Heathen Vagabondage

It was not only the crisp, clean lines of white against the brilliant blue sky, nor the over-the-top Baroque feast for the eyes inside the 18th century Mission San Xavier del Bac that drew us in. It was coming across the term "heathen vagabondage" that really captured our imaginations.

Padre Kino founded San Xavier Mission at the village of Wa:k in the 17th century and his job as missionary was to "pacify" the natives and make them loyal vassals of the crown of Spain. But the Piman groups who populated the area practiced the centuries old seasonal migration lifestyle, consisting of summer and fall tending and harvesting crops in their rancherias, and after harvest leading a nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle.

The Europeans could not understand this lifestyle. They condemned mobility as "heathen vagabondage" because of their misunderstanding of the Pimans cultural and ecological adaptation to life in a sometimes harsh semi-arid environment.

As full time RVers heathen vagabondage speaks volumes to us. Our nomadic lifestyle is outside the norm but so right for us at this time. We are thankful we live in the 21st century; some may not understand our choices, but no one is trying to pacify us!

The Mission is located approximately 10 miles South of Tucson, is an active church, has docent tours daily, and a museum that details the history of this architectural beauty in the desert.

One small example of the elaborate interior.
It is impossible to capture the intricate details in a photo...

Many architectural details are simply painted directly on the walls.

Early Bloomers

Yesterday was one of those days where we wanted a good long hike but didn't want to drive far so we decided to redo a previous hike in the opposite direction.

We parked at the King Canyon trail head (K24) and proceeded to hike these trails: Gould Mine, Sendero Esperanza, Hugh Norris, King Canyon. We hiked the reverse of this with John and Pam two weeks ago but today we left out the spur going to Wasson Peak and for the last section of King Canyon trail we took the wash...we were armed with new information from Mark (who writes the excellent Box Canyon Blog). This route ended up being 7.7 miles.

What a perfect day it turned out to be for a hike! Thin clouds kept it cooler than expected, always a bonus when climbing hills with no cover. But the best part for me was seeing the first blooms in the desert! We've had several nicely spaced rains in the past few weeks, with another on the way tomorrow. That seems to have been just enough to get spring started!

These Mexican Poppies were the most prolific flowers we saw.

Mark had posted about petroglyphs in the lower portion of King Canyon so we searched for them on the last leg of the hike. These were located in the wash just below the point where King Canyon trail crosses the wash. We also saw a mortero farther down the wash.

The wash is fun to take through here because it has many drops over rocky ledges. I love to imagine the water thundering through during a flash flood!

It was wonderful to see the first splashes of color that means spring is on the way! With more rain in the next few days we could see an explosion of new life very soon...!

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo

Yesterday was a well earned rest day for us so we headed out into the desert just North West of the Catalina Mountains to watch a whole lot of other folks on an epic mountain bike ride. Well, we watched a few hours of it anyway.

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is a 24 hour mountain bike race. Yeah, you read that right, it's a 24 hour race! From noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday. Most participants do it relay-style, some hardy souls do it solo. We knew that Hans' second cousin's fiance was participating in a relay team, that gave us the carrot we needed to get ourselves out there. (And then I forgot to take a picture when we found them!)

The course is a 16 mile loop with 1200 foot elevation gain. Each loop ends at the Transition Tent where riders check in and hand off a baton to the next relayer on their team or just continue on if they are soloing. Results are based on number of laps completed in 24 hours and category of rider (solo, duo, team, etc.)

It was a long haul out a dirt road to the entrance, but you could see the "24 Hour Town" from a long ways off.

We knew the start was at noon and we attempted to arrive by 11am. Once we got through the entrance gate ($5 and 2 cans of food/each) we were in a nightmarish maze of tiny dirt roadways through haphazardly parked RV's, tents, trucks and cars, port-a-potty's, vendors plus bikes and people flowing steadily to the starting area...and we were in our giant truck! All of these factors were fighting for the small bits of space available between cactus and creosote and rocks.

We were very lucky to find a parking space with easy in/out access.

Once parked we made our way to the starting area with 10 minutes to spare.

The crowd waits along the opening "chute" moments before the start.
The first set of riders must run to their bikes.

The party had definitely started!

We even saw a few riders do this as they came through!

There were 538 relay teams and solos participating. Here are the first runners (riders) coming through the chute! They grab their bike from an assistant and off they go!

After the start we climbed a rock pile overlooking the 24 Hour Town and the drop into the transition/finish area:

The big white tent on the right is the transition tent.
People are camped and parked in any available spot in the desert, leaving small dirt roads for access.

This is the open desert terrain the riders are tackling.
About half of the course is on single track, the rest is on dirt roads.

As the riders finish a lap the course takes them up on this little rocky hill where they must drop off a rock face and make a turn towards the transition tent with lots of spectators watching them:

Two riders making the turn to drop down the rock face.

Rider dropping down the rock face.

Rider making the turn at the bottom of the rock face.

After a few hours of taking in the scene around the 24 Hour Town we headed on back to our cozy home, thankful that we were not camping out in that mass of humanity for the weekend!

On the way out the race course crosses the exit road.

The event was held on a private ranch which leases space to the event coordinators. But the usual occupants remain on site. We wondered if the racers had to contend with any of these guys on the course!

It was a fun and different kind of day in the desert!

Fantasy Island in Tucson?

Why yes, yes indeed, there is a Fantasy Island in Tucson! It's an awesome mountain biking trail system.

Jim and Allison, who we met while hiking the other day, have spent several winters in Tucson and are avid bicyclists (both road and mountain). They were happy to show us this mountain biking fantasyland.

There are about 25 miles of trails through the desert. It's nice dirt single track, weaving through cactus (sometimes quite close...you gotta be real careful in spots!) and creosote with some fun roller coaster washes thrown in. We did about 14 miles or so, leaving more trails for us to check out some other time.

If you go it would be a good idea to have a map of the area with you as it would be easy to lose your way back to your truck! We were glad to be with people who knew the trails.

It was a fun ride with good folks!

We're ready to take off through the desert with the Catalina Mountain range looming in the distance.

Occasional bicycle art surprises! This one was actually a memorial to an avid biker.

"If I don't move they won't see me"...all 4 of us road past this guy, he didn't move a muscle!

Spectacular Views! Lush Vegetation! Boulders!

Today we hiked an awesome 7.5 mile loop in Saguaro National Park West that delivered all of the above and more!

Here's the quick scoop on the loop: Park at the Hugh Norris trail head (#6 on the map) and head on up Hugh Norris trail, go left on Sendero Esperanza trail, left down Dobe Wash, follow the dirt road briefly, then right into Bajada Wash, to make your way back to your vehicle. As a bonus, Saguaro National Park has good signage on their trails!

Now for the details: The first mile or so up Hugh Norris is mostly stone stairs on decomposed granite trail. The trail is on the North side of the mountain so it is LUSH right now from all the rain we've had recently. Plus, as you rise in elevation the views expand on the horizon. And you pass by, and have views of, giant boulders all the way to the top. We even saw tiny patches of snow near the top, left over from Monday's "storm"!

Now Hugh Norris is described as a strenuous trail and yes, it is a long and fairly steep climb, but the trail is good, not rocky, and the switchbacks and stairs make for an easy ascent.

Once you reach the top you're done with the stairs and have nice decomposed granite as you traverse a ridgeline for a while, enjoying spectacular views. Only a small portion of the ridgeline trail is on the South side of the mountain which tends to make for sharp, rocky trail.

At the Sendero Esperanza junction you make your way down the North side of the mountain in easy switchbacks. Then you enter Dobe Wash and a gentle downhill in soft sand. After maybe a quarter mile on the dirt road, you'll turn into even lovelier Bajada Wash which features many boulder strewn water courses which are fun to imagine in seasonal flood.

Heading up the Hugh Norris trail. Check out all the grass from the recent rains!

Some ocotillo's are starting to get leaves.

As we head up the hill the views expand before us.

Huge, perfectly shaped yucca!

Heading along the ridgeline.

Looking back at the ridgeline we've just come across...

Looking North and down into the valley we'll be descending in to.

You can see for miles and miles...

The Dobe Wash was lush and green too. We were happy to be going downhill in the sand, not up.

In the Bajada Wash rocks formed channels from water flow.

We saw several pools in the Bajada Wash leftover from Monday's rain.

Happy Valentine's Day!