Buffelgrass, Lemmon, Lions, Events, Sledding

Posted January 13, 2015 - Charles Miles

Beat Back Buffelgrass Day 2015 – Beat Back Buffelgrass Day is January 24th – there are a number of different locations around Tucson including Catalina State Park with The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection!

Street Smarts: Highway, mountain named for botanist – Arizona Daily Star – David Leighton: Information on where the name ‘Mount Lemmon’ comes from.

Tucson Lion Killings Dropped Dramatically in 2014 – Kierán Suckling – Center for Biological Diversity – This press release from the Center for Biological Diversity points out that Mountain Lion kills by Hunters and Ranchers declined in the Catalina and Rincon Mountains in 2013 and 2014 (according to AZGF records). The release notes that in 2014 no Lions were killed in the ‘Bighorn Sheep Protected Area’ that was put in place in 2013 and bans hunting with hounds in an area similar to the Bighorn Sheep Closure Area that restricts recreational use in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness (see the current Arizona Hunting Regulations for the details of the ‘Bighorn Sheep Protected Area’).

Oracle State State Park Events – See the Oracle State Park Homepage for more details.

Saturday, January 24: Winter Evening Stargazing Event: Music, a “Ancient Native American Astronomical Practices” presentation and stargazing with telescopes – this is a great follow-up to the International Dark Sky Park status that park gained last year!
Saturday, January 31: Guided ‘Manzanita to Mariposa’ Loop Hike
Saturday, January 31: Arizona Trail Virtual Tour: Sirena Dufault will present on the Arizona Trail!

The snow at the start of the year resulted in great sales for businesses in Summerhaven – the General Store sold ‘around a thousand sleds!’. Restricted access to Mount Lemmon did not slow weekend business – Tucson News Now – Craig Reck, Mt. Lemmon businesses booming – KVOA.com – Domenica Fuller:

Mt. Lemmon sledding accidents send eight to the hospital over the weekend – KVOA.com – Lauren Reimer: “The most common injuries the sledders received were head injuries and broken bones.” The article mentions two interesting details – the injuries happened to both children and adults, and that from New Year’s Eve to January 6th ‘about ten thousand people have visited Summerhaven’.

Wood pile burning to continue on Mt. Lemmon – KGUN9 – Ina Ronquillo

Whitetail Tank – 1/3/2015

Updated May 26, 2019 - Posted January 12, 2015 - Charles Miles

After visiting the La Milagrosa Trail several times over the past few months and consulting maps of the area I began to wonder why I had never noticed passing the junction with Forest Road 4446 where it turns towards Whitetail Tank, it seems so clear on the map…

The La Milagrosa Trail in red - Horsehead Road (where the hike starts) on the left - Forest Road 4446 to Whitetail Tank (marked 4WD) breaks from the La Milagrosa Trail near La Milagrosa Canyon

Standing on the Milagrosa Trail looking at (what may be) a faint old grass covered 4wd road I tell myself that on the other side of the canyon FR4446 will be obvious – that it is simply well disguised near the La Milagrosa Trail so that hikers and bikers won’t accidentally turn onto it. Unfortunately on the other side of the canyon I actually find even fewer hints of the old road… I watch the GPS and try to follow the line on the map – sometimes directly and sometimes criss-crossing it’s path – occasionally finding it, but mostly just looking for it – thankfully the terrain is open enough that it doesn’t really matter that the desert seems to have completely reclaimed stretches of the road.

1501 FR4446 — The now obscure track of Forest Road 4446 is in the center of the picture – this was one of the few places where I felt 99.9% sure that I was actually on the road! January 2015.

1501 Whitetail Tank — Looking back to Whitetail Tank from the hillside of the drainage to the northeast. January 2015.

The tank is larger than I expected, dry and covered with short brown grass. Standing in the tank a small cliff catches my eye – a few minutes of walking in the small drainage above the tank and I reach a lovely drip, black and wet, with clumps of ice on the tree below.

1501 Wall upcanyon from Whitetail Tank — A small cliff in the drainage above the tank – a small flow of water darkens some of the rock. January 2015.

1501 Ice below the drip near Whitetail Tank — I was surprised to find Ice on a tree at the base of the cliff! January 2015.

From the base of the cliff I worked up to the ridge above and then down into the canyon below, eventually looping back to the La Milagrosa Trail via a wandering off-trail route.

1501 Grass in La Milagrosa Canyon — Looking down La Milagrosa Canyon. January 2015.

Whitetail Tank from the Avenida de Suzenu Trailhead – one-way – is approximately 2.8 miles with 1,100′ of elevation gain – maps show FR4446 as a 4WD road but don’t expect to find much of the road and certainly don’t count on it for navigation, take a map and plan on using it – this is essentially an off-trail hike.

Pima Canyon Trail in the Snow, 1/1/2015

Updated May 26, 2019 - Posted January 3, 2015 - Charles Miles

Winter weather forecasts have disappointed many times – but the New Year’s Day conditions lived up to the hype – snow covering all of the Santa Catalina Mountains and blanketing the desert – what a fantastic start to 2015!

At 10AM there was snow covering everything around the Iris Dewhirst Pima Canyon Trailhead – all wintery and white! There were quite a few cars in the parking lot and the first section of the trail was filled with people enjoying the snow – the views looking up the canyon were amazing!

1501 Looking up Pima Canyon — Looking up Pima Canyon – Winter Wonderland! January 2015.

After the first canyon crossing snow covered plants hung over the trail – not hard to push thru, but cold!

1501 Snow covering all the plants along the Pima Canyon Trail — Snow covered plants push into the Pima Canyon Trail. January 2015.

The footsteps in the snow disappeared before the dam…

1501 Rock and Snow in Pima Canyon — At the first dam looking up canyon with clouds swirling above. January 2015.

After the dam the snow becomes subtly ever deeper and the trail becomes a little harder to find – even in good weather this section has fewer visitors – I pause occasionally to puzzle out a path.

1501 Snow around the Second Dam on the Pima Canyon Trail — Deeper snow blanketing the area around the 2nd Dam in Pima Canyon. January 2014.

The shoe prints ended over a mile ago – now there are deer tracks in the snow, it doesn’t take long to realize the the tracks are following the trail, for a time I simply follow them – the deer clearly knows this section of trail better than I do.

1501 Higher in Pima Canyon — Looking up canyon from the Pima Canyon Trail – eventually in the tight canyon ahead I lost the trail and turned around for the day. January 2015.

A sound draws my attention across the canyon and I turn to watch ice falling from rock walls – the deer tracks plunge steeply off the trail towards the bottom of the canyon – at the time I didn’t think anything of it, but in retrospect maybe they know the conditions better than I do… Minutes later the trackless trail crosses the canyon and I loose it on the hillside above, it takes a few zig-zags up and down the hillside to find it again. A few more minutes of trail and I am left standing in the bottom of the snow covered canyon trying to remember if the trail crosses onto the hillside above or stays near the canyon bottom – time to turn around.

Lower on the trail the conditions have changed – the plants that were covered in snow earlier are now standing straight again – wet, but without a hint of snow.

1501 Later in the day on the Pima Canyon Trail with the snow melted — Lower on the trail the snow that had blanketed everything earlier in the day was gone – amazing to see it change so fast! January 2015.

Pima Canyon Trail. 10.9 miles, 3000′ of elevation gain and loss.

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

Updated May 26, 2019 - Posted December 31, 2014 - 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 May 26, 2019 - Posted December 30, 2014 - 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.