Flooded Redington Road and Lower Edgar Canyon – 2/24/2019

Redington Road - flooded and closed. February 2019.
Redington Road – flooded and closed. February 2019.

Most of the time driving across the sandy bed of the San Pedro River on Redington road is a complete non-event, easy to miss, and the occasional road closures in the area are a bit of a mystery until you see San Pedro River flowing and the road underwater… Another beautiful result of our wet winter!

I had hoped to see a ribbon of water trickling towards the San Pedro at the mouth of Edgar Canyon – but, driving across, nothing… A bit up-canyon where the gas line road cuts down into the canyon – still dry… Finally, 20 or 30 minutes up-canyon, water appears – not rushing or filling the canyon wall to wall, but a steady clear flow slightly sunken into the gravel.

Farther up canyon I loop up above the canyon to see the line of Sycamores, look for flowers and then wander into long shadows before returning down canyon and making the long drive home.

Water in Edgar Canyon. February 2019.
Water in Edgar Canyon. February 2019.
Looking down Edgar Canyon as it heads towards the San Pedro with Bassett Peak in the background. February 2019.
Looking down Edgar Canyon as it heads towards the San Pedro with Bassett Peak in the background. February 2019.
A narrow section of side canyon. February 2019.
A narrow section of side canyon. February 2019.
Crow Poison. February 2019.
Crow Poison. February 2019.
Red Maid. February 2019.
Red Maid. February 2019.
Shadows. February 2019.
Shadows. February 2019.

Almost Super Moon from Kellogg Mountain – 11/13/2016

We hike up the Bigelow Trail to the junction with the Butterfly Trail and then wander up to the top of Kellogg Mountain. Tall trees on the eastern slope, missed by the fires that scorched much of the mountain over a decade ago, block our view – from a rocky perch farther down the ridge we can clearly see Bassett Peak and the spot where the moon will rise – just a few minutes of waiting in the cold wind and then…

Almost supermoon - moonrise. November 2016.
Almost supermoon – moonrise. November 2016.
Moon over the Galiuro Mountains. November 2016.
Moon over the Galiuro Mountains. November 2016.

On the 13th the moonrise was about 10 minutes before the sunset and we thought with some luck we might get the almost-supermoon rising against beautiful sunset color – it didn’t quite work out exactly as planned, the light on the eastern mountains faded faster than expected – but still beautiful, and the clouds around the setting sun were spectacular!

Sunset from Kellogg Mountain. November 2016.
Sunset from Kellogg Mountain. November 2016.