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Carleen's Hiking SpaceHe guides me in the right paths. Psalm 23:3b GNT
April 09 2008-03-22 Agua Caliente Hill & Ridge for wildflowersOK, I'll admit it, I finally read the directions that came with the camera, and now I know what the little flower icon means: it's for taking closeups of things like flowers! I made good use of that setting today.
It was already a very warm day by the time we reached the Agua Caliente TH around 8:45. This is the small mtn between the Catalinas and the Rincons. Blooms were plentiful and panoramas breathtaking as you can see from the volume of photos included (and this is not even half of what I took!)
The hike covered about 5.5 miles and 1000 feet net gain.
I will add more names of flowers later. Feel free to add comments to identify them or correct the names I include.
4/28/08 Thank you Fred and Tom in Wisconsin for taking the time to ID (or verify my few guesses of) so many of these blooms!
1, 2, & 3 Views from the first part of the climb.
5, 6 & 7 views from lunch in the drainage/canyon were worth the bushwhack!
The wildflowers were fully opened on the way back in the heat of nearly midday.
12 & 13 Views from the way back along the ridge incl tank from #4
2008-03-08 AZ Trail Maintenance from Bellota Ranch westThis all-day working hike required an early start and a bumpy ride east over Reddington Pass to Bellota Ranch area. It was sad to see so much litter at the makeshift and very active shooting ranges up in the pass. Once at Bellota, we hiked in (to the west) about 3 miles to a trail junction then worked our way back filling in many wash-outs with rock and dirt we found around the trail. I wasn't effective with a pick-axe but did fine with the rock-hauling and dirt/sand shoveling. Afterwards I walked up to the ranch gate and over to a spot overlooking the lake. Estimated net elevation gain = 500 feet .
1, 2, and 3 scenes along the way in.
4, 5, & 6 Scenes along the way as we worked our way back.
7, 8 & 9 Early blooms
7= Mansanita, 8= Gilia (Phlox family), & 9= Desert Alyssum Thanks to Fred and Tom in WI for the IDs!
March 03 2008-03-03 Three Tanks LoopWe left the Douglas Springs TH at 7 and followed the same route we did on 1/28. As I had hoped, I've gotten a bit stronger over the past month since the last time I did this loop. No huffin and puffin this time, just enjoying the view and the company of new friends. It was a chilly, breezy morning and the wind gusts were downright cold especially up at the top.
We had an international group this morning. Hikers originally from France, Argentina, Belgium, plus the eastern and mid-west USA were among the 10 of us.
We saw several wildflowers' early blooms. I'd appreciate help identifying the ones I didn't label and correcting the ones I've labeled wrong.
No photos of the goldfish in Steel Tank this time either, but they enjoyed their snack.
These are much paler yellow than Saturday's poppies which also didn't have such pronounced stamen.
March 02 2008-03-01 Cactus Forest to Lime Falls & 75th Anniversary of Saguaro National ParkWe met back to the Broadway Trailhead this morning at 9 for a leisurely (6 mi in 3 hr ) nearly flat hike (100 ft gain) down Cactus Forest Trail to Dead End Trail to Lime Falls and back, changing it up a bit by turning onto Mica View Trail to reach the Broadway TH. We stopped along the CFT to look down into abandoned lime kilns.
Fueling these smelters led to the deforestation of this area.
I went down there after our hike to hear some interesting speakers whose programs were part of the Park's/Monument's 75th Anniversary celebrations. The cake and lemonade were good, too.
March 01 2008-02-29 Leap Year Twighlight Hike and PicnicWhoohoo! I saw my first rattlesnake of the season on this twighlight hike! "But where is the photographic proof?" you ask. Well there isn't any; you'll just have to trust me. Since it was nearly dark by the time we reached Mica Picnic area, I left my camera in my pack at the table with those who stayed behind to stoke the coals and roast the brats. So up (well actually south on) the dirt road we went with just our flashlights stopping now and then to try and identify the major constellations shining down on us from a moonless sky.
Somehow I ended up in front early on and hadn't yet turned on my light. I chided myself for getting jumpy over a silly little stick in the road and stepped around it. From behind me came a collective gasp: "You just walked past a snake!" So of course we all trained our lights on the young (12-14 inch-) western diamondback trying to absorb the last bit of the day's warmth from the packed dirt. It was fully stretched out and wasn't moving so we all got a really good look from a safe distance at even the thick black and white bands just before its tiny rattle. It had the namesake diamond patterns down its back and had lots of gray and black speckling down his flanks. The only bite of the experience was that I realized all our beams probably would have produced enough light for a really good picture.
I need to learn what all the other settings are on my camera. I know there are better settings for catching sunsets, but learning what they are would require reading the instruction manual or taking multiple shots as I turn the dial.
Anyway enjoy these three photos (using basic all-purpose setting) of the sunset silhouettes from Mica View Trail between the Broadway TH and Mica Picnic area.
February 26 2008-01-19 Golden Gate TrailFrom here on my blogs are "backwards" according to typical blogging order. That's because I starting this project with my then latest hike (at the time) and worked back to this, my first.
Hiking Club's New Member Hike on the west side of the Tucson Mtns: 3.5 mi, 300 ft elevation gain. We started from Yetman TH at pulloff #3 Gates Pass Rd and climbed to saddle at jct with Golden Gate Tr. That climb accounted for most of the gain. Great views of western ranges, Old Tucson Studios just to the north, and of course, Golden Gate Mtn which is more of a hill compared to the surrounding peaks. We enjoyed a BYO picnic lunch across Kinney Rd, then car shuttle back to TH.
2008-01-26 Sutherland TrailThis was a comfortably paced 6 mi. hike with a 500 ft gain affording beautiful vistas of the northwestern side of the Santa Catalina Mtns from Catalina State Park.
We were back in plenty of time for the club's annual winter picnic.
The Sutherland Trail TH winds mostly northeast from the northern end of the park drive. I lost count of the creek crossings in the lower section of the trail. Thanks to the many stepping stones, no one got wet boots. After a brief climb we were on a rocky plateau for the majority of the hike. After a few more brief climbs, we descended quickly into a shallow section of Cargodera Canyon for a snack/rest, then retraced our route back down to the park.
2008-01-28 Three Tanks LoopI may have been a bit too much of a newbie for this early morning fitness (read: quick pace with a steep climb) 5.6 mile hike with a 900 ft gain concentrated in the middle section. I did keep up, but look forward to repeating this hike in early March to see if my perceived exertion at that pace (2.5 hrs with breaks) has improved.
We met at the Douglas Springs TH at the end of Speedway at 7a.m, turned off onto Garwood Trail almost immediately and headed SSW to a sandy wash where we switched to Wildhorse Trail continuing south and up into the foothills. Just after Wildhorse got steep, we turned east onto Three Tanks Trail (where it starts) and the real fun began. We stopped briefly at the Steel Goldfish Tank which really does contain goldfish, but I couldn't post that picture because I didn't have the other hikers' permission to post photos of them.
We continued climbing Three Tanks up into the front range and behind the ridges you see from the TH and over the pass to it's end at Douglas Springs Trail which we took back down (WNW) to where we began.
February 25 2008-02-20 Esperero Trail to Bird CanyonNotes to go with 2008-02-20 Photo Album For this hike into the Catalina foothills and front range we met at the Sabino Canyon NP visitors' center. Hike was about 5 miles and climbed about 700 ft (lowest to highest points) with LOTS of ups and downs. We were actually planning to hike the lower Phoneline, but the water was still running too high across the only access bridge.
2008-02-23 Garwood-Wildhorse LoopThis hike formed a sort of figure 8 shape going up into the foothills of the Rincons from the east end of Speedway. We went a short way up Douglas Spring to Garwood Trail which makes an S path heading mostly south. Then we headed east on Carillo Trail past Garwood Dam to where Carillo intersects Wildhorse and took a spur south to Little Wildhorse tank (this time the pool at the bottom of the waterfall, sometimes a literal metal tank or blocked off section of a stream used as a watering hole for livestock). Then we retraced our steps back along the spur and continued north along Wildhorse Trail which follows an S shape thus almost closing a figure 8, but we actually hit Speedway about 1/2 mi west of our starting point. Elevation gain was only about 400 feet (lowest pt to highest pt), but the views were spectacular! Length was 5.5 mi.
2008-02-25 Douglas Springs to Bridal Wreath FallsThis hike was from 7:15-10:15 a.m. It was 5.5 mi with 1000ft gain (lowest to highest pt). We met at the east end of Speedway as we did Saturday and headed up the Douglas Spring Trail into the Saguaro National Park East into the Rincon foothills. This time we stayed on it all the way to Bridal Wreath Falls mostly heading ESE until the spur to the falls which took us south up a little higher then dropped us steeply into a canyon (the name of which I haven't seen labeled on any of my maps and it's just referred to as a drainage in my guidebook) below the falls. Amazingly I rock hopped and boulder climbed without getting wet...this time. We retraced our route back down.
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