Category: National Forests

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4/8: Yosemite

Yosemite! First day begins with hike to Dog Lake. Suprisingly we had not been to this lake near Tuolumne Meadows.
We enjoyed the reflections in the still morning water.
And enjoying some sunshine.
After lingering, we headed to nearby Lembert Dome as part of our day hike.
Tuolumne river and Meadows view from top of Lembert Dome.
We finished the hike with a bit of the John Muir trail for some solitude.
The next day we went for the Cathedral Lakes, a trail to views we had especially enjoyed 10 years ago.
The lower lake had beautiful meadows.
And a nice spot to enjoy the lower lake among the mountains.
At the upper lake we were able to walk around the entire perimeter to enjoy the peak from many angles.
We felt really good to do this almost 10-mile hike with over 2,000 foot elevation gain!
We drove to Lake Tahoe after our Cathedral Lake hike – that was a difficult drive with a lot of mountain climbing. We luckily arrived before dark but were tired puppies.
Watson Lake above Lake Tahoe had this incredible dispersed site where we could walk to the Lake Tahoe overlook.
We appreciated the beauty of this lake. Nice there are such accessible places outside of our national parks.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument became a monument in 2015 from both Forest Service and BLM land.
We sustained high winds that night. Little did we know that power was out across this area of California – the first of many of the PG&E shutdowns to prevent fires.
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3/8: Eastern Sierras

Hiking Methuselah Trail in the Schulman Grove of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California.
Located in protected area, high in the White Mountains, part of Inyo National Forest.
Same species of bristlecone pines as we just saw in Great Basin National Park in Nevada, the oldest discovered living trees in the world.
To further the story of the oldest trees on earth, read about Dr Shulman and the Methuselah tree.
We found a beautiful forested area to camp outside of Mammoth Lakes to explore that region of the Eastern Sierras.
We hiked a bit of the Ansel Adams Wilderness in Reds Meadow Valley, in Devil’s Postpile National Monument.
101 foot Rainbow Falls on the San Joaquin River was a nice destination. We did see a little bit of rainbow in the mist.
We enjoyed a lunch break on the wonderful rocks. This photo was taken on a bridge that is on the Pacific Crest Trail.
A unique natural artistic display of pine cones.
Devils Postpile National Monument 60 foot high columnar basalt – made from volcanic lava many years ago.
These were then worn down by glaciers creating a very interesting patio type area of the hexagonal tops.
This gives a sense of the scale. Read more about this interesting geology.
On the road again, laughing…
Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area
Is it a gorgeous day or is it a gorgeous day?! It brought out the Ansel Adams in both of us. This could be the best shot…
Or is this the best photo?
There are a type of sand flies that breed here. We learned they were a source of protein for native cultures.
Keep safe! A fisherman on the river across from where we camped slipped on a wet rock. Several of us campers and his son lend aid until the professionals arrived. It reminded us all to be careful out there.
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Williams Creek Reservoir

We headed the Travato up the road to Teal Campground for a stay-cation!
We took the new kayaks – how beautiful is this!
We spent several days exploring the coast and the solitude.
Taking turns with the camera. Going out in the morning and the evening.
This is our favorite photo!
We went for several hikes into the nearby Weminuch Wilderness.
This is the life!
We saw lots of wildflowers…
And these black and white butterflys.
Lets take the fork to the right…
Fun! A river crossing!
Heading home with the wilderness behind us.
How many miles of fun we have had?!!
The heron is waiting for us to make sure we appreciate our home lake.
Life feels like a vacation here at home but it was great to explore some near by water as well.
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Smokey Bear Sign Restoration – Sabino Canyon, AZ

This redwood sign was near the Cactus Picnic area in Sabino Canyon in the Coronado National Forest. This area is used to host school groups. Smokey is looking like he could use a little sprucing up.
Here is a detail of the deterioration. The paint kept the carved out letters from aging so they protruded from the background.
We used Bondo on the edges to give a strong weather protection. There is also some wood filler. We had to reattach the boards with new screws.
We patched the old bolt holes to keep the water from penetrating as well as patching some of the larger deterioration spots.
In the field, we cleaned up the vegetation and repainted the sign metal supports.
We painted the entire back ground Forest Service ‘Brown’ before painting the details with ‘Adobe’.
Using a very fine brush and lots of patience!
After extra indoor drying time, Smokey is ready to return to the forest.
Well here we are flanking the restored sign!
This project maintains the legacy of those before us that carved this sign for their care and love of the forest. We are proud to give this sign many more extra years of life to reach more of the visitors to this picnic area.
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Water in Sabino Creek

Morning fog in Sabino Canyon after a night of heavy rain.
This fog bank is soon to overtake us as we watched it move from the creek up the side of the canyon.
We read that Sabino Creek was dry for 154 days – very unusual for the winter months. I am very happy to see it full of water this morning. This is the only photo in this posting taken with the phone.
Eight of the Nine dam/bridges had water on them. We have spent many hours clearing these bridges of vegetation and debris.
These stonework wonders are interesting engineering as they are designed for the high waters to flow over, but to act as dams by creating recreation pools during lower water levels.
The up stream side of a bridge has a quiet reflecting pond, even while the water is pouring over on the other side of the road.
The water had bubbles and was dark with tannins like an exquisite root-beer.
We checked out Anderson Dam area for trash…we did find some floating debris but mainly just enjoyed the beauty of the waterfall.
Gneiss!
We also pulled some of the grasses and weeds from the 3.7 island we had planted earlier in the season. So much easier to pull from wet soil!
It seemed like a good day to improve this little corner of the park. We shoveled out the base of the sign, moved some cobblestones and placed on the slope, backfilled with dirt and will wait for the rain to push the dirt between the rocks and clean things up. We will check on it next weekend…
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Working days on Mt Lemmon

We are doing maintenance in the parking areas and pullouts on the Catalina Highway. With all the cigarette butts, we are amazed there is not a fire every day. Smokey Bear must be watching over us.
Lots of cyclists working hard for 23 mile climb to enjoy the tuck back down to Tucson. A Sky Island is an isolated Eco system: this is the equivalent of going from Mexico to Canada with the change in plants as the elevation increases.
Gorgeous scenery along the way. Photos from a non-working day http://tealsky.com/2014/12/22/mt-lemmon-daytrippers/
Picnic lunch at Rose Canyon Reservoir to appreciate the scenery.
Complete with ducks begging for scraps.
Taking in the view south from Windy Vista with the road winding its way back to the valley.
Sabino Creek starts on Mt Lemmon. Sabino Canyon National Rec Area is at the base of the mountain – contiguous with the Santa Catalina National Forest for hiking but you have to drive through part of Tucson to get to it by car.
It is great to see other people out enjoying this beautiful day!

We deserve a bit of a break after raking the picnic areas and cleaning out the grilles. Great placement of this table!
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January 2018 at Sabino Canyon, AZ

Ready to Celebrate Happy New Year 2018!
What a beautiful New Year Eve Sunset
A view of our picnic area. Ready for some errands in Tucson.
Along East Bear Creek Trail – an easy 3 mile loop we walk from our camp.
Looking down on the island at 3.7 miles on the road from Phoneline Trail.
This is 3.7 island and the end of the road for the trams. This a little garden area we have adopted by adding an occatillo last year, and this year a staghorn cholla, a barrel cactus, as well as an agave (at my feet). We pruned the beautiful hop bush and left a few other interesting plants. Many people touch the rock as an achievement for running or walking to this point so we made it a bit more accessible. We make weekly trips to water and keep the weedy grass from regrowing.
Another beautiful sunset in the canyon from our camp!
A hike to 7 Falls — no water at all in any of the stream crossing. And no water falls but a beautiful reflection pond is still retaining some water.
One of the many art shots we took while appreciating how the reflection was more scenic because of heightened contrast.
A really nice spot to hang out and contemplate before our 4-mile walk back to camp.
The Canyon during the three day government shutdown: the parking lots and visitor center were closed, creating work for law enforcement.
We spent a day at Catalina State Park with Joan and Jim – we hiked some of the trail to Romero Pools, enjoyed a picnic lunch together, wine o’clock at their camp followed by Joan’s delicious beef stew. Nice day.
Back on the job, we refinished 4 teak benches at the visitor center. Lots of sanding, bending over, and 2 coats of linseed oil.
Two of the larger benches that get more sun damage.
Oh but they feel sooooo nice. Such a good job~!
Couldn’t resist a detail shot!
Storm clouds but still no rain. It is extremely dry — very different from last January!  But enjoying another beautiful sunset.
And the full super blue blood moon rise.
We enjoyed one night from our camp site and the other at Saguaro National Park West with the native flute music.
A wonderful way to end this January 2018.
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Heading to Sabino Canyon, Arizona

Retracing our steps, we picked up the MINI in Denver, the Travato in Kansas, and returned to Lake Meredith to catch up on sleep. http://tealsky.com/2016/11/11/oklahoma-texas-panhandles/
We revisited White Sands NM for a beautiful hike on the dunes. http://tealsky.com/2015/12/09/white-sands-new-mexico/
We camped near by on this picturesque pond.
Near Las Cruces, we enjoyed this spot in the Organ Mountains NM for a few nights – meeting up with an architecture friend for a Rotary event. First time here in the Travato  http://tealsky.com/2015/12/08/organ-mountains-new-mexico/
Back at our site #2 in Sabino Canyon, enjoying happy hour with Site #1 friends, co-volunteers. Last time we saw them: http://tealsky.com/2017/05/22/flying-from-ft-collins-colorado/
The sunsets are memorable looking east with the saguaros in the foreground. Pictures from a year ago http://tealsky.com/2017/01/15/sabino-canyon-tucson-first-weekfull-moon/
A coworker made this awesome flan for the holiday party! We had to try three servings just to make sure it was as good as it looked!
A Merry Christmas to You Saguaro Nativity.
Sabino Creek is very low with no water flowing, just a few little reflection pools.
This coati was hanging around one of the little pools with 4 other family members – we sure enjoyed watching them forage!
Some incredibly nice fall color as we started our work routine up the canyon.
Hiking on another day we found this pop up art installation of balanced rocks.
This must take a lot of patience but it was very fun to come across it. A peaceful way to start 2018.