AZGF Requests Voluntary Early Bighorn Closure, Ice

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!

 

Bighorn Death, Gate Closures, Flowers, Sunset, Fire, Sun

Game and Fish: Another bighorn sheep killed by mountain lion – Jackie Kent – Tucson News Now: A ewe released this November has been killed by a Mountain Lion.

The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 11/13 to 12/3 is now available (all updates are currently available here). The update includes a map showing one week of movement from both the 2013 release group and the 2014 group – at a glance, for this week, the 2014 group was clustered in the southwest part of the range while the 2013 were much more widely spread. It is interesting to compare this data with the maps from 7/21 to 8/3 where the 2013 group appears to have been more tightly grouped into the southwest part of the range – however it may be that the way the data is depicted is not really comparable between the two maps (and the timescale is certainly different).

Seasonal road closures on Mt. Lemmon, roads expected to reopen March 1, 2015: “The Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest will temporarily close and lock gates Monday December 15 on seasonal roads and day-use sites in the upper elevations of Mt. Lemmon due to expected weather-related unsafe driving conditions.” Note that the gated road remain open for non-motorized use and that the schedule of closing and that it is possible the gates could be closed earlier/stay closed longer due to weather/road conditions.

Recent rains won’t necessarily nurture lots of wildflowers – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: The article notes that the most recent rains are likely too late to create a new large wildflower display. While it is not prime wildflower season there are still a surprising number of flowers in the mountains – but with colder weather predicted for the weekend they may not last… 

Ventana Canyon lit by magical autumn sunsets– Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: An inspiring set of descriptions of the lovely light in Ventana Canyon.

Redington Pass prescribed burning scheduled to begin Wednesday – Anthony Victor Reyes – KVOA.com: Scheduled for 12/10 to 12/12 .

Solar panels bring sun’s power to campgrounds – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: You may have noticed the solar panels on the mountain (in Molino Basin for example) – this article gives some of the details about the panels and what they power.

Sycamore Reservoir, Seasonal Gate Closure – 2014/6/25

Enjoyed a beautiful night for a run on the Sycamore Reservoir Trail last night – the highlight may have been the beautiful rattlesnake coiled on the trail, what an amazing sight!

If you have not been to the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site recently note that the gates to the lower parking are have been closed – the upper parking area is open and there is no closure of trails or of foot/bike/horse travel on road thru the campground – you can still enjoy hiking in the area!

1406 Seasonal Closure
Seasonal Gate Closure in the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area.

West Fork Trail Closed due to Mountain Lion

Trail part closed by mountain-lion action and TEMPORARY CLOSURE FOR PORTIONS OF WEST FORK TRAIL The Arizona Daily Star reports a short term Mountain Lion Closure on the West Fork Trail (from Sabino Canyon Trail to the Cathedral Rock Trail – closing Hutch’s Pool) due to concern about the behavior of a Mountain Lion in the area (they are careful to note that there has not been an attack).