Merry Christmas 2025

 That sounds better than *cough, cough* A Sickly Christmas.  

Julia thinks I've gotten her sick too so I'm not getting any pity from her.  I'm muddling along but still managing to have some good family fun.  

Finger Rock

Just so my readers don't think I'm sitting in a rocking chair on my front porch, looking at the mountains all day, Julia and I headed out before sunrise for a challenging and beautiful hike in the Catalinas this morning.

This hike on Alltrails is called "Finger Rock, Pontatoc Connector and Pontatoc Loop.   We arrived at the trailhead parking lot at 7 a.m.  There are some really fancy houses near the trailhead.  We were thankful that their "back yard" (the Coronado National Forest) is still free to the public for outdoor enjoyment.

Alltrails has some good advice on this loop.  It's best hiked clockwise, especially for us early-starters. Most of the hike was in the cool shade of the canyon, and we finished the hard part first.  The Finger Rock section is gradual for about the first mile but quickly steepens and involves scrambling on rocks with hands and feet for the next two miles.

Cool Shadows of Canyon at Sunrise

After a couple of hours, things began heating up, both in temperature and trail difficulty.  

This is a hike where there are views everywhere one looks.

From the top of the trail

From here, there is a new Pontatoc connector trail which was absolutely beautiful (and fairly flat at the top).  Then it was the Pontatoc loop which brought us back to the initial trailhead (and later to the Tucson Hop Shop.

Hazy IPA and Oatmeal Stout (nitro tap)

The Catalinas at Sunset

 

It's a great time to be in Tucson with high temps in the 70's and low temps in the low 50's.  All it takes is this view from our front porch tonight to remind me why we moved here.  

Visitor season is approaching.  Allie arrives in ten days and will stay for two weeks, working remotely.  After that, there will be a steady stream of friends and family through April.  Next month, my shell for the Dodge Ram should be delivered.  I plan to do some rough "truck camping" in the desert this winter.  

Hail no!

 We've really been enjoying the change of the weather with one exception.  Nights have been around 40 degrees, while days are generally in the upper 60's and 70's.  We did get one day of rain with over an inch--that's a lot in the desert.  And there was this unexpected storm that lasted about 20 minutes and left our side yard looking more like Wisconsin at Christmas.

It doesn't look like much; this white plastic bucket took the brunt of marble-sized hail.

No damage to the clay roof--that we know of.  

Bear Wallow, Etc.

 Julia has been bugging me to take her somewhere there is some fall color, so we headed up to Mount Lemmon yesterday.   It takes about 90 minutes to drive up towards the top of the mountain, where temperatures are usually about 15 degrees cooler at about 9000 feet elevation.  

It was a beautiful Arizona day.  Not a cloud in the sky.  

We parked next to a ticketed automobile at this vista on the way up for a bathroom break.  When I looked at the ticket taped to the outside window of the vehicle, the ticket indicated 72 hours abandoned.  Before we left, a three vehicle crew with a stretcher parked the other side of the vehicle and headed off up the mountain.  I hope it wasn't the driver of the car. Couldn't find anything about it in the newspaper.  

The Bear Wallow turnoff is at Mile Marker 22--a few miles from Summerhaven.  From Mile Marker 22, it's a short drive on a dirt road to where we accessed a trail in the Bear Wallow Unit.  We were probably a couple of weeks past peak season, but there were still some golden aspens and reddish maples.

Shortly after joining up with the trail, we encountered an unusual thing in the woods. I think it's some kind of toilet, but it was locked with a padlock.   Anyway, someone went to a lot of trouble to "plaque" the occasion.

When we got home, I looked up the phrase, and it's apparently some kind of weird slang or joke.

From here we followed a number of switchbacks up towards Mount Bigelow, a minor summit close to Mount Lemmon.  We found some nice campsites up there and a University of Arizona station. We did not find a trail that provided a loop so we ended up on a road walk, another short trail, and then traced our steps back to the beginning.

What we discovered is that the best fall color was a short distance down the mountain from where we originally parked, so we walked a short distance on the Sunset Trail.

We ended up meandering about five miles with no particular destination in mind.  This was after our 3 mile early morning walk with Callie.  So we felt like we deserved a burger and a beer, even though it wasn't quite noon yet.

Summerhaven is the resort town on top of the mountain.  We ordered an overpriced, but well-prepared burger with Slow Body IPA, a Tucson brewery that we hadn't tried yet.  It may have been the sunny deck location on a beautiful fall day after a lot of walking, but we both agreed that the food and the beer went down really well.

We weren't quite ready to drive down the mountain yet, so we drove a few miles to Marshall Gulch, which we discovered that the Arizona Trail goes through. The map of the trail from the Mexico border to the Utah border made me think of my A.T. thru-hiking days.  It seems unlikely that I'll be completing the Arizona trail, but I do intend to do some more research about some section hiking.  For sure, we will return to Marshall Gulch, which had a beautiful picnic area and trails to discover.

Bear Canyon to Seven Falls

Julia and I recently returned to Sabino Canyon to hike to Seven Falls.  In retrospect, we could have been started at the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area parking lot, which would have cut off 15 minutes of drive time.  But  my Alltrails map didn't suggest that as an option,  Instead, when I searched for Seven Falls, the first trail that came up was the Bear Canyon to Seven Falls option.

Bear Canyon could be a useful trailhead for anyone who doesn't have a National Parks pass and doesn't want to pay the $8 daily fee for parking at the Sabino Canyon parking lot.  The Bear Canyon trailhead is a Pima County trail and has limited but free parking.  On the weekday that we hiked, the parking lot only had a few cars parked.  On the weekend, the small parking lot fills early, and people walk nearly a mile just to get to the trailhead parking lot.  

This is an in and out trail and totals around 8 miles.

Ready to go

The trail starts in a rocky wash and gradually goes uphill.  After crossing into the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, the trail becomes more distinct.  When the water is running, and it was that day, the trail crosses the creek about a half dozen times.  We completed most of the hike in with full shade. It took a long time for the sun to peek over the right side of the canyon.

Most of these crossings are fairly easy (stepping from convenient rock to convenient rock).  Later the trail begins a number of switchbacks, eventually ending with a very nice view of Seven Falls (we only counted five falls, but there were probably a couple of more beyond our view).

From here, the trail drops until one arrives at what was a fairly large pool on the day of our hike.  In fact, we were surprised to see small fish darting around in the shallow area of the pool.  The water was quite cold.  If one continues past the pool, there is a water slide that we didn't try, but watched several teenagers doing so and enjoying themselves.  

A short climb gets you to the top  of one of the falls, and it's also possible to walk to its base.   The rocks are slippery, and one teenager took an awkward fall and ended up with some rock burn.  Their small group looked up at us to see if anyone had seen him fall.  We gave a friendly wave, and they all laughed.  

The way back was almost all downhill, although there was quite a bit more sun and a lot more people coming up the trail.  This was a good hike for the two of us--not too steep, not too long, and. not too short. 

Linda Vista Trail

The weather here has changed for the better.  Monsoon season and the extreme heat is pretty much done.  Overnight lows have been in the 50's generally with dew points as low as the upper 30's.  Daytime highs have ranged from the upper 70's to mid 80's.  Darned near perfect for me.  I can't help looking in my rear view mirror at Wisconsin weather and gloating inside a little bit.

The wildlife patterns have also changed.  I haven't seen javelinas lately, but I have had four coyote sightings at dawn on the nature preserve just this week.  We can also hear that the coyotes are active at night.  Of course, this is the first time since we arrived that we can consistently turn off the AC and keep the window screens open all night.  And we even need to pull on a blanket before morning!

Julia and I have been looking for a go-to hike that is close but still challenging.  We recently hiked a trail that leads behind an Oro Valley middle school and up to the base of the Catalina Mountains.

This is a short loop hike that totals 2.6 miles and 439 feet in elevation gain.  Bighorn sheep are in the area, and no dogs are permitted.  It was a great day for the hike.  

The trail goes all the way up to the base of the mountain, and there is an optional steep section that is an in/out.  It was getting late in the day, so we saved that section for another time.  The views at the midpoint extended across the Oro Valley with the Tortolitas on the horizon.

Sabino Canyon: a Taste

On the last day of Allie and Corey's visit, we drove to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area for a short hike.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the the federal government shutdown.  The private concessions were open.  The bathrooms were open.  The visitor's center was closed.  The Forest Service website for Sabino Canyon directly blames the "Radical Left Democrats."  A violation of the Hatch Act?   I think so.

We didn't let this political bias by certain federal officials affect our ability to enjoy a beautiful day for hiking.  Public lands are for all who reside and visit here.

Allie picked out the Sabino Walkway Loop as the trail for the day.  The trail was only 2.3 miles but still presented some rocky terrain with challenging ups and downs.

We got a bit of a late start so we were all pretty thirsty by the end of the trail. A trip to Pueblo Vida Brewery in Tucson cured that problem.

A National Park and a Museum

On Saturday, the four of us had a big breakfast prepared by yours truly and then drove to West Saguaro National Park.  Julia picked out a trail that was Allie/Corey friendly.  Neither are big hikers.  Allie is known to whine a little if the trail is too far or too steep.  This one was perfect.  I think they both had a good time and enjoyed walking in an environment very different from San Francisco, where they live.

The trail was called Scenic, Passey, Packrat Trail Loop-a little under two miles with 282 feet in elevation gain.  Fall hasn't quite arrived in Tucson yet, although high temperatures have fallen into the mid 80's.  

Saguaros don't have rings like trees, so there's no way to accurately date them.  However, park rangers  told us that a saguaro doesn't grow an arm until it's 80 years old. The one above has a few arms.

Julia has fully transitioned from tree hugger to cactus hugger.  This armless specimen is just a baby.

We survived the short hike for the final group photo.

Next we were off to the nearby Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  This guy was there to greet us on the road before the turn-off.

Julia and I bought annual passes, which included two free passes to get Allie and Corey in.  The cost was a little cheaper than buying single day passes for all of us.    There are many exhibits outdoors and indoors.  Volunteers give presentations on areas of interest.  One was the importance of water in the desert. I particularly liked this poem, which resonated with my first monsoon season in Tucson.

Many of the animals and reptiles here can be found in the wild behind our house.  The javelinas behind the fence looked much more docile than the ones we see in the preserve.  There were way more types of rattlesnakes in Arizona and Sonora than I knew existed.  The most amazing thing to me was how well they blend into the desert environment, making them very difficult to see unless they warn you with a rattle.

After several hours at the museum,  it was mid-afternoon, and we hadn't eaten since breakfast.  We drove to BK Carne Asada and Hot Dogs so that the kids could sample each.  

Julia wanted to try the local raspados con crema, a Mexican treat with shaved ice, fruit and ice cream.  I tried the coconut, and it was quite good.

With that, it was back home for a card game and beverages.  I won the card game, which capped off a pretty good day.  I let Corey win on the next day (maybe).  Part 3 will be coming soon.