We have been returning to the Pontatoc Canyon Trail more frequently lately – it has been interesting to watch the sun changing angles on the landscape and the subtle changes of the the desert seasons – in spite of the beauty I suspect the heat may keep us away during the summer months…
Views from a loop up the ridge between La Milagrosa and Agua Caliente Canyon and down the La Milagrosa Trail.
Close to the highway, not notably long or strenuous and without a dramatic ending the Babad Do'ag Trail is sometimes overlooked – but the short ridge before the end of the trail is a fun section of trail, the sunsets are great and with a bit of extra work and skill there are several off-trail destinations in easy reach – the highpoint just above the end of the trail, Point 4780 east of the trail and the cross-country journey over to Soldier Trail to name a few – certainly all worthy small adventures!
The Catalina Comet was featured on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day – the picture was taken by Fritz Helmut Hemmerich who has more beautiful shots of the comet on flickr. The information with the picture notes that “Comet Catalina is now outbound from the inner Solar System and will slowly fade in coming months.” The Catalina Comet was discovered by – and named for – the Catalina Sky Survey.
Wildflowers blooming in desert canyons — in midwinter – Arizona Daily Star: A great call out for the flowers that are appearing around the Santa Catalina Mountains! Lucky rain and weather this year…
Recent Santa Catalina Bighorn Videos – there are five new short videos of Bighorns in the Santa Catalina Mountains on YouTube and currently linked on the Friends of Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Facebook Page – a nice contrast to the deaths in recent months!
I recently found the blog Contributing to the Problem – there are several great posts linked on the Hiking in the Santa Catalina Mountains page – I particularly enjoyed Molino Thimble and Airmen Peak that includes a short description of climbing the ‘Molino Thumb’ (southwest of Airmen Peak and labeled ‘The Thumb’ in the Molino Canyon Overview of Bob Kerry’s Backcountry Rockclimbing in Southern Arizona) and references the Airmen Peak page on this site.
Honey Bee Canyon Park in Oro Valley is a small park with trails winding thru beautiful desert squeezed between the many homes in the area – definitely worth visiting and at sunset the views of Pusch Ridge and the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains are amazing.
