wildflowers

Death, Wildflowers, Rescues, Falls – 2/28/2016

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
A Saguaro floating above the shadows on the slopes of Pontatoc Canyon. February 2016.
A Saguaro floating above the shadows on the slopes of Pontatoc Canyon. February 2016.

The latest Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction Project update was recently released:

  • Ewe #39555 was killed by a mountain lion 2/14 or 2/15 – the lion was pursued but not found/killed.
  • 44 collared sheep are known to be alive – with a number of collars out of battery life and continued breeding in the range this count is less relevant than it was 12+ months ago – although the information from this subset of the population is still very interesting.
  • 18 lambs have been seen this season!

Look beyond poppies for additional worthy wildflowers – Arizona Daily Star, Best places to see Arizona’s wildflowers – Arizona Republic: Wildflowers!!! Notes on some of the flowers that are blooming and a mention for Catalina State Park as a great place to see wildflowers.

Hiker injured, rescued from Seven Falls on horseback – Tucson News Now: A leg injury left a hiker unable to walk in the Seven Falls Area – the hiker was taken out on horse by the Southern Arizona Mounted Search and Rescue.

PCSD rescues hiker off of Windy Point – KVOA.com: A hiker fell and suffered a broken leg in “a remote rocky area” near Windy Point – the hiker was flown out by the Sheriff’s Department’s helicopter “SHERIFF 1” – video from the helicopter of the nighttime pick up.

Seven Falls: A magnet for waterfall watchers – Arizona Daily Star: Some details on the popular hike to Seven Falls with a few pictures.

Rescues/Accidents/Incidents including information from the SARCI Newsletter:

  • Sutherland Trail 2/12/2016 – A hiker intended to go up Sutherland and then come back down via the Mount Lemmon Trail and Romero Canyon Trail but lost the Sutherland Trail in the snow and was not prepared for night hiking – the hiker was able to hike out with an escort.
  • Romero Canyon Trail 2/21/2016 – A hiker called saying he was ill and in Romero Pass – the hiker was able to hike down and refused help other than gatorade.
Sunset in Pontatoc Canyon. February 2016.
Sunset in Pontatoc Canyon. February 2016.

Catalina State Park Sunsets, Comet, Flowers, Airmen Peak – 1/27/2016

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
Mesquite Bosque - Birding Trail, Catalina State Park. January 2016.
Mesquite Bosque – Birding Trail, Catalina State Park. January 2016.

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.

Sunset light in Catalina State Park. January 2016.
Sunset light in Catalina State Park. January 2016.
Sutherland Wash in Catalina State Park - running water! January 2016.
Sutherland Wash in Catalina State Park – running water! January 2016.

Bighorn Death, Gate Closures, Flowers, Sunset, Fire, Sun

Posted - Charles Miles

Game and Fish: Another bighorn sheep killed by mountain lion – Jackie Kent – Tucson News Now: A ewe released this November has been killed by a Mountain Lion.

The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 11/13 to 12/3 is now available (all updates are currently available here). The update includes a map showing one week of movement from both the 2013 release group and the 2014 group – at a glance, for this week, the 2014 group was clustered in the southwest part of the range while the 2013 were much more widely spread. It is interesting to compare this data with the maps from 7/21 to 8/3 where the 2013 group appears to have been more tightly grouped into the southwest part of the range – however it may be that the way the data is depicted is not really comparable between the two maps (and the timescale is certainly different).

Seasonal road closures on Mt. Lemmon, roads expected to reopen March 1, 2015: “The Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest will temporarily close and lock gates Monday December 15 on seasonal roads and day-use sites in the upper elevations of Mt. Lemmon due to expected weather-related unsafe driving conditions.” Note that the gated road remain open for non-motorized use and that the schedule of closing and that it is possible the gates could be closed earlier/stay closed longer due to weather/road conditions.

Recent rains won’t necessarily nurture lots of wildflowers – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: The article notes that the most recent rains are likely too late to create a new large wildflower display. While it is not prime wildflower season there are still a surprising number of flowers in the mountains – but with colder weather predicted for the weekend they may not last… 

Ventana Canyon lit by magical autumn sunsets– Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: An inspiring set of descriptions of the lovely light in Ventana Canyon.

Redington Pass prescribed burning scheduled to begin Wednesday – Anthony Victor Reyes – KVOA.com: Scheduled for 12/10 to 12/12 .

Solar panels bring sun’s power to campgrounds – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: You may have noticed the solar panels on the mountain (in Molino Basin for example) – this article gives some of the details about the panels and what they power.

Dry Conditions, Snow Likely, Wildflower Season

Posted - Charles Miles
Mt. Lemmon driest in 30 years – notes dry conditions, lack of snow and two fires already this season along the highway. Afternoon weather update – February 28th, 2014 – Snow above 7000′ possible! Wildflower season: Blooms may be busts – While there are some great wildflowers on the trail right now this article predicts that the massive ‘carpets’ of wildflowers that can often be seen will not happen this year due to conditions – Catalina State Park is mentioned for Blue Lupines.