Arizona – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Goldmine Mountain (Arizona) 13-Jan-2022

2022-01-132022-01-18Posted in Arizona, HikingTagged Arizona, Day Hiking, Goldmine Trail Arizona, Hiking, Phoenix Arizona, San Tan Mountain Regional Park Arizona2 Comments

After San Xavier and Titan II, we had time for a short hike on our way into Scottsdale. San Tan Mountain Regional Park sits on the very southern edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area and features a viewpoint overlooking the southern end of greater Phoenix. We reached this county park on a mix of controlled access and country roads – we knew we were getting close to Phoenix when the traffic thickened considerably. We paid a $7 day use fee to enter and park at the park’s Phillips Road Trailhead.

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The Sublime & The Terrifying (Arizona) 13-Jan-2022

2022-01-132022-01-18Posted in Arizona, Other AdventuresTagged Arizona, San Xavier del Bac Arizona, Titan Missile Museum Arizona, Tucson Arizona4 Comments

Today we were headed north for more hiking near Scottsdale. But before departing Green Valley, we visited two sites that address the idea of protection but from radically different directions.

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Romero Pools (Coronado NF) 21-Feb-2020

2020-02-212020-03-14Posted in Arizona, HikingTagged Arizona, Catalina State Park Arizona, Coronado National Forest, Day Hiking, Hiking, Romero Canyon Trail Arizona, Santa Catalina Mountains Arizona6 Comments

The sunny day we’d had for our climb yesterday of Picacho Peak was but a distant memory when we awoke this morning under a gray gloom. Unlike on previous days, there was no suggestion that this gloom would lift anytime soon. So we adjusted our hiking plans to the Romero Pools in Romero Canyon on the north side of the Santa Catalina Mountains. These pools are shallow catchments on seasonal canyon streams. Since it had been somewhat of a wet winter, we figured that these pools were likely flowing (they were). We also figured that these pools were probably worth seeing even if shrouded in gloom (they were).

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Picacho Peak (Arizona) 20-Feb-2020

2020-02-202020-02-24Posted in Arizona, HikingTagged Arizona, Day Hiking, Hiking, Picacho Peak Arizona, Sunset Vista Trail Arizona, Tucson Arizona4 Comments

Picacho Peak (3,370 feet / 1,027 m) sits hard up against Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. In all the years we’ve been coming to Arizona we must have driven past it dozens of times without once thinking it could be hiked. But after coming across a post by BIT|Hiker we put it on our to do list. After hikes in the Santa Ritas and Tortolitas, we headed for Picacho.

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Wild Burro Loop (Tortolita Mountains) 19-Feb-2020

2020-02-192020-02-24Posted in Arizona, HikingTagged Alamo Springs Trail Arizona, Arizona, Day Hiking, Hiking, Tortolita Mountains Arizona, Town of Marana Arizona, Tucson Arizona, Wild Burro Trail Arizona

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The Tortolita Mountains lie only about seven miles from the outer suburbs of ever expanding (assuming the water lasts) Tucson, Arizona. Fortunately, a good chunk of this range has been protected within the 5,000+ acre Tortalita Mountain Park administered by the Town of Marana (Tucson’s neighbor to the north). There are a number of trails in this park but we opted to do the Wild Burro-Alamo Springs Loop for an easy visit to the varied flora of the Sonoran Desert – including the iconic Saguaro cactus.

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Rogers Rock (Mount Wrightson Wilderness) 18-Feb-2020

2020-02-182022-01-17Posted in Arizona, Arizona Wilderness Areas, HikingTagged Arizona, Coronado National Forest, Day Hiking, Hiking, Madera Canyon Arizona, Mount Wrightson Wilderness Arizona, Rogers Rock Arizona, Santa Rita Mountains Arizona, Super Trail #134

Heidi and Bob live pretty close to Madera Canyon in Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains. So after saying good-bye to them, we headed back up into the canyon to do a loop to Josephine Saddle, passing Rogers Rock along the way. I’d learned about the Rock from an AllTrails post and making a detour to it sounded like a nice way to add a viewpoint to our loop.

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Tumacacori NHP (Tubac, Arizona) 17-Feb-2020

2020-02-172022-02-02Posted in Arizona, Other AdventuresTagged Arizona, Madera Canyon Arizona, Tucson Arizona, Tumacacori National Histroical Park1 Comment

We made our way to the desert again – this time Southern Arizona – to visit our long-time friends Heidi & Bob and do a little hiking. Heidi and I go back almost 50 years – she was a “big sister” to me back in the day when I didn’t have, but sorely needed, one. She was a much admired middle and high school science teacher in the old mining town of Bisbee. Bob will be 99 in May! 😀 He’s squeezed a lot into those years – cowboy, hard rock miner, WW2 bomber pilot, Korean War fighter pilot, and city communications director. He also collects Victorian glass salt dishes. While staying with them south of Tucson, we took a little time to go a little farther south to visit Tumacacori National Historical Park.

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Arizona Hot Spring (Lake Mead NRA) 21-Jan-2020

2020-01-212020-01-28Posted in Arizona, Hiking, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Arizona, Arizona Hot Spring, Day Hiking, Hiking, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation Area Nevada2 Comments

Arizona Hot Spring, Lake Mead NRA, Arizona

This was our second “make-up” hike in the Las Vegas area – one we’d intended to do last year before fate intervened. This hike, which was billed as a “real adventure,” features slot canyons, a little scrambling, a hot spring, and the Colorado River. What’s not to like? Purely by chance, we went down to the river via the slightly harder side of the loop (Hot Spring Canyon) and returned via the much easier side (White Rock Canyon). A milky overcast once again played havoc with any photo involving the sky but there was enough going on in the canyons to amply compensate for this.

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2018 ~ Adventures with The LovedOne

2018-12-292022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Other Adventures, Rafting, Snowshoe HikingTagged Arizona, Day Hiking, Death Valley National Park, Florida, Hiking, Oregon Coast, Southern Oregon, Taos New Mexico, Whitehorse Yukon Territory, Yosemite National Park2 Comments

Another year and The LovedOne is still not keen on having her picture taken. She has countered by hiking ahead of me (and faster) so as to stay out of camera range. Fortunately, subterfuge and deception allow me to get close enough, from time to time, for a photo.

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Rafting the Colorado River (September 1994)

2018-07-082022-01-30Posted in Arizona, Rafting, U.S. National Parks & Monuments, U.S. RiversTagged Arizona, Colorado River, Diamond Creek Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park, Lees Ferry, OARS, Rafting

Lees Ferry Diamond Creek Colorado River Arizona

Up until 2008, our adventures were retained only as memories and on 35mm slides. While our memories may have faded (just a bit), the slides haven’t – and we have a lot of them. So we’re digitizing a select few to bring some of our past adventures into the 21^st Century. The photos below are some of those old slides.

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Wasson Peak (Saguaro National Park) 25-Mar-2018

2018-03-252022-04-05Posted in Arizona, Hiking, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Arizona, Day Hiking, Hiking, Saguaro National Park, Sweetwater Trail Arizona, Tucson Arizona, Wasson Peak Arizona

Wasson Peak Saguaro National Park Arizona

The LovedOne’s knee was a no-go after our fifth hike, so she decided to spend the day in Tucson looking at art instead of going on yet another hike. Fortunately, Wasson Peak, a local favorite in the western section of Saguaro National Park, was close-by and she was able to drop me off at its El Camino del Cerro Trailhead in the morning well before the art museums opened.

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