Smoke from the Bigelow Prescribed Burn – taken from Speedway Boulevard in Tucson. December 2016.
The Forest Service was careful to publish information about the Bigelow Prescribed Burn well in advance – but even so it was hard not to be alarmed by the impressive amount of smoke that the fire was producing, easily visible from Tucson it generated plenty of questions and it was hard not to wonder if the controlled burn had somehow gone awry…
A small pine along the Bigelow Trail in the Bigelow Controlled Burn area – many of even the smaller pines still had green needles and appear to have survived the fire. December 2016.
Hiking up the Bigelow Trail from the Bigelow Trailhead the impact of the fire was obvious – black ground, black tree trunks. I wasn’t until I reached the edge of the burn that I could really tell just how impressively effective the fire had been – fairly dense grass and shrubs cover the hill on one side / on the other the ground is remarkably clear.
Grass and shrub covered hillside on the left of the trail, burned – and cleared – ground on the right. December 2016.
We visited Kellogg Mountain just before the controlled burn – I wondered what impact the fire might have on the impressive thicket of New Mexico Locust growing near the top – but near Kellogg the Bigelow Trail was the edge of the fire and Kellogg Mountain was untouched.
Looking up at Kellogg Mountain from the Bigelow Trail – Kellogg was untouched by the Bigelow Controlled Burn. December 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.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!
Saguaro just off the General Hitchcock Highway. May 2016.
The drive up to San Pedro Vista was slightly slower than normal – both because I couldn’t resist stopping and photographing Saguaros near the highway and because a film crew was set up at Windy Point filling part of the parking lot with trailers and vehicles and occasionally stopping traffic. I didn’t see what they were filming – but the motorcycles in a pop-up tent and drone hovering off the side of the highway on my way down did make me a bit curious…
From Barnum Rock: Green Mountain – center, Guthrie Mountain – left, San Pedro Vista – lower left, Mica Mountain in the Rincon Mountains – right. May 2016.
From San Pedro Vista I intended to take the Incinerator Ridge Trail and Kellogg Trail up to Mount Bigelow – my idea was a good workout with great views – but the views quickly won out over the workout – I sat on the top of Barnum Rock and watched the sun and clouds create shapes of light and shadow on Green and Guthrie Mountains and then admired Kellogg Mountain, Mount Bigelow and the San Pedro Valley from Leopold Point.
Kellogg Mountain and Mount Bigelow from Leopold Point near the Incinerator Ridge Trail. May 2016.
Rider Carol Fontana and her horse Tiki passed thru the Santa Catalina Mountains in May as part of their thru-ride of the Arizona Trail – see more about their journey on SaddleUpAz. The ride is to support and raise awareness of the Prescott Area Shelter Services whose mission is “serve homeless women, families, and veterans by providing temporary shelter, resources, individualized case management, and a pathway to permanent housing.”
