Summerhaven, Mt. Lemmon — Computer Painting by kenne
Cabin in the woods
a place to be alone
imposing my philosophy
on no one else, writing
words once forgotten
now for future thought.
Once erect, now bent
I stand with a head high
walking the nearby trails
where I stop a hiker
hoping I might share my
knowledge of the mountain.
Catalinas, Catalinas,
beautiful mountains
with your many biomes —
the queen of diversity
soon to be memories
in a time lost in my mind.
— kenne
While hiking the very dusty Aspen Draw Trail on Mount Lemmon I saw my first columbine flower of the summer. It was one of the few wildflowers currently blooming on the mountain. It is very dry in the Santa Catalinas. Much of the trail has a top layer of gray power dust. The summer rains are needed to help bring on the wildflowers. The few that have appeared are short in height and the blooms aren’t lasting very long.
Last summer this blog probably had too many columbine images because they are so irresistible. I hope I will soon be able to post a beautiful fresh-looking columbine.
Here are two links to posts last June:
https://kenneturner.com/2012/06/14/capturing-the-moment-golden-columbine/
https://kenneturner.com/2012/07/03/one-of-my-favorite-wildflowers-golden-columbine/
kenne
Images by kenne
Gathering outside the Mount Lemmon Community Center for a hike up Turkey Run & other roads on Mount Lemmon — Image by kenne
An article in Saturday’s Arizona Daily Star began, “Hikers — barred from their favorite high mountain trails because of extreme fire danger — are not about to pull off their boots and backpacks and stay home.”
It’s all about finding alternatives, which is exactly what the groups I hike with have done. Twice a week, we carpool the 25-plus miles to Summerhaven on Mount Lemmon to hike/walk the non-national forest roads on the mountaintop. Although not as secluded and adventurous as the trails, there’s still plenty to see with the help of experienced hikers and naturalist in our groups.
Yesterday we hiked up Turkey Run, starting at the intersection of Turkey Run and Sabino Canyon Park, to other roads nearing the top of the ski-lift area. The following video is of still shots I took. You can also see the individual photos by clicking here.
