The gate at the entrance to the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site is closed, the sun is hot and Sycamore Canyon is dry – summer! And a simple day out with friends enjoying the trails!!
After several recent Bighorn deaths it is encouraging that there are now reports of an additional lamb – More lambs spotted in the Catalinas – Ally Aldrete – KGUN9, Another lamb seen in Catalina Mountains – Arizona Daily Star.
In Bear Canyon the Forest Service is starting a project to try to reduce the Bark Beetle population – trees will be removed from areas including “Cypress, Middle bear and Chihuahua Pine Picnic Areas and General Hitchcock Campground. Generally canyon bottom and north-facing slopes” with the goal of stopping the spread of the beetles to adjacent trees and reducing the fire hazard that can be created by trees killed by the beetles. Expect closures to these areas when work is in progress. Forest Service Schedule of Proposed Actions for the Coronado National Forest, 400 beetle infested trees to be removed on Mt. Lemmon – Matt Fernandez – KVOA.com, Bark beetle removal project to begin on Mt. Lemmon – Elizabeth Walton – Tucson News Now.
Oracle State Park events for 2015 – Elizabeth Walton – Tucson News Now: Also see the Oracle State Park homepage.
Let it snow – Chastity Laskey – The Daily Wildcat: Some notes on the recent snow and things to do in Summerhaven and on the mountain.
Off the Vine wine festival – Elizabeth Walton – Tucson News Now: A wine festival is scheduled for the Steam Pump Ranch in February.
The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 12/4 to 12/17 is now available (all updates are currently available here). Two reported mortalities – the death of ewe 435 by a mountain lion and ewe 649 who is now presumed dead (a malfunctioning collar delayed confirmation of this mortality – the helicopter survey observed bones near 649’s last position). On 12/3 a helicopter survey of the Bighorn population was conducted – 15 sheep and 1 lamb were spotted – the survey was conducted without the use of the GPS data from the collars to help establish an observation rate for future years/surveys.
Mt. Lemmon firefighters face unique challenges in the snow – Christina Myers – KGUN9: Interesting details about the winter challenges/duties of the Firefighters with the Mt. Lemmon Fire District – “the most frequent calls in the snow are for hypothermia, people slipping on ice and falling over the edge, and sledding accidents.”
Man falls, injured while hiking in Seven Falls – Brent Corrado – KGUN9: “A man was injured after slipping and falling while hiking in Seven Falls on Sunday morning.”
Coronado Passes and Permits – Annual and Daily Passes for Coronado National Forest are now available for purchase online. When you are purchasing a pass you can either select a ‘self-print’ option or have the pass mailed to you (currently shipping costs start at 4.95) – a $1.95 convenience fee is added per permit (there are a number of self-pay stations (cash and correct change needed) on the mountain where day passes can be purchased without printing/shipping/convenience fee – additional information on fees can be found on the Coronado National Forest Passes and Permits Page). Interagency Annual Passes (which covers standard fees at Forest Service, National Park and BLM sites) and Notice of Required Fee resolution are also available online. Note that most trailheads in the Santa Catalina Mountains do NOT require a fee.
Arizona Game And Fish – materials from meetings of the Catalina Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction Project Advisory Committee: Arizona Game and Fish recently released meeting notes for the Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction Advisory Committee meetings in response to a public records request (see Catalina Bighorn Sheep Advisory Committee – Meeting Notes, Public Records Request for more details) – this AZGF page has the notes (as PDFs) and additional information including some responses to criticisms/questions the release of the notes generated.
Presumed death of bighorn brings criticism of state’s tracking – Craig Reck – Tucson News Now: Concerns about counting/tracking sheep in the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Warming trend begins – Arizona Daily Star.
We hiked in on the Molino Basin and Sycamore Reservoir Trails to Sycamore Reservoir and then camped a short distance up Bear Canyon – great weather for camping in the canyon and plenty of great spots to set up.
It had been cloudy all day – but the clouds started to clear just before sunset letting the nearly full moon brighten the night – I hiked out to the Bear Canyon, East Fork and Sycamore Reservoir Trail Junction and then up onto the nearby hills to take advantage of the light – eventually I headed back to camp and enjoyed the company.
Mt. Lemmon wildfire sparks concerns for Forest Service – 1/4 acre, 45 minutes to extinguish, human caused – at least when we drove up the highway traffic was not even stopped in the area – a very minor fire but early in the season.