Visitor Season

Visitor Season has commenced.  My mother spent a week here in Oro Valley during mid-January.  For 86-years-old, she is doing amazing.  We took her to the Sonoran Desert Museum, Tohono Chul, Whitewater Draw, and Bisbee.  We also fed her more Sonoran Mexican food than she has probably had in her lifetime.  Except for one day of rain on the way back to the airport, we had great weather for her visit.  And no, my Mom is not slamming margaritas, but Julia thought it was quite funny to place a large margarita in front of my non-drinking mother.  Well, it was kinda funny.

We have a couple of weeks without visitors, and then Julia's brother and sister arrive separately in the next wave.  We've been busy during the lull, but I'll save that for another blog post.

Maiden Pools via Ventana Trail

 It's a drizzly, cool, and cloudy day in Tucson.  Starting temperature was 46 degrees.

Julia and I got up at 5:30 a.m. this morning, had a quick coffee and were to the trailhead by 7 a.m.  It was still pretty dark as we left the parking lot behind the Ventana Canyon Resort.  The first mile took us past the rich people's estates.  The trail was a narrow corridor with barb wire fence warning of the consequences of trespassing, but soon we began winding up through the canyon.

The trail passed back and forth across a dry wash. Huge saguaros rose up along both sides of the trail with closer prickly pair and pencil cactus leaning in to catch our clothing if we weren't careful.  

After the first mile, we rose high enough to catch nice views of Tucson below.

Until today, there hasn't been much rain here lately, so the first"pools" were small and algae-covered.  The Maiden Pools are actually an underground stream which rise to the surface in several locations on this trail.  After the first mile or two, the trail climbed steeply via sharp switchbacks, and the terrain changed to tall grasses and shrubs, leaving most of the cacti below.  The pool below was the largest of the ones that we saw.

By the time we reached this pool, the sprinkles had started.  We hung out above the pools for a few minutes to eat our snacks.

Then the drizzle picked up, which had two effects for the rocky trail.  The water brought out beautiful colors in the rocks, especially deep red, which Julia mistakenly took as blood or ketchup at first glance.  Second, the bare rock became slippery as pig snot, which resulted in a very slow walk back to the trailhead in the rain.

No blood was spilled on the way down, and we made it to the truck.  Total distance was 5.6 miles.  Elevation gain of 1335 ft.  And a leisurely 3 hours and 20 minutes for a hike that turned wet and cool. We rewarded ourselves with a late breakfast at Victoria's Cocina Mexicana on the way home.  A little pricey but so good.

Happy Medicare Day!

Pima Canyon

 Happy New Year!

We are in the midst of chaos with Allie and her four friends taking up residence for a week in our downsized home.  All of the bedrooms and bathrooms are full, and there's a young woman sleeping on the couch in the living room also.  They've been having a good time.  Yesterday was a trip to Saguaro West and to the Desert Museum.  Today, they are off on a trail at Sabino Canyon.  

New Year's Eve

Whew, Medicare is here!  I really hated the high-deducible Obamacare plan last year, which wasn't really health insurance.  It was catastrophic health event insurance with a $7500 deductible for each of us.  This year, we will pay a little more, but with a lot more actual health benefits, including some basic gym memberships that come with our supplement plan.  

Tomorrow, I'm supposed to have a Leer Truck topper installed.  I hope to take advantage of that to do some camping in more remote regions than I could with the now-sold Scamp.  Still deciding on how basic I want the build-out to be.  I can always start out with the lazy way (cot and gear) and add as I go.  

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.