Our picnic table with the moody sky before a storm.Our favorite work lunch picnic spot overlooking the Bear Creek and the start of 7 Falls Hike.Another great spot is the Dam in Lower Sabino – it is beautiful this winter with all the rain and snow melt from Mt Lemmon.Another favorite Nice (Gneiss) rock outcropping.The first Spring flowers are this pink fairy duster.Part of an old road to the Dam, that we have dubbed the Roman Road. We cleared the edges from growth to expose the beautiful cobblestone work.The Roman Road before the brush was removed – barely a path through the prickly bushes.And we finished clearing the shrubs next to this beautiful stairway as an alternate to using the Roman Road to visit the Dam.Helping out on some brush cutting along the Phoneline Trail.Emptying the bucket loads of prickly pear that we cleared from the Bear Creek Roadside – safety measure for the pedestrians, especially children.The result is a much safer road to walk on.We also cleared growth above and below this wall in a large parking area in Upper Sabino Canyon. Little did we know that the Youth Corp was going to camp here the following weekend while doing some trail rebuilding.This crested Saguaro cactus is much visited by the visitor center, but really interesting.Walking back to the Winnebago Travato after work before a rain storm. this is such a beautiful place to be!More snow in the mountains was visible at sunrise.We found an oasis in the desert (south of Sabino) at Agua Caliente Park.
Beautiful Sabino Canyon watching the clouds build in mid-January.Reflections of the saguaros.Looks like more rain as we are watching from the Travato.Wow – another amazing rainbow.So much rain (and it is cold), we are working in the warehouse – prepping new boards to revitalize some picnic tables.Pre- drilling: three coats of paint to follow. The legs got spray-painted.There were large signs to paint in “Federal Brown” – these will go up Mt Lemmon.You can check out, but you can never leave!We met J & J at Starr Pass for a hike before dinner out and an astronomy lecture at UA. The day ended by seeing a 4 star cluster in Orion’s sword at the Steward Observatory. Their blog with more pictures of the hike.We took a group hike from Molino Basin on Mt Lemmon to this trailhead on Reddington Pass.It took us all day but we had some great scenery and camaraderie.We took a break to Kartchner Caverns State Park and shared a camp site with J & J – leveling was a challenge. But we now have a new leveling app from Truma that should be helpful on other sites.We hiked a couple miles to this overlook. Then back for some of Joan’s home made pizza – yum! It was great to have so many times together this month, building memories and sharing our travel stories. Joan and Jim’s Blog on Kartchner CavernsThe waters really reached a high point and even the trams could not go up Sabino Canyon.We have shoveled, then swept all the sand and debris off this bridge as part of our job to keep it safe for bikes and peds.The mile markers were looking a bit less than fresh as this one at the top of the canyon.This one was buried behind debris but we have it cleaned up and looking good.Having friends over for a BBQ and sunset. Lights under the Travato to keep away the pack rats.Hanging out under the awning – well deserved after washing the house inside and out.Our neighbors also enjoying the view at Cocktail Hour.Another full moon in the canyon.
Our hiking friends helped us snag a volunteer position with Coronado National Forest. We work three days a week in full uniform in exchange for this camp spot next to our friends.Warning – you might get tired of the sunsets!!!Or sunsets with moon rises…The full moon over Blackett’s Ridge was beckoning us to come for a closer look.So we headed out the next afternoon for our own sunset/moon rise hike up the ridge. J & J are staying in Catalina so they could partake in this adventure.Enjoying the views of Tucson in the warm afternoon light. We really enjoyed all the city lights sparkling on our way down.We made it to the top of the ridge in time to enjoy a bit of dinner with the view.The most gorgeous sunset ever!!!!! It can’t even be captured in a panorama but we had a 360 view – wow! It was so worth it in spite of the challenge of hiking down in the moon shadows.The next day we took off to hike Seven Falls while the water levels were lower for the seven creek crossing.Sunrise as we reported for our second day of work – we need to be there at 7:00 AM so we bought an alarm clock! Are we still retired?Rain brings its own beauty (picture taken from the Travato)– we got a reprieve from a day of work due to too much rain. Our duties are to keep the public areas tidy, clean, and safe to enhance the visitor experience.
We were on the road in the rain on New Year’s Day leaving Green Valley in the rear view mirror. Glad we had packed the van the day before! We arrived in Organ Pipe Cactus with some nice low clouds but the sun shining on us.We picked a great site a bit further south than last year’s but an auspicious number….maybe?
Meeting up with our full time RV friends to start the New Year on the right foot! We toasted with champagne and had a mini-quiche happy hour after a pleasant stroll around the campground.We had a gourmet meal of crab cakes from the professional chef – graduate of Cordon Blu Pasadena! Followed with a cheese platter and port. I am intimidated but the next day, we fixed our Spanish Bean Soup with fresh baked rolls in the convection oven which was well received by all. Whew!A drive around Ajo Mountain and a hike to the arches. Who is blogging about who?Looking good coming up the mountain trail.The guys ready to tackle the arch.It is necessary to walk back down on the other side to see this view of the arch.It doesn’t seem this large – the distance is so deceiving.Back in time for wine o’clock on the picnic table.We all piled into Bill – a 4-wheel drive Ram pickup truck – to explore an area we had never been. On the Mexican border, the western side of the park.The rare little pupfish were in this pond – quite a surprise that it was so large.Wouldn’t you like to know Jose’s story of how he got from Brest, France to here and why?
South Eastern Arizona in the San Simon Valley – we dispersed on BM land near the town of Safford. We did not get a storm but enjoyed the clouds playing with the sun.Gila Box was a very beautiful area! We stayed at a BLM managed campground which was excellent.View of the Gila river walking back to our camp site.We found the skeleton of an old Model T buried in the pebbles – Don’t you wonder what was the story behind how it got here?Sunset on another beautiful day.Our Thanksgiving Feast at Stockton Pass, south of Safford in the Penaleno Mountains. Pass is named after Stockton Clanton, father of the brothers known in Tombstone.It is roasted chicken but we have turkey gravy, fresh bread, and nice Colorado wine.Cochise Stronghold – our favorite dispersed campsite in the Dragoon Mountains of Coronado National Forest.Is Batman overlooking the grave of Cochise? That is one of the mysteries of this mountain range. Here is the link to photos from last year’s hike and camp http://tealsky.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1691&action=editWe hiked again to the Stronghold Divide – much better weather than last year!Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area had a lot of cranes already here for the winter. This was amazing to see and hear so many of them.The cranes fly in to spend the night after feeding in the fields all day. They leave pre-dawn so we did not see any the next morning – we were too lazy to get out in the cold before our coffee.View of Mexico from Coronado National Monument – this was a challenging 3 mile drive to the top of the pass but great views. We spent a few nights near Sierra Vista in Miller Canyon and then Gardener Canyon.
Pecos National Monument added to our knowledge of ancient cultures – especially with their fabulous pottery display.A gorgeous day to experience the plateau and structures.So many layers of historyFacsinating kivas. We also toured the civil war site as part of the monument and noted how the scenery was not exactly the same as today with all the farms having cleared the land.We appreciated the re-purposing of the existing building.A close up photo of the original building.El Morro means the headland and this is the landmark travelers aimed towards in their desert crossings.It became a place to leave your mark – to tell part of your story.Most were very anxious to reach this water supply – we enjoyed the reflection and serenity.Settlers, conquistadors, friars – so many passed this way and had remarkable stories to tell.We thought this looked like a bottle of wine!We walked to the top of the rock – this overlooks a box canyon with amazing goelogy.It was windy but we appreciated the sculpting effects like this amazing character pine.Contemplating all that have enjoyed this scene.CCC workers carved these stairs into the rock. We thought we had been transported to Greek Isles.Ruins on the top that have been stabilized and preserved.Near by El Malpais we found this great BLM campground which we stayed for a few nights.The lava flows are what makes it the badlands!Imagine walking over miles of this uneven surface.We took the Rims Narrow Trail to the arch overlook – gorgeous vistas for the entire walk.We are thinking bear print – we saw several of these but no bear. Lots of animal tracks.On the south side of the park are these unmarked ruins.We camped at Apache Creek, Gila National Forest – we had this entire campground to ourselves. In the morning we saw 4 javalinas walking up the hill.We stopped at Catwalk for this hike into the canyon. It was originally water lines to a mine. The CCC turned that into a walkway and it has been maintained ever since. Part up the canyon is still closed due to a fire/flash flood.What better spot to have lunch? Gila Wilderness.Thank you Aldo Leopold for loving this area so much, that you spent your life working to preserve areas as wilderness for all those that came after you. We really appreciate it and have so enjoyed this opportunity to explore so many wilderness areas as well as other public lands.
On the road again in the flat lands!Peace Chief Black Kettle survived Sand Creek Massacre but did not survive this massacre. We spent the night nearby in the Black Kettle Grasslands.Imagine those that escaped by hiding in these grasses. We enjoyed seeing it at sunset.Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas was our next stop – we spent our first night here as it was quite windy.This bull snake was enjoying some sunshine. We had not seen them flatten their heads like this.At the Alibates Flint Quarry National Monument, we took a guided hike up to see these ancient quarries of the beautiful stones.At the visitor center, we watched Ed Dey, flint knapper, shape one of these stones into a small masterpiece. He also regaled us with some stories.This was the beautiful arrowhead he created that we were given as a souvenir. Nice! We really appreciated it.Our second night we spent higher on the bluffs – as you can see there was no wind!And enjoyed this gorgeous sunset – they are all nice but we like the lake view as well.Heading into New Mexico with a bit more wind at our back.A night at Ute Lake State Park in New Mexico as we head towards Santa Fe for the weekend.
A National Historic Site, we had a ranger overview talk before our walk to the overlook of the massacre site.It is the last day of October – the massacre was the end of November – it surely wasn’t 87 degrees that day!We parked at Nee Noshee SWA for the late afternoon and evening, South of Eads, CO.This is the beautiful wildlife area – we saw a few ducks, raptors, and coots.Bent’s Old Fort NHS with a resident steer greeting us.Beautiful animal. I guess he gets to pull the wagon occasionally.This was a big fur trading area – mostly buffalo skins but here is a river boat made out of one as well as some beaver pelts.A nice piece of history that is recreated here on the Arkansas River.We headed South to Comanche National Grasslands for a few nightsPanoramic views to enjoy on our ‘back patio”. We are surprised at all the canyons in the grasslands.Peaceful sunset with Moon and planets. The Milky Way was awesome!Picket Wire Canyonlands hike first had this dust bowl ruin.On old chapel ruin and cemetery of another settlement.But dinosaurs are why we have chosen this trail – this is a thigh bone a tad larger than mine!And footprints a tad larger than ours!This is a panorama of Theropod dinosaur tracks. Well worth a 12 mile RT hike.Largest Tracksite in North AmericaWe stopped for lunch at Carrizo canyon.And did a short hike to these amazing petroglyphs of elk.We camped at Vogel canyon and enjoyed sunset on Balance Rock.This was the view from the Travato!We hiked to some more petroglyphs. This is a calendar that marks the solstice.And some amazing drawings. We were disturbed by recent graffiti and had many discussions of why someone would deface these treasures.We enjoyed our picnic lunch by this arch as we were in no hurry to get back to camp.
