Girl Atop Windy Point Pinnacle — Image by kenne
Windy Point Girl
She’s up there now,
short-shorts and sunlight,
heart beating faster
than the climb.
Wind takes her hair,
makes a banner of it—
victory in a wild language
only mountains understand.
Below, Tucson sprawls,
small as toy houses,
streets like veins
spilling into desert.
She smiles,
pushing back her hair,
as if the world itself
were hers to love,
and for a moment—
I swear it is.
— kenne
A view of the Tucson basin from near Windy Point Vista with thimble peak in the center-right. — Image by kenne
— from The Explorer by Rudyard Kipling
Snow At Windy Point Vista, Tucson, Arizona — Photo-Artistry by kenne
When I think of the historical Christ, I think of courage:
— Theodore Roosevelt
Windy Point Vista — Images by kenne
In August 2010 I took over 83 photos a young woman and two men climbing the rock spire at Windy Point Vista along Catalina Highway. It ended up being a fun unplanned project. I put a video together using the photos and also uploaded them to my Flickr account.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kennetu/albums/72157624822900088
kenne
Climbing the Rock Spire at Windy Point Video
Here’s a link to a 360 view at Windy Point Vista:
https://www.360cities.net/image/windy-point-vista-tucson-az
Rock Climbers on the Hitchcock Pinnacle at Windy Point On Mt. Lemmon — Image by kenne
Juniper Tree, Spirit That Is Me — Image by kenne
— Edward Abbey
Girl Atop Windy Point Vista Pinnacle Rock (August 20, 2010) — Image by kenne
— kenne
Windy Point Vista In The Santa Catalina Mountains — Image by kenne
Here’s a link to a 360 view from Windy Point Vista:
http://www.360cities.net/image/windy-point-vista-tucson-az
kenne
Most people don’t come to the desert to see snow, they come here to get away from it. But when you are a five-year-old boy living on the Texas gulf coast and have never been in snow, why not.
So, on the first day of Jill;s and James’ visit, we headed up Catalina highway to Mt. Lemmon.
At seven thousand feet, James kept asking, “Where’s the snow?” “I don’t see any snow!” We had stopped at Windy Point Vista for James to get his “mountain-feet.” A short distance beyond Windy Point Vista we started to see snow in shady along the highway and signs that James just might become a believer — Yes, James, there is snow on Mt. Lemmon.
This all being a new experience, James carefully picks up pieces of snow near the Ski Valley parking lot to toss.
It didn’t take James long to get the gist of it.
After spending some time at Ski Valley, we headed over the Marshall Gulch and walked down the snow-packed road.
By now the snowball fighting had taken on a new level of seriousness.
Photos of James, Mom, and Grandma by kenne
A short video clip playing in the snow at Ski Valley on M.t Lemmon.
Even though parts of southern Arizona received some rain late yesterday, the southwest remains very hot and dry. It is hope the the summer rains will help firefighters contain the fires without additional loss of life after the 19 deaths in the Yarnell Hill Fire last night.
When conditions are this dry, rain is needed to add moisture, reducing the amount of fuel for wildfires. However, with rain comes lightning, as was the case with yesterday’s rain in southern Arizona. Lightening started a fire at about the 5,000′ level in the Santa Catalina Mountains, not far from the eight mile marker on the Catalina Highway. The fire has burned over 200 acres and has been named the Prison Fire since is in the area where the former WW-II prison camp, now the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site.
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View of Catalina Highway near Windy Point with smoke to the upper right and a red helicopter near the lower center of the photo.
On most Mondays in the summer, I hike with the Monday Morning Milers on Mount Lemmon. This morning’s hike was on the Knagge Cabin trail at Incinerator Ridge, which is located about 3,000′ above the Prison Fire.
Readying the bucket to drop water on hotspots.
After starting the hike, I noticed a red helicopter circling below, so I move for a better view of what was up. The helicopter was landing near a water tank where a bucket was being attached to a cable from the helicopter.
Since I had driven up the mountain by myself, not needing to wait for other hikers, I decided to get a closer look at this helicopter firefighting method to help put out hotspots. Driving down the highway, stopping at several points to take photos. I was not able to go into the Prison camp area because of security, so my closest photos were taken near the entrance. A professional photographer was nearby, so we talked about the wildfire. He is in one of 26 images you can see on Flickr by clicking here.
kenne
Images by kenne (To See More Images, Click here.)
Climbers at Windy Point In The Santa Catalinas Over Looking Tucson, Arizona — Image by kenne
Panoramic View of the Rincon Mountains from above Windy Point Vista in the Catalina Mountains (6,600 feet) — Image by kenne
Katelyn — Image by kenne (Click here to see Flickr photo set.)
David & The Girls at Windy Point Vista
