Just Hangin' Out in Tucson

Since we spent a month in Tucson last year, this year we are taking it slower, we don't feel a need to run out and see everything. The relaxed pace is wonderful, but leaves fewer things to write about. Today I'll mostly share a few photos that have made me happy lately.

There's some nice mountain bike trails behind our park and we checked them out with Jim and Allison today. We met these two on the trail last year in Tucson. Really glad our paths have crossed again. Couldn't have asked for better weather or company!

Hans, Jim, Allison...great ride today!

Working backward: last night we enjoyed a fun happy hour at Bill and Heidi's place. We met them last year in Silver City and met a few of their friends here in the park last night. There are some really nice folks staying at this park!

L to R: Bill, Heidi, Bill, Hans, Gary, Linda, Linda.

I talked about the owl sightings recently, and later got the clearest photo yet:

Here's a a few more bird photos, taken in the desert garden right behind our rig...

Cactus wren

Gambels quail fluffing feathers.

Love the orange eye of the Curved bill thrasher.

There's a pair of Northern cardinals hanging our in our garden.
This is the female.

And the male.

Yes, I see you!

We did a short hike over in Saguaro National Park East the day Hans got his permanent crown. It's just as pretty on the East side as the West.

The End!

The High Point of the Tucson Mountains: Wasson Peak

Today we hiked Wasson Peak and we couldn't help thinking of John and Pam; it was one of the big hikes we did together last year at this time. Pam and I were obsessed with finding elusive crested saguaros...I still am, and I know Pam would be if she weren't in Florida this winter. The bonus today was finding a crested that I missed last year!

Here's the map for Saguaro National Park West. We hiked King Canyon, Hugh Norris, Sendero-Esperanza, and Gould Mine trails to make a 7.5 mile loop. Here's a few images from a great day on the trail.

Wasson Peak, at 4,687 feet, is actually behind the mountain in the distance.

We saw this unique crested saguaro last year.

There were a few spots of color along the trail.

Great views looking back towards our starting point.
We had just zig-zagged our way up the hillside.

The last bit of trail along a ridgeline to our destination.

It was a little chilly on top.

Coming down Gould Mine trail I looked up to my left and saw what seemed to be
a crested saguaro on top of the hill .

 

The trail made its way around the hill and from the other side I could plainly see it was indeed a crested saguaro!

Some pretty, new growth on a cholla. 

Another great day on the trail in Tucson! I'm glad we did this one before it warms up again next week, these hills would have been a lot harder at 80 degrees!

Beautiful Western Tucson

Our home base for a month, Desert Trails RV Park, sits on the South edge of Tucson Mountain Park (TMP). We've got trails into the desert right from the RV park and are just a few minutes drive to many more miles of trails in TMP and Saguaro National Park (SNP) West.

Our remaining few days with Mike and Keyna were spent enjoying some of our favorite nearby trails. They headed on to their next destination this morning after one last tasty dinner last night. It may be many months before our paths cross again, but it's been lots of fun catching up while we could.

Trail maps for hikes close to Desert Trails RV park:
Tucson Mountain Park Trail Map
Saguaro National Park West Map

One gorgeously cloudy day we hiked Hidden Canyon and Yetman trails to Bowen House, returning by Bowen trail. This four mile lollipop loop had one easy hill, pretty canyon views and the picturesque stone ruins of Bowen House.

Fantastic cloud formations graced our hike to Bowen House Ruin.

Another day we hiked my favorite loop in SNP West: the Hugh Norris - Dobe Wash Loop. Here is my detailed write up on it from last year. And below are a few pics from our recent hike...

Puffy clouds and big boulders make for a pleasing lunch stop.

Near the end of the loop you drop into Bajada Wash.

There are some neat boulder strewn sections in Bajada Wash.

One of my favorite things is to have good trails accessible directly from the RV park. Here's a few images from walks with no driving necessary...

 

Pretty in pink.

This crazy many-armed saguaro is a fun find a couple miles from the RV park.

This crest has continued to grow into a hand!

We've had some incredible sunsets lately, one evening in particular lit up the clouds in an explosion of color:

Though we're having lots of fun, life's little realities have intruded here and there. Our electric fireplace fan stopped working and fortunately it's still under warranty. We received a free replacement and successfully made the switch one afternoon. Hans also broke an old crown and is in the process of having it replaced. Why that couldn't have happened when we were in Yuma having dental done, we just don't know!

We also celebrated our seven year wedding anniversary this week as well as eight years since our fateful meeting through Match dot com. Life is most excellent!

Getting WOWed by Nature in Tucson

Last year we spent a month in Tucson at Justin's Diamond J RV Park. This year we're spending a month right next door at the quirky, rustic Desert Trails RV Park. I'll get into details on this park when I do my review at the end of our stay, but for now let me just say this place is unique and very friendly.

Many of the sites at this park back up to lush Sonoran desert vegetation and we were fortunate to get one of those sites. Almost every RVer in this park sets up multiple bird feeders so birds of all types abound here. We've seen Sparrows and finches, hummers, quail, thrashers, pyhrruloxia, cardinals, phainopepla, owls, hawks, kestrels, road runners.

Our neighbors are close but they are friendly...the real bonus here is the desert vegetation behind our rig.

This very lightly used path behind our rig meanders to the park office and is full of birds.

Yesterday I had an amazing bird encounter...and foolishly did not have my camera at hand. I was sitting in my camp chair, Rosie on leash on another chair 3 feet across from me and I saw a road runner walk out from under our steps and slowly continue right in front of me! It paused, less than two feet away, and eyed Rosie's tail hanging off her chair. It puffed up its crest, showing a streak of bright orange along its cheeks, then sauntered on towards the garden. At this point Rosie saw it and was instantly on high alert determining if this bird was too big to bother with. We were both terribly excited by this of course; I ran for my camera and then we both had to sniff around hoping to see this beautiful bird again!

Our full timer friends, Mike and Keyna, are spending a week at the RV park next door so lots of hikes and dinners are on the agenda. Our first outing took us on the ~5 miles Starr Pass/Yetman Trail loop. This trail has nice variety, passing through a canyon where a couple of crested saguaros can be found and climbing to the top of a rocky ridge for views of Western Tucson.

This crested arm is a new find this year.

Hans and Mike on the trail with Cat Mountain in the background.

Keyna picks her way down the trail among colorful boulders.

Dinner at Mike and Keyna's.

The past couple of nights we heard owls nearby. This morning I was excited to hear them as daylight was breaking...perhaps with daylight I could get a decent photo. There are a couple of giant eucalyptus trees behind the park office and park regulars told us two owls were trying to take over a hawk nest. I witnessed some of this ongoing power struggle today.

Great horned owl sitting on the nest.

The second owl perched nearby.

One of the Coopers hawks that keep dive bombing the owls.

Lots of fun and excitement here in Tucson these days!