creek bed, then taking us up along the canyon’s edge.
What a beautiful day to be hiking with friends and nature lovers.
Images by kenne
“Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend”
In addition to the regular Friday Hikes,
the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) also offer a Friday Nature Hike.
I usually help guide the regular SCVN Friday Hikes; however, last Friday,
I decided to do the Box Camp Trail with David Dean, as our nature guide.
Naturalist David Dean’s Mixed Conifer Forest Display Board
David Dean On Box Camp Trail
David Dean On Box Camp Trail
David Dean On Box Camp Trail Nature Hike
— Images by kenne
1st SCVN Fall Hike, Sycamore Canyon/Reservoir Trail — iPhone Images by kenne
Today, we led a small group of ten hikers on the first Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) fall Friday Hike. This hike is annually done in the fall and spring. The hike is about 5.5 miles, starting in the old Prison Camp (Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds) the trail leads to the reservoir that supplied water to the Prison Camp. Click here for more historical information on the Campgrounds.
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”
— John Muir
Yesterday’s SCVN Friday hike took place on the Sunset Trail,
a popular summertime hike on Mt. Lemmon connecting hikers
to Marshall Gulch without having to drive all the way up through Summerhaven.
Helen and Ellen ready for the hike.
Ricki and Ellen, out guides make a backup copy of the SCVN Sign-in Sheet.
Ricki goes over the Safety Rules with the hikers.
Barbara and Jeff on the trail.
A view from Sunset Rock of the hikers on the trail.
Tosh and Liz examining rocks.
Ellen and Ricki have a snake before hiking back to the trailhead. –– Images by kenne
2019 Packathon at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Tucson (January 6, 2019) — Image by kenne
Thirty SCVN members and spouses were among 400 people Sunday
packing breakfast meals to feed 50,000 people in Tucson’s
“hunger community” in less than one 1 1/2 hours.
This was the seventh year of the Packathon organized by St. Paul’s MC
and the 2nd year Joy and me participated. This is an all-inspiring event.
Learning About Rocks — Image by kenne
But, it’s the Bighorn Wildfire now having worked it’s way
into Pima Canyon and the Finger Rock area of the Pusch Ridge Wilderness (June 10, 2020).
The Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists lead hikes twice a year on the Pima Canyon Trail to a natural dam (6 miles round trip).
Ed Rawl; Thursday Elementary School Program (3/3/16)
Ed Rawl (January 10, 2019)
Dan Granger and Ed Rawl with Members of the American Senior Housing Association (11/07/14)
Ed Rawl Guiding Some of the Appalachian Mountains Club Members to Hutch’s Pool (04/08/14)
SCVN Friday Hikes with Ann Nierenberg, Ed Rawl, Dan Granger and Tim Ralph (6/22/12)
Ed Rawl and Naturalist Jan Labiner Hiking to Seven Falls (10/17/2013) 
Hiking to Thimble Peak — Naturalists Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Phil Bentley, and Alexa Von Bieberstein at the Gorden Hirabayashi Campground (11/07/13)
Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Alexa Von Bieberstein, and Phil Bentley (11/07/13)
“The Naturalist” — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“Learning About Nature” — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Naturalist, Kenne Turner with 3rd Grade Students (Sabino Canyon Dam Area) 
Students panning for garnets in Sabino Creek.
A “Nurse Tree” In Sabino Canyon — Images by kenne
SCVN member, Debbie Bird, telling third graders about the “Nurse Tree.” 
November 8, 2019, SCVN hike in Pima Canyon — Images by kenne
This image is looking down on Madera Canyon below some of the higher pikes in the Santa Ritas
Naturalist David Dean’s Mixed Conifer Forest Display Board
David Dean On Box Camp Trail
David Dean On Box Camp Trail
David Dean On Box Camp Trail Nature Hike
1st SCVN Fall Hike, Sycamore Canyon/Reservoir Trail — iPhone Images by kenne
Yesterday’s SCVN Friday hike took place on the Sunset Trail,
Helen and Ellen ready for the hike.
Ricki and Ellen, out guides make a backup copy of the SCVN Sign-in Sheet.
Ricki goes over the Safety Rules with the hikers.
Barbara and Jeff on the trail.
A view from Sunset Rock of the hikers on the trail.
Tosh and Liz examining rocks.
Ellen and Ricki have a snake before hiking back to the trailhead.
2019 Packathon at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Tucson (January 6, 2019) — Image by kenne
Image by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 