Catalina State Park Sunsets, Comet, Flowers, Airmen Peak – 1/27/2016

Mesquite Bosque - Birding Trail, Catalina State Park. January 2016.
Mesquite Bosque – Birding Trail, Catalina State Park. January 2016.

The Catalina Comet was featured on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day – the picture was taken by Fritz Helmut Hemmerich who has more beautiful shots of the comet on flickr. The information with the picture notes that “Comet Catalina is now outbound from the inner Solar System and will slowly fade in coming months.” The Catalina Comet was discovered by – and named for – the Catalina Sky Survey.

Wildflowers blooming in desert canyons — in midwinter – Arizona Daily Star: A great call out for the flowers that are appearing around the Santa Catalina Mountains! Lucky rain and weather this year…

Recent Santa Catalina Bighorn Videos – there are five new short videos of Bighorns in the Santa Catalina Mountains on YouTube and currently linked on the Friends of Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Facebook Page – a nice contrast to the deaths in recent months!

I recently found the blog Contributing to the Problem – there are several great posts linked on the Hiking in the Santa Catalina Mountains page – I particularly enjoyed Molino Thimble and Airmen Peak that includes a short description of climbing the ‘Molino Thumb’ (southwest of Airmen Peak and labeled ‘The Thumb’ in the Molino Canyon Overview of Bob Kerry’s Backcountry Rockclimbing in Southern Arizona) and references the Airmen Peak page on this site.

Sunset light in Catalina State Park. January 2016.
Sunset light in Catalina State Park. January 2016.
Sutherland Wash in Catalina State Park - running water! January 2016.
Sutherland Wash in Catalina State Park – running water! January 2016.

Rock Art, Ranch, and Residence: Cultural Resources in the Town of Oro Valley and Its Planning Area – 1/20/2016

Snow and clouds on the top of the mountain. January 2016.
Snow and clouds – looking up at Mount Lemmon from Honeybee Canyon Park. January 2016.

Having taken several trips to Honeybee Canyon Park in the past few months I was looking for a little more information about the area and came across Rock Art, Ranch, and Residence: Cultural Resources in the Town of Oro Valley and Its Planning Area. This document was developed by William Self Associates for Oro Valley and completed in 2010.

The document covers the history of the Oro Valley area from the Paleoindian Period (10,000+ years ago) into the 20th century – some of the included information: Hohokam ruins such as Honey Bee Village and Sleeping Snake Village, early land claims in the area, notable 20th century architecture including the Countess of Suffolk’s Forest Lodge and information about later development in the area. While most of the information is fairly brief the broad overview was very interesting to read.

One of the details that I enjoyed was seeing the General Land Office maps of the Oro Valley Area. The General Land Office was created in 1812 and oversaw the survey, platting and sale of public land – including land in present day Oro Valley. The Oro Valley records are from the beginning of the 20th century when the area began to see a steady stream of homesteaders entering the area –  Rock Art, Ranch, and Residence asserts that:

The relatively late beginning for the settlement along the Canada del Oro can be attributed in large part to a continuing perception of the area as dangerous: it was still considered a place too far from Tuscon and too close to the usual range of the Apaches. (p. 60)

The Bureau of Land Management makes many General Land Office Records, dating back to 1810, available online. The map below, from 1902, shows Pusch and Zellweger’s Steam Pump Ranch (which you can still visit today)  – labeled Pusch Ranch – and another ranch – ‘Mexican Ranch’ – that was probably owned by the Marin family and later patented by Francisco Marin. The roads on the map are a reasonable match for modern roads – the early version of Oracle Road is especially easy to recognize!

Township 12 South, Range 14 East, 1902 - General Land Office.
Township 12 South, Range 14 East, 1902 – General Land Office.

 

Night, Sabino Canyon, Bear Canyon – 12/26/2015

Water flowing in Sabino Canyon. December 2015.
Water flowing in Sabino Canyon. December 2015.
A Saguaro in the Moon - moonrise above Bear Canyon. December 2015.
A Saguaro in the Moon – moonrise above Bear Canyon. December 2015.
On the road into Bear Canyon. December 2015.
On the road into Bear Canyon. December 2015.

The Cleaver and Pusch Peak – 12/25/2016

The Cleaver. December 2015.
The Cleaver. December 2015.
Pusch Peak descending into the city lights. December 2015.
Pusch Peak descending into the city lights. December 2015.

Christmas night in Honey Bee Canyon Park, clouds blocked our view of the rising full moon (oh well, gives us something to do in 2034 – the next time the moon is full on Christmas!) but it was such a lovely night that it really didn’t matter – Happy Holidays!!!

Sunset on the Santa Catalina Mountains from Honey Bee Canyon Park – 12/20/2015

A ribbon of sunset light on the Santa Catalina Mountains. December 2015.
A ribbon of sunset light on the Santa Catalina Mountains. December 2015.

Honey Bee Canyon Park in Oro Valley is a small park with trails winding thru beautiful desert squeezed between the many homes in the area – definitely worth visiting and at sunset the views of Pusch Ridge and the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains are amazing.

Sunset light on the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains. December 2015.
Sunset light on the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains. December 2015.
Last light on Table Mountain. December 2015.
Last light on Table Mountain. December 2015.