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.
