Ventana Canyon — Panorama by kenne
(In this image, you see the Tucson basin with the Santa Rita Mountains in the distance.)
“Life is like riding a Bicycle.
To keep your balance,
you must keep moving.”
— Albert Einstein
Archive for the ‘Santa Rita Mountains’ Tag
Ventana Canyon Panorama Leave a comment
A Fall Hike In Madera Canyon 2 comments
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”
―
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Old Baldy And A Poem I Will Never Write Leave a comment
Hiking The Super Trail On Mt. Wrightson — This image by kenne is of Old Baldy from the Josephine Saddle.
Thinking about a poem I’ll never write.
With gut on wood and hide, and plucking thumb,
Grope and stutter for the words, invent a tune,
In any tongue, this moment one time true
Be wine of blood or rhythm drives it through —
A leap of words to things and there it stops.
— from the poem “A Stone Garden” by Gary Snyder
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Mountain Spiny Lizard Leave a comment
Mountain Spiny Lizard or Yarrow’s Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus jarrovii) — Image by kenne
The Mountain Spiny Lizard can be found in the southeastern portion of Arizona — in this image, the Santa Rita Mountains. They live in mountain areas of oak and pine forests above 5,000 feet in elevation. This one is more colorful than most I have seen — usually bland in color. Therefore, I had to photograph him.
— kenne
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When It’s Hot In The Desert, We Go To Nearby Mountains Leave a comment
A Cool Summertime Choice When You Live In Tucson — Image by kenne
“The mind wanders. A million
Summers, night air still and the rocks
Warm. Sky over endless mountains.
All the junk that goes with being human
Drops away, hard rock wavers
Even the heavy present seems to fail
This bubble of a heart.“
— from the poem “Piute Creek” by Gary Snyder
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Douglas Spring Trail Panorama Leave a comment
Douglas Spring Trail Panorama Image by kenne
In the moment you feel a
belonging to an ancient time,
a time not seen, yet you feel it —
the dryness of a land
parched, dying of thirst.
Soon the trail switches back
and forth around large boulders
where lizards live in the dust
sometimes seen atop a boulder
doing their daily pushups
in the bright sunlight
soon returning to a dark place.
Stand here in the moment,
take yourself down the trail
toward the distant mountains.
The trail is narrow and dusty,
so narrow there are hikers
in front of you and behind,
not to your side, this is not
a shoulder to shoulder march,
this is a hike in single file.
Having entered this picture
you can stay till the poem ends
and the magic fades away.
For me, the photographer,
a part of me remains
poised in the moment.
— kenne
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Weed Behind A Stone 1 comment
“Weed Behind A Stone” — Image by kenne
Weed behind a stone
Tween a rock and mountain view,
Some call it heaven.
— kenne
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Capturing The Moment — Mountain Marigold 1 comment
Mountain Marigold, Madera Canyon (October 27,2014) — Image by kenne
Mountain Marigold
Competing with fall colors,
All winners here.
— kenne
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Morning Clouds Moving On, Madera Canyon 4 comments
Morning Clouds Moving On, Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains — Images by kenne
An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
— Henry David Thoreau
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The Desert Spiny Lizard’s Cousin 3 comments
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard
Mountain Spiny Lizard at Roger’s Rock In Madera Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains — Images by kenne
(Click on any of the images for larger view in a slideshow format.)
For those of us who live near the Santa Catalina Mountains, Madera Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains is about an hour and twenty minutes drive. There are a lot of reasons to love the canyon, rated the third best birding destination in the United States. Yesterday, the Monday Morning Milers hiked one of the canyon’s many trails to Roger’s Rock where I have captured many vista photographs in the past and did the same yesterday. One of the things that made this hike different from past hikes was seeing the mountain spiny lizard captured in this posting. The colors of this guy were very prominent, sunning in the 6,500 feet elevation cool mountain air. I have learned that every hike, even on the same trail, has something new and impressive to see.
— kenne
You’ve got to get out
and pray to the sky
to appreciate the sunshine;
otherwise you’re
just a lizard
standing there
with the sun shining on you.
— Ken Kesey
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Appalachian Mountain Club Hike Mt Wrightson In Madera Canyon Leave a comment
Mt Wrightson Trailhead Parking Lot
Old Baldy Trail
Old Baldy Trail
Old Baldy Trail
Josephine Saddle
Vista
Vista
Vista
Old Baldy Trail
Old Baldy
Mt Hopkins Observatory
Old Baldy
Old Baldy Trail
Old Baldy Trail
Old Baldy
Old Baldy Trail
Vista
Appalachian Mountain Club Hike Mt Wrightson In Madera Canyon — Images by kenne
(Click on any of the images to see larger view in slideshow format.)
This hike by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) was their last in the Tucson area. We are pleased to have been able to hike with them and share our (SCVN) knowledge and experience of hiking the trails of southern Arizona.
This is the last in a series of postings on the AMC visit to the Sonoran Desert, so let’s remember for a moment . . .
Let’s remember for a moment,
the trail head gatherings,
the greetings, the smiles,
the joy of another hike.
Let’s remember for a moment,
the steep climbs, the switchbacks,
the majestic views at the top,
the masterful returns.
Let’s remember for a moment,
the trail fellowship,
sharing who we are
and common interests.
Let’s remember for a moment,
the pools near mountain trails,
resting tired feet in the cold water,
watching others jump in.
Let’s remember the moment,
the hike alone ridges of granite
and the juxtapositions of water-loving
and drought-tolerating plants.
Let’s remember for a moment,
the rich biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert
which the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
illustrates through its ecological theater.
Let’s remember for a moment,
the images captured by
our mind’s eye,
lasting images to share.
Let’s remember for a moment,
that which we have added
to life’s experiences forming
a better understanding of self.
Let’s remember for a moment,
the desire, the drive to see
what lies just over the next ridge,
on the other side of the mountain.
Let’s remember for a moment,
lots of mountains, few streams —
all dry this time of year, and my
turning back at the base of Old Baldy.
Let’s remember for a moment,
my friends from New England,
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome,
dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.” *
— kenne
* Edward Abbey
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Capturing The Moment — New Mexico Groundsel 2 comments
New Mexico Groundsel — Left Image In The Santa Rita Mountains, Right Image In The Santa Catalina Mountains At About 5,000 ft Elevation, April, 2014
Showy spring flowers
Found in the desert mountains
No spring rains needed.
— kenne
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We Scar The Things We Love 2 comments
A Panorama View Down Through Madera Canyon In The Santa Rita Mountains South of Tucson, Arizona.
(Note the light color of mining tailings surrounding ponded water.)
— Image by kenne
We Scar The Things We Love
Always there is something worth trekking
in the Sonoran Desert.
Sometimes the treks start early in the morning,
driving across the Tucson basin over
occasional low water crossings and cattle guards
on narrow roads, stopping for big yellow buses.
A canyon road leads out of Green Valley,
a quite peaceful community
along the banks of the Santa Cruz River
covered with oaks and walnut trees
and a rich history with the Tumacacori Mission
to the south and San Xavier del Bac to the north.
Crossing one-lane bridges through a grassland bajada,
the road climbs toward Madera Canyon
nestled between Mt. Wrightson and Mt. Hopkins
on the eastern slop of the Santa Rita Mountains,
forming one of the Sonoran desert’s Sky Islands,
an oasis above this bowl-shaped canyon.
Although some are called “Friends of Madera Canyon”
all visitors, be they hikers, birders, walkers,
or just those relaxing at one of the beautiful vistas
share a love of nature and being outdoors,
forming a friendship that helps bond
memoirs of a shared love.
“All the while jumbled memories flirt out on their own,”
intruding on nature’s beautiful vistas
where a river once ran through, now shadowed
by a high wall of tailings surrounding a pond,
altering nature’s beautiful vistas above the canyon,
producing lasting scars to the sky above, the earth below.
— kenneShare this:
Capturing The Moment — Horned Lizard 4 comments
Horned Lizard (Horny Toad) In Madera Canyon (April 11, 2014) — Images by kenne
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Sabino Canyon — Panorama View From Above Rattlesnake Creek Leave a comment
Sabino Canyon – View from Above Rattlesnake Creek — Image by kenne
