santa catalina mountains

New Book, Splendors, Bighorn Pictures and Death

Posted - Charles Miles

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.

 

AZGF Requests Voluntary Early Bighorn Closure, Ice

Posted - Charles Miles

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!

 

Death, Survey, Slipping, Passes, Warming

Posted - Charles Miles

The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 12/4 to 12/17 is now available (all updates are currently available here). Two reported mortalities – the death of ewe 435 by a mountain lion and ewe 649 who is now presumed dead (a malfunctioning collar delayed confirmation of this mortality – the helicopter survey observed bones  near 649’s last position). On 12/3 a helicopter survey of the Bighorn population was conducted – 15 sheep and 1 lamb were spotted – the survey was conducted without the use of the GPS data from the collars to help establish an observation rate for future years/surveys.

Mt. Lemmon firefighters face unique challenges in the snow – Christina Myers – KGUN9: Interesting details about the winter challenges/duties of the Firefighters with the Mt. Lemmon Fire District – “the most frequent calls in the snow are for hypothermia, people slipping on ice and falling over the edge, and sledding accidents.”

Man falls, injured while hiking in Seven Falls – Brent Corrado – KGUN9: “A man was injured after slipping and falling while hiking in Seven Falls on Sunday morning.”

Coronado Passes and Permits – Annual and Daily Passes for Coronado National Forest are now available for purchase online. When you are purchasing a pass you can either select a ‘self-print’ option or have the pass mailed to you (currently shipping costs start at 4.95) – a $1.95 convenience fee is added per permit (there are a number of self-pay stations (cash and correct change needed) on the mountain where day passes can be purchased without printing/shipping/convenience fee – additional information on fees can be found on the Coronado National Forest Passes and Permits Page). Interagency Annual Passes (which covers standard fees at Forest Service, National Park and BLM sites) and Notice of Required Fee resolution are also available online. Note that most trailheads in the Santa Catalina Mountains do NOT require a fee.

Arizona Game And Fish – materials from meetings of the Catalina Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction Project Advisory Committee: Arizona Game and Fish recently released meeting notes for the Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction Advisory Committee meetings in response to a public records request (see Catalina Bighorn Sheep Advisory Committee – Meeting Notes, Public Records Request for more details) – this AZGF page has the notes (as PDFs) and additional information including some responses to criticisms/questions the release of the notes generated.

Presumed death of bighorn brings criticism of state’s tracking – Craig Reck – Tucson News Now: Concerns about counting/tracking sheep in the Santa Catalina Mountains.

Warming trend begins – Arizona Daily Star.

Aspen Draw, Aspen and Marshall Gulch Trail Loop – 12/19/2014

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
1412 Enjoying untouched snow on Radio Ridge
Enjoying the snow on Radio Ridge near the Aspen Draw Trail. December 2014.

Winter Wonderland – after months and months (and months) of summer it feels like this has never happened before and might never happen again, hard to remember that every year, sooner or later, the mountain is covered in snow. Summerhaven was full of people – the trails were nearly empty, and the conditions perfect! Aspen Draw Trail, Aspen Trail, Marshall Gulch Trail Loop – 7.4 miles, 1600′ of elevation gain/loss.

1412 Snow and Snow on the Aspen Draw Trail
Sun and snow on the Aspen Draw Trail! December 2014.
1412 Snow on the Aspen Trail with the junction sign in the distance
Snow on the Aspen Trail near the junction with the Wilderness of Rock, Mint Spring and Marshall Gulch Trail. December 2014.

Snow, Passes Online, Helicopters

Posted - Charles Miles

Mt. Lemmon Highway reopened – Tucson News Now, Rain in Tucson, travel restrictions on Mount Lemmon – Arizona Daily Star, Mt. Lemmon receives first snowfall of season – Rikki Mitchell, Rain in Tucson, snow in mountains likely Saturday – Arizona Daily Star: Several articles from the past week about storms with both rain and snow – with more in the forecast! Remember that on snowy days there is always a chance that the highway will close.

Purchase Coronado passes online Friday – Sierra Vista Herald: “Coronado National Forest day and annual passes will be available for purchase online beginning this week.” Check the Coronado National Forest Homepage for details. In the Santa Catalina Mountains travel on the highway, parking at vistas/observation points along the highway, parking at most trailheads (and hiking!) and parking in Summerhaven does NOT require a pass or fee – however developed areas such, as the picnic areas in Bear Canyon, do require a pass.

Plan to use helicopters in Arizona wilderness draws complaints – Brenna Goth – The Arizona Repulic: An article about the Arizona Game and Fish request filed earlier in the year for a Wilderness Act exception to allow helicopter use in an area including the Four Peaks, Hellsgate, Mazatzal, Salt River Canyon and Superstition Wilderness areas. Arizona Game and Fish has made a similar proposal in the Pusch Ridge wilderness that appears to still be under consideration. Project Page – Pusch Ridge Wilderness, Tonto National Forest – as I understand it the comment period for both of these proposals has already ended. While helicopter use would make capturing and studying Bighorn in these Wilderness Areas easier – and I suspect that these requests will be approved – I lament the disturbance of/intrusion on this small portion of our public lands and don’t think this proposal merits an exception to the Wilderness Act.