The Arizona Trail Runs Through Sycamore Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains — Panorama by kenne
— Zane Grey
Riding The Arizona Trail On Horseback in Sycamore Canyon — Photo-Artistry by kenne
The Canyon from Horseback
The young don’t know enough
About being young
They squander youth
And never know ’til later.
Any lad of twelve will testify
An eight-year-old can’t even qualify
To be a child
At eighteen our own ignorance
At fifteen is finally written
In language we comprehend:
We know the score
Reality’s the icing on the cake
Of youthful fantasies;
When the young grow old
They know a lot
About being young
But almost nothing
About being old.
— Jack Purcell from Poems of the New Old West
Sycamore Reservoir Under Construction (1939) — Source Unknown
(Note: Thimble Peak In The Distance Through The Pass)
Sycamore Reservoir was originally constructed to supply water to the Catalina Federal Honor Camp, or Tucson Federal Prison Camp, located in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The camp held men subject to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. It had no security fence, boundaries were marked with stones painted white. 45 of the 46 prisoners were draft resisters and objectors of conscience transferred from camps in Colorado, Arizona and Utah, although Gordon Hirabayashi, who had challenged the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, was also held here.
This small lake has been made even smaller by flash floods which have washed huge amounts of rock and sand into the lake. Still, the reservoir and surrounding area remain a pleasant destination for a day or overnight trip.
The trail to where the dam is located. (October 2012)
Sycamore Dam (October 2012)
Above Sycamore Dam (October 2012) — 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.
— kenne
Sycamore Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains — Photo-Artistry by kenne
In a tangle of cliffs I chose a place —
Bird paths, but no trails for men.
What’s beyond the yard?
White clouds clinging to vague rocks.
Now I’ve lived here—how many years —
Again and again, spring and winter pass.
Go tell families with silverware and cars
“What the use of all the noise and money?”
— Gary Snyder
Mariposa Lily — Image by kenne
THE LAST HIKE IN APRIL
— kenne
Utah Couple Riding the Arizona Trail from Utah to Mexico — Images by kenne
Our April 27, 2017, SCVN Friday Hike was trail #39 (Part of the Arizona Trail) out of the Gordon Hirabayashi Camp Grounds to the Sycamore Reservoir. The trail head is near the horse corral where we met a couple from Utah who spent the night at the campgrounds before continuing on the Arizona Trail to Mexico. Now, that’s a real adventure!
— kenne
We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk.
The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness,
a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later
where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone.
— Robert Pirsig
Sycamore Canyon Panorama — Image by kenne
Sycamore Canyon Trail — Computer Painting by kenne
Yesterday’s (April 28, 2017) hike from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds (4,880′ elevation) to the Sycamore Reservoir was the last SCVN Friday hike on our Spring schedule. Eleven people, including three guides, took #39 trail out of the campgrounds to the Sycamore Reservoir, a somewhat out of the way riparian area in the Sycamore Canyon in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness. The trail is 3.25 miles one way with an accumulated gain of 821 feet. The trail is also a segment of the Arizona Trail, providing majestic views, including Thimble Pear and Cathedral Rock.
This is one of my favorite hikes at the mid-level elevation of the Santa Catalina Mountains, so I was pleased to be the lead guide for the eleven hikers, which included three women from Germany.
The SCVN guided hikes will start again in June on Mt. Lemmon.
kenne
Sycamore Canyon Along the Arizona Trail in the Santa Catalina Mountains (October 7, 2016).
The Arizona Trail is a National Scenic Trail covering 800 miles across desert and mountains from Mexico to Utah.
— Panorama by kenne
Genus Datana Caterpillars On a Manzanita Plant (Sycamore Canyon Trail, Santa Catalina Mountains, October 7, 2016) — Images by kenne
(Click on any image to see in a slideshow format.)
A group picture at Streve Saddle.
The Sycamore Canyon Reservoir Trail just below Shreve Saddle.
Liz is one of the new SCVN trainees.
Looking down at the base of the dam with a view of Thimble Peak.
Many Turpentine Bushes are in bloom in the canyon. — Images by kenne
Panorama View of Sycamore Canyon from Catalina Highway In the Santa Catalina Mountains (August 1, 2015)
— Image by kenne
View from Guthrie Peak Trail, Catalina Highway to the Right, Down Through Sycamore Canyon, Thumble Peak, Blackett’s Ridge, Tucson,
The Tucson Mountains with The Quinlan Mountains on the Tohono O’odham Nation In The Distance.
— Image by kenne
— kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 