Month: December 2014

Bigelow Trail and Butterfly Trail, Playing in the Snow – 12/28/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
1412 Snowy Ridges and the valley below
Snowy ridges from the Butterfly Trail – below Mount Bigelow. December 2014.

 

The Bigelow Trailhead, and the highway, were crowded with people enjoying the snow – it was a sleds and snowballs day on the mountain!

In shorts and a t-shirt I had on fewer layers of clothing (and more sunscreen) than any of the people I left behind at the trailhead – I might have been going a little farther, but we were all doing the same thing – just playing in the snow…

1412 Snow on the Butterfly Trail below Mount Bigelow
The Butterfly Trail covered in snow – not far from the junction with the Bigelow and Kellogg Trails. December 2014.

 

The hillsides below Mount Bigelow had a fun amount of snow – but by the end of my short hike, where the Butterfly Trail was in the sun, the snow disappeared. 2.76 miles, 800′ of elevation gain/loss.

1412 Butterfly Trail and Bigelow Trail Junction
The junction of the Butterfly, Bigelow and Kellogg Trails. December 2014.

End of the day on the Babad Do’ag Trail – 12/25/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
1412 Babad Do'ag Vista
Sunlight thru the clouds from the Babad Do’ag Vista. December 2014.

 

Happy Holidays!!! We found time, late in the day, for a hike on the Babad Do'ag Trail – a storm provided beautiful views, and eventually rain on the trail.

Light beaming thru the clouds, headlights screaming down the highway and rain rolling across the Tucson city lights – 4.7 miles, 1250′ of elevation gain and loss.

1412 Rain Rolling Across Tucson
Rain rolling across the Tucson City lights from the Babad Do’ag Trail. December 2014.

 

New Book, Splendors, Bighorn Pictures and Death

Posted - Charles Miles

Treasures of the Catalina Mountains: Book tells tales – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: A new book about the Santa Catalina Mountains!! Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains: Unraveling the Legends and History of the Santa Catalina Mountains by Robert Zucker is now available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle formats – this page provides more information about the book. I have just started reading the book – so far I am enjoying it and have already learned new things about the range – I have also been very interested/impressed by the number of references the book provides (in some cases seeing where the information comes from has been almost as fascinating as the story itself!). (Note that the current Kindle version is completely readable and enjoyable, but does have some odd formatting (at least on my device) – I have not seen the paperback yet but I suspect it has a more polished layout at this point.)

Game and Fish: Mountain lion kills second bighorn – Arizona Daily Star, AZ Game and Fish confirms death of another bighorn sheep – Brent Corrado – KGUN9, Bighorn sheep found dead in Catalina Mountains – Scott Oathout – KVOA.com: A 2nd Bighorn from the group released late this year has been confirmed to be dead – the current assumption, because of the location of the kill, is that the ewe was killed by the same Mountain Lion that recently killed another Bighorn from this group. This death occurred earlier in the month and has only recently been confirmed – initially the Bighorn’s collar was assumed to be malfunctioning and the carcass and collar were difficult to locate.

New Bighorn Pictures – The Friends of Catalina Bighorn Sheep recently shared several great/recent pictures of Bighorn Sheep in the Santa Catalina Mountains on their Facebook page – these have been used in at least one recent news article about the Bighorn.

Hike leads to splendors of the Sonoran Desert – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: Some great advice on and ideas of a great tour of the desert, especially for visitors to Tucson, starting from Sabino Canyon and using the Esperero Trail, Rattlesnake Trail and road.

 

La Milagrosa Trail to the Gate – 12/21/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
1412 Alison on the La Milagrosa Trail
Cack to the trailhead – into the sun – the La Milagrosa Trail. December 2014.

There is still snow on the mountain – but rather than join the crowds at the top we took advantage of the weather at the bottom. In summer the La Milagrosa Trail has a merciless lack of shade, best avoided – but right now the weather is perfect for this trail.

1412 Butterfly near the La Milagrosa Trail
December on the La Milagrosa Trail – there are fewer flowers than there were at the start of December – but still some beautiful colors. December 2014.

Avenida de Suzenu Trailhead to the gate in the fence line on the La Milagrosa Trail – 8.6 miles, 1800′ of elevation gain/loss.

1412 Sunset from the La Milagrosa Trail 02
Sunset from the La Milagrosa Trail. December 2014.

AZGF Requests Voluntary Early Bighorn Closure, Ice

Posted - Charles Miles

AZGFD prepares for lambs; trail restrictions in place till April – Sean Mooney and Anthony Reyes – KVOA.com, Wildlife officials to hikers: Help protect bighorns – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: The official Bighorn Sheep Closure in the Santa Catalina Mountains starts on January 1 and runs until April 30 – AZGF is asking hikers to voluntarily begin observing the closure immediately. The reason for the request is speculation that the lambing season will start early this year for ewes brought from the Canyon Lake area northeast of Phoenix (there are reports of lambs being born already this year in that area).

Limited access to Mt. Lemmon Highway due to icy roads – Tucson News Now: Open with restrictions – storms this time of year could cause changes at any time!