Summer Nights! By the middle of summer even the nights will be overwhelmed by the heat – but this night was perfect…
Phoneline Nights – 5/11/2015
sabino canyon
Fees, Fires, Border Security, Camping, Pie, Quakes – 5/17/2015
If you have not visited the Summit Trailhead recently be aware that there is now a $5 fee to park in the lot (the fee is covered by a number of Interagency Annual Passes – see the signs below for more details) – along with the new fee tube the parking area has new gravel, the start of the trails has been cleared and I believe there is one more picnic bench. Note that the large open parking area just down the road from the Summit Trailhead does not have any fee signs and the trail to/from this area from the Summit Trailhead has been widened and signed.
Bill Would Roll Back Public Lands Protections In The Name Of National Security – ThinkProgress.org – Claire Moser: There have been a number of articles about the Arizona Borderland Protection and Preservation Act and the impacts that it could have on federal land in Arizona. While security is important it is disappointing to see a bill that has such a complete override of other concerns in favor of security rather than encouraging/facilitating cooperation between Federal Agencies. Sierra Club Condemns Border Security Bill That Seeks To Gut Protected Lands – ThinkProgress.org, John McCain Says Laws Protecting National Parks and Monuments Threaten National Security – AllGov.com.
Repaving work in Sabino Canyon Recreation Area May 19 and 20 – Sierra Vista Herald: “Recreation area and parking lot remain open, access reduced to one lane during paving”
Dogs welcomed on some — but not all — trails – Arizona Daily Star: A nice recap of a number of the local rules regarding dogs, including the trails in Sabino Canyon and in the Bighorn Sheep Management Area where dogs are prohibited.
It is fire season again… Links to articles on a small brush fire on the west side and a prescribed burn in the Redington Pass area. Catalina State Park brush fire under control after multi-agency response – Tucson Local Media, Brush fire contained at 20-acres north of Tucson – Arizona Daily Star, Forest Managers Light Fires Now to Prevent Big Blazes Later – Arizona Public Media, UPDATE: Prescribed Redington Pass burn – Tucson News Now, Prescribed burn planned for next week – Tucson News Now.
Some campers head to Mount Lemmon despite forecast – KVOA.com: A fun article on people who are braving the weather to camp on the mountain – great to see people getting out. Clouds, rain and snow can be so beautiful!
Mt. Lemmon Ride Promises Physical Reward – and Pie – Arizona Public Media: An article about the GABA Hill Climb that took place on May 15th – this is a yearly event by the Greater Arizona Bicycling Association that provides SAG stops, mechanical assistance, pie in Summerhaven and transport down if needed!
Mary Reynolds: 1887 quake taught hydrologic lessons – Arizona Daily Star: An interesting article about an earthquake in 1887 that was centered in Mexico and felt in Tucson – “When the quake struck the old Santa Catalina Mountains, great slices of the mountain gave way, and went tumbling down into the canyons, huge clouds of dust or smoke ascended into the blue sky, high above the crest of the queenly mountain”.
A Shudder Through the Earth: Learning From Nepal – UANews: Mentions that the recent earthquake in Nepal was large enough to register at the seismic station in Tucson on an instrument “locked in a vault deep in the granite of the Santa Catalina Mountains”.
Box Spring Route to Sabino Canyon – 4/21/2015
The Box Spring Trail has long been more of a route than a trail – I think it would have already disappeared back into the mountain if its ending high in Sabino Canyon wasn’t so beautiful!
The hike down seemed slightly easier to follow than I remember – maybe with a little more loose dirt and debris in the drainage (and maybe just a little more poison ivy)? It was a surprise to meet two hikers coming up – but no surprise that anyone on this trail was fun to chat with for a few minutes!
Sabino Canyon was – just like every time I have been down the Box Camp Trail – wonderful – cold flowing water, pools, beautiful rocks and green all around. After walking down to the first obstacle and taking a break we exited the canyon to the north – at first with the goal of working downstream, but eventually lured upward by the rocks to a high point…
We rested, enjoyed the views and planned an exit up one of the small ridges back to the main ridge (rather than going back up the Box Spring drainage) – and then plunged down the hillsides into the canyon bottom!
We hiked a short distance down canyon before scrambling out and starting to climb. At first the route we picked seemed brilliant – steep, but fairly open and easy, unfortunately as we got closer to the top the brush became thicker and thicker… Eventually we fought thru the brush and followed game trails to finish the climb to the main ridge – from there it was an enjoyable walk back to the Box Camp Trailhead. 6.75 miles, 2300′ of elevation gain and loss.
Lambs, Funds, Star Party, Oracle State Park, Winter Weather
The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 1/15 to 1/28 is now available (all updates are currently available here):
- Five lambs have been sited! The update links to a video of several of the previously sited lambs: Bighorn lambs & ewes in Santa Catalinas.
- Residents in the area of Ina Road and 1st Avenue reported 3 Bighorn to AZGF. GPS data confirms that these Bighorn have moved into the edge of the urban area bordering the Pusch Ridge Wilderness several times and also notes several other urban sightings: a Ram was seen several times last year by Oracle Residents and two ewes documented in the Ventana Canyon and Finger Rock Estates areas. “Our intent is to encourage the Catalina bighorn sheep to use appropriate habitat removed from the urban interface and hope that incursions into urban areas will be rare if at all.”
- The report breaks has some information on the funding sources for this project:
- 31% State Tag Funds
- 23% Private Grants and Donations with most of the donations “from sportsmen oriented groups and individuals” including large donations by the Arizona Chapter of Safari Club International, the Wild Sheep Foundation, the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society and Safari Club International Foundation.
- 46% From the Pittman-Robertson fund – this is a federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition, accessories and achery equipment that provides funds to manage wildlife.
Catalina State Park will host a Star Party on Feb. 21 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm – the event will start with a presentation by Jim O’Connor with excerpts from his book, Native American Night Sky Stories, and there will be a variety of telescopes at the event. See the Arizona Star Party Astronomy Events page for more details and for other dates at throughout the year at Arizona State Parks!
Arizona hike: Oracle State Park – azcentral.com – Mare Czinar: A short article about the hiking in Oracle State Park – the days that the park are open to the public are limited (currently Saturday and Sunday 8am to 5pm) but it is well worth finding an open day to visit!
Winter weather! There was rain and snow that temporarily closed the highway and caused 3 hikers to be stranded due to rushing water in the Sabino Canyon Area. Winter weather closes highway up Mt. Lemmon – Carissa Planalp – TucsonNewsNow.com, Snow in mountains, rain in Tucson valley expected – tucson.com, Three hikers stranded because of rushing waters – Ina Ronquillo – KGUN9.
New Book, Splendors, Bighorn Pictures and Death
Treasures of the Catalina Mountains: Book tells tales – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: A new book about the Santa Catalina Mountains!! Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains: Unraveling the Legends and History of the Santa Catalina Mountains by Robert Zucker is now available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle formats – this page provides more information about the book. I have just started reading the book – so far I am enjoying it and have already learned new things about the range – I have also been very interested/impressed by the number of references the book provides (in some cases seeing where the information comes from has been almost as fascinating as the story itself!). (Note that the current Kindle version is completely readable and enjoyable, but does have some odd formatting (at least on my device) – I have not seen the paperback yet but I suspect it has a more polished layout at this point.)
Game and Fish: Mountain lion kills second bighorn – Arizona Daily Star, AZ Game and Fish confirms death of another bighorn sheep – Brent Corrado – KGUN9, Bighorn sheep found dead in Catalina Mountains – Scott Oathout – KVOA.com: A 2nd Bighorn from the group released late this year has been confirmed to be dead – the current assumption, because of the location of the kill, is that the ewe was killed by the same Mountain Lion that recently killed another Bighorn from this group. This death occurred earlier in the month and has only recently been confirmed – initially the Bighorn’s collar was assumed to be malfunctioning and the carcass and collar were difficult to locate.
New Bighorn Pictures – The Friends of Catalina Bighorn Sheep recently shared several great/recent pictures of Bighorn Sheep in the Santa Catalina Mountains on their Facebook page – these have been used in at least one recent news article about the Bighorn.
Hike leads to splendors of the Sonoran Desert – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: Some great advice on and ideas of a great tour of the desert, especially for visitors to Tucson, starting from Sabino Canyon and using the Esperero Trail, Rattlesnake Trail and road.