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.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.Crow Poison. February 2019.Red Maid. February 2019.Shadows. February 2019.
Snippets from lower Edgar Canyon – I wish I knew more, maybe one day I will…
Arizona Daily Star, May 14, 1965, Section A, Page 11:
O. R. (Ope) Parker, one of a noted Southern Arizona trio of brothers, died yesterday. He was 75 years old. … Mr. Parker was a native of Abilene, Tex., and became the owner of the Bar-6 ranch here. He came to Tucson in 1919.
Sycamores and Saguaros in Edgar Canyon. January 2018.
Arizona Daily Star, January 11, 2015, Obituaries, C5:
Shortly after his arrival home, his father laughing and crying, told him there was just so much land, and too many cows, and “one of us has to leave, and I’m staying”. From this point on, Joe was branched out on his own. He first leased land along the present Tangerine Road from George Pusch, then went on to buy a square mile of flood plain on Brawley Wash, “Santa Patricia”. Next he purchased Cactus Hill west of Winkleman, followed by Ope Parker’s 6-ranch west of Redington.
Old cattle chute and fall leaves in Edgar Canyon. January 2018.
Pima County has bought its sixth ranch using voter-approved open-space bonds: the Six-Bar Ranch in the San Pedro River Valley northeast of Tucson, for $11.6 million.
Joe Goff, who has owned the 3,300-acre spread for 50 years, agreed to sell to the county after a private party approached him with an offer that could have led to the construction of 36-acre ranchettes, said the leader of a land trust that helped negotiate the county purchase.
A reflection at the end of the surface water below the spring in Edgar Canyon. January 2018.
The rocks look like maps – they remind me of the shape of the San Pedro River and of the brutal line that the SunZia project may cut thru this landscape. On four different days I explored the canyons under, and terrain around, the proposed SunZia route – from the north edge of Buehman Canyon, across the hills to Edgar Canyon and up to the Brush Corral Road.
In Buehman Canyon – looking up at the sky – the lines of the SunZia project may one day interrupt this view. February 2018.
Recent rains must have filled Buehman Canyon with water – there is wall to wall slippery mud and debris pressed against the tree trunks. I suppose the power lines hanging overhead won’t change the canyon much, but there is an infinite difference between nothing and something.
Sitting on the south side of the Buehman Canyon the first stars of the evening appear over the SunZia route – towers on the canyon sides may eventually carry the transmission lines across Buehman Canyon – man-made shapes added to the dark silhouette of land below the stars.
First stars appearing – looking south across Buehman Canyon on the Proposed SunZia Route. February 2018.
Early in the morning the milky way is low in the sky and frost covers my gear, a cold start quickly changes to a warm day hiking north thru the desert. The SunZia route crosses the Brush Corral Road and continues across hills and small washes towards Edgar Canyon, both the Santa Catalinas and Galiuros are visible. A long set of access roads will be cut into these hills to construct and maintain the lines.
A panoramic view from the SunZia route with both the Santa Catalina Mountains (left) and Galiuros (right) in the distance. February 2018.Empty desert – walking north along the proposed SunZia route to the sourth side of Edgar Canyon. February 2018.Looking north across Edgar Canyon on the proposed SunZia route. February 2018.Sky above Edgar Canyon along the proposed SunZia transmission line route. January 2018.
The lower section of Edgar Canyon is a surprise, more to explore, and more reason to come back, than I had guessed – like Buehman Canyon there aren’t towers or new access roads in the canyon bottom – ‘just’ a line imprisoning the sky. From the edge of Edgar Canyon the line follows hills and washes to the Davis Mesa Road.
An abandoned tank south of the Brush Corral Road near the proposed SunZia route. January 2018.Sunzia Route Crossing the Davis Mesa Road with the Galiuros in the background. January 2018.
It is sad to think about the changes coming to this landscape – I read Chris Townsend’s Thoughts on the Conservation and Restoration of Nature in Scotland while working on images for this post and found it encouraging and relevant – I am not familiar with the places and organizations in his post, but I suspect the subject will be immediately familiar regardless of your location:
Whilst the Gleann nam Fiadh track is depressing there is much that is positive in the conservation and restoration of nature in the Scottish hills and elsewhere in Britain. Not enough certainly but looking at what is being done can counter the feelings of despair when more damage occurs. It can also encourage a desire to help protect what is left and restore what we can. Public pressure is what counts here. I doubt many politicians would do much without it (there are a few who would, perhaps). It’s easy to think that one person can’t do anything and that signing petitions, sharing and commenting on posts on social media, and writing to representatives achieves nothing. However any effect from these actions is cumulative. If enough people take part then sometimes a momentum can build towards something happening. The alternative is to give up.
The proposed SunZia route from Buehman to Edgar Canyon – 12 towers (yellow dots), miles or new roads plowing thru the desert (red lines), 4 days of exploring the area (blue lines). March 2018.
The Cascabel Working Group’s SunZia Page has some current status information from the project and a link to a history of the group’s work “Helping the SunZia transmission line project to understand that the environmentally unique San Pedro River Valley is NOT a viable location for a major powerline corridor.”
From a 1904 map of the Tucson area – the current Davis Spring Trailhead is near the center of the map above ‘Davis Spring’. Note the trail across Davis Mesa from Alder Canyon… November 2016.
The Davis Spring Trailhead is a gateway into an interesting part of the mountain – but, in addition to the mandatory hour+ drive, the primary access is a long, slow, high-clearance drive from Redington Road – far too few hikers see this area.
North of Edgar Canyon, across Davis Mesa, Black Hills Mine Road runs along the north ridge of Alder Canyon – notably easier to drive than the the Davis Spring Trailhead access road.
Encouraged by a trail shown on the 1904 USGS Tucson Quadrangle, I wondered if it might be faster to access the Davis Spring Trailhead by parking above Ventana Windmill off Black Hills mine road and hiking across Davis Mesa. I plotted a route across Davis Mesa that, in my living room, seemed like the route would be primarily fast-to-walk easy-to-find double track.
November 2016.
On the south side of Alder Canyon it was clear that the double track, so clear on the aerial views of the area, was not going to be quite as expected – we found hints of it but… I was glad to be hiking with Geoffrey from Trailvoyant – great company and an experienced set of eyes to look for the faint track!
Near the wash splitting Davis Mesa the double track became more distinct, but even then its rocky decent didn’t actually speed us up – on the other side an old road eventually appeared and curved towards the trailhead.
In April of this year this area was covered by a pool of water that was several feet. November 2016.
Clear water flowed from Davis Spring and water is still making its way down to the corral above Edgar Canyon. At the corral we drop into the bottom of the canyon – there is less water than there was in April, and very little flow – mostly just isolated pools.
Geoffrey from Trailvoyant enjoying the Fall colors in Edgar Canyon – the Davis Spring Trail bypasses this section of Edgar Canyon on the hillside above. November 2016.
The bottom of the canyon is filled with fall colors – we leave the trail behind as it climbs the canyon side and continue up canyon to the Davis Spring and Knagge Trail junction – our turn around point for the day – on the way back we find, lose, and then find the Davis Spring Trail before crossing back over Davis Mesa and Alder Canyon as the light fades.
Davis Spring Trail and Knagge Trail Junction Sign. November 2016.
On the 1957 Bellota 15′ Map the trail across Davis Mesa is no longer present and our path across Davis Mesa doesn’t seem worth repeating or recommending – a fun adventure and a great day out, but not the alternate Davis Spring Trailhead access I had hoped for!
Unusual weather makes Davis Mesa seem remote and lonely – just me and the cows today. Too many clouds to see much of the San Pedro Valley to the east or the Santa Catalina Mountains to the west. The east side of the Santa Catalina Mountains – where the hills and canyons tumble into the San Pedro River – is often a good escape if you have time for the drive and a vehicle that will handle the, often rough, dirt roads. In 2011 Nathan Sayre noted in A History of Land Use and Natural Resources in the Middle San Pedro Valley, Arizona that “The current population [of the Middle San Pedro Valley], estimated at 175 year-round residents, is less than was found in the area in the early twentieth century, and probably less than occurred during some prehistoric periods.” (Journal of the Southwest, Volume 53, Number 1, Spring 2011)
The road across the Mesa descends towards Mesa Well and off into the clouds. September 2016.
Davis Mesa sits between Alder and Edgar Canyons. The land is part of the Six Bar Ranch – purchased by Pima County in 2006. Cattle still graze here, as they probably have, at least periodically, for over a century. In a Pima County Conservation Report the section on the Six Bar Ranch notes that “This ranch is more remote and has limited access points so it does not get as much use as many of the other ranch properties” – certainly accurate, but considering the best case drive from Tucson probably a bit of an understatement…
Looking up Alder Canyon after parking off Black Hills Mine Road and hiking across the canyon. September 2016.
The all-things-considered quickest access from Tucson that I am aware of is to drive thru Oracle, turn south onto Veterans Memorial Boulevard, pass San Manuel, continue on Black Hills Mine Road and eventually find a parking spot above the Ventana Windmill (probably 1.5 to 2 hours from Speedway and Campbell in Tucson) – from there it is a reasonable hike access across Alder Canyon up onto Davis Mesa…
