Month: October 2014

New Bighorn Release Planned, Bigelow Sunset – 10/26/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles

More bighorns being relocated to Catalinas, Arizona Daily Star, Doug Kreutz – The first news article that I have seen about the intent to release 30 additional Bighorns into the Santa Catalina Mountains before the end of the year. There are a number of interesting details in the article including: the intended primary source of sheep is from the Tonto National Forest and that “the exact sheep release sites in the Catalinas will not be disclosed to the public”.

The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 9/29 to 10/12 has been available for over a week now (all updates are currently available here) – no changes are noted in population numbers, some interesting research notes are included: “we will use the sheep location data being collected via satellite collars to quantify an “intensity of space use” for each sheep by constructing a utilization distribution (UD)”.

 

1410 Sunset off the Bigelow Road
Clouds in the Sunset from a hillside near the Bigelow Road not far from Mount Bigelow. October 2014.

I enjoyed an evening run on 1918, Secret and Bigelow Road – on 1918 thru Bear Wallow there are still fall colors on the trees and the fallen leaves on the trail were a treat – the big trees on Secret made the dark cool evening even more enjoyable after our long summer – this was the first time I can remember in recent months that it was cool enough for a long sleeve shirt! 4.9 miles, +/- 890′ of elevation gain/loss.

Point 5166 South of the Bellota Trail, 10/25/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
1410 Ridge East of the Highway near the Ruins
The ridge east of the Highway near the Ruins climbing area. October 2014.

We started at the Molino Canyon Overlook and took the un-official climber’s trail (to the Ruins) out of Molino Canyon and up to the ridge. Earlier in the year we turned to the south and visited the Weathertop area – today we turned north and hiked in the sea of grass and shindaggers along the ridge while the sun disappeared in the west.

1410 The Day Trailing into West
The day trailing off to the west. October 2014.

We reached Point 5166 in the dark – the rocky high point is south of the Bellota Trail – we watched lights on the highway and Redington Road, City Lights, Clouds and the stars.

1410 Night on Point 5166 above the Bellota Trail
On Point 5166 watching cars coming down the highway with the clouds lit by the city lights. October 2014.

On the Bellota Trail we sat and pulled the painful grass seeds out of our shoes while a Mantis used us and our lights to hunt. With the finish on the highway back to the car – 4.5 miles, +/-1250′ of elevation gain/loss.

1410 A Mantis on the Bellota Trail
Mantis. October 2014.

Palisade Trail to Pine Canyon, 10/19/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
1410 Acmaeodera
An Acmaeodera on yellow flowers just off the Palisade Trail on the banks of Pine Canyon (I believe this is an Acmaeodera Gibbula on ‘Mountain Marigold’ Tagetes lemmoni). October 2014.

It was great to see clouds in the sky from the Palisade Trailhead, but it wasn’t until we left the Palisade Trail some 3 miles into our hike, wandered thru the yellow flowers and explored Pine Canyon above the first falls that I looked back and realized that we might get to enjoy some rain…

1410 Above the First Falls Looking up Pine Canyon
In Pine Canyon looking up-canyon into the dark clouds – above the first falls. October 2014.

Water was flowing nicely at the first falls – but it wasn’t our destination for the day. We continued down the trail – past Mud Spring – eventually leaving the trail and taking a small drainage towards a favorite spot above Pine Canyon.

1410 Looking down Pine Canyon Storm Moving In
Looking down Pine Canyon into Tucson with beautiful storm clouds above. October 2014.

It was a good day to sit for awhile and enjoy the rain… 7 miles, +/-1600′ of elevation gain/loss.

1410 Watching a Storm from the West Ridge of Pine Canyon
Enjoying the storm. October 2014.

1918 and Bigelow Road, Fall Colors, Construction – 10/20/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
1410 Fall Color
Fall color above the the 1918 Trail. October 2014.

There was steady traffic on the highway and every trailhead I could see had at least one car – on such a lovely day it was inspiring to see so many people out enjoying the mountain. I parked at the Sunset Trailhead and took the unsigned 1918 Trail – the trail runs along a stream near the highway and into the Bear Wallow area – never far from the road, but so beautiful with the fall colors that the sounds of the cars are easily forgotten.

1410 Fall Color along 1918
Bright fall color in the sun along the 1918 Trail. October 2014.

Eventually I turned onto Bigelow Road – steady running to the top – back the way I came. 1918 and Bigelow Road to Mount Bigelow and back the same way – 7 miles, +/- 930′ elevation gain/loss (round-trip).

The changing leaves have been featured in several recent articles – both have some suggestions about places to go to see the colors: Autumn leaves flush Catalinas with color, Douglas Kreutz, Arizona Daily Star – and Hittin’ the Trails 4 You: Mt. Lemmon’s Fall color hot spots, Jeff Beamish, KVOA.com.

Another great post to with some fall colors in the Santa Catalina Mountains is Sirena’s Happy 5th Anniversary! – congratulations to Sirena on her blog’s 5th anniversary! Sirena’s Wanderings is a GREAT source of information and inspiration!

Road construction is on-going – on the weekends there are no delays but areas like the one below (with the pavement removed) located just down-mountain from the Ridgeline Parking Pullout are likely to cause delays on the weekdays…

1410 Construction on the General Hitchcock Highway
Pavement removed – construction underway – there are no current delays on the weekend days, but expect delays during the week – just below the Ridgeline Parking Area. October 2014.