Hiking the Catalinas

At last, this is what we have come here for, beautiful views and great hiking. We have found that special Saguaro with over 50 arms and even though we are in the desert there is a beautiful waterfall at the base of the mountains.

Pima Air and Space Museum

Just south of Tucson sits the Pima Air and Space museum. A great visit especially with the pass that Wynn and Paula gave us for free admission. It's a little less impressive than our visit to the similar museum along the gulf coast in Pensacola. The past two days have been wet with a system that moved down the coast from Alaska and entered the south west drenching the desert with much needed rain. The storm has moved into the midwest just in time for the holidays.

The rain gives the desert a unique smell that to me, seems like plants waking from the slumber brought on by drought. It's a good smell, the air fresh and clean and the ground soaks up the moisture as fast as it falls. The washes that sat behind our Rig in Justin's Diamond J RV resort were full of wildlife but no running water. Last night as I sat reading my book I heard the squeals that come with Javelina's and sure enough, a peak out the window with a flash light revealed a momma, a large young piglet and two very small little piglets. Not sure if that is appropriate, to call Javelina's piglets but you know what I mean. I now understand what happens when you spill bird seed on the ground in the desert.

This was our second stay at Diamond J RV resort and we really enjoy the RV park. The sites are well spaced and the facilities are clean. Our next stop, Catalina State Park for the holiday week. This is one of our favorite parks with fantastic views and challenging hikes.

Arizona flora and fauna

We're back in the land of the Saguaro and happy to be back online. This week we are staying at a resort that's just down the road from the Saguaro National park and Sonora desert, so we are flanked by mountains and plenty of flora and fauna. Our first night was rainy but the coyotes and javelinas were active in the wash behind our rig giving Blue lots of entertainment. The following evening we took our walk later in the dark and enjoyed the many falling, 12 stars in 10 minutes. A great week for celestial viewing with a full eclipse one night and meteor showers a few nights later.

The trails behind the park are filled with a wide variety of cholla, all of which will hurt your feet should you kick one (first hand experience), ocotillo, mesquite, palo verde, catclaw acacia, hedgehog cactus, barrel cactus and prickly pear just to name a few. But my favorite is the Saguaro, the indicator species for the Sonoran desert. It lives a long and difficult life, hundreds of years and even in death, the ribs stand tall against the Arizona sky as a reminder of the magnificent soldier that was once here.

Santa Rita Mountains Madera Canyon

As our week in De Anza Trails winds down we've had the opportunity to experience the area. It takes at least a week to get a flavor for an area and this is a great area. And, the RV park is a great home base, especially when the temps drop below freezing. After a day of exploring, you can take a dip in the pool or sit by the fire pit and enjoy the other RVers company. Nice place and at a great price, we'll be back for sure.

Yesterday we took a drive to Madera Canyon and hiked the Dutch John Spring trail, a good 1000+ foot climb up the canyon but no drink for us. The tub that the spring feeds was frozen solid. There is a campground and even though the Forest Service suggest no RVs over 22', we can easily camp here in the future. Site 7 is the best site for us but there are two others that will also work for a larger RV. Just a mile further up the road and we hit the snow line. The canyon gets sun late in the morning and sunset is at 3:30.

Snow at 6000 feet

After a few cold nights and some precipitation, the Santa Rita Mountains have a light dusting of snow from 6000 feet and up. We found the snow today after driving up Mt Hopkins toward the Whipple Observatory. There are no tours at this time of the year but we enjoyed the drive with it's breathtaking view's of the surrounding mountains and valley below. Breathtaking because I was on the outside going up and very aware of the steep drop just to my right. Coming down gave me a bit more opportunity to experience the view. As we left the mountains we watched a coyote cross the road and walk the wash nearby. Further on we were reminded how close we are to the border when a border patrol helicopter flew just overhead and 3-4 border patrol vehicles appeared as they canvased the area for illegals.