March 16, 2013 – Sonoran Desert Museum

On Saturday we took a drive to the Desert Museum.  The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a 98-acre museum and zoo founded in 1952 and located near Tucson, Arizona. It contains a museum and two miles of walking paths on 21 acres of this property, and is one of the most visited attractions in Tucson.

 

Organ Pipe Cactus

We had to make a stop at the Hummingbird House. It is so cool to be in a confined space with a bunch of people friendly hummers.  They fly all over the place.  Several were nesting.  They have very tiny nests. 

 

 

 

Not sure what kind of cactus this is, but they have very sharp spines.

 

At this point I found out how long my new camera battery will last.  Not long enough!!  We walked all the trails in the museum, and saw the Raptors in Free Flight.  That was my favorite part.  Those birds are so cool. 

We also saw something I’ve never seen in the desert, Javelinas.  Of course this group was just sleeping in the shade.

(Courtesy of arlenemourier.wordpress.com )

 

This is what they look like, big hairy pig-types.  Wayne has seen them in the wild. In fact most of what we saw at the Museum, we see all time out riding. It’s too bad more people can’t get out and see these things in nature.  It was really kind of sad to see it so regulated and regimented.  Although having signs label all the vegetation by name was kind of handy.

After the museum we drove out through the Tucson Mountain Park back to I-10 and headed to Picacho Peak. 

Sunday we went back up to Wickenburg to have the mechanic take a look at the new engine, Wayne thought something wasn’t right.  He was correct and we had to spend a couple days while they got the parts and took care of the issue.  Then it was back to Quartzsite to finish out our time in Arizona.  We did take one ride in the desert, but I forgot to take my camera.  Lately we have been riding our bicycles far more often than our motorcycles.  Oh well, all is good!

Next stop Nevada!  We hope to do some riding there.

 

 

 

March 15, 2013 -- Biosphere 2

We went for a drive on Friday.  We took back roads over to the Oro Valley to see the architectural marvel, the Biosphere 2, and then made a big loop north to see more of the area.



We went on one of the guided tours

On Sept. 26, 1991, eight people were sealed off inside Biosphere 2, a 3.14-acre glass enclosure located in Oracle, Arizona. The event marked the beginning of the first Biosphere 2 mission, a study designed to test survivability and to see whether a small group of humans could develop and live in a self-sustaining colony, as one might imagine on some distant planet in outer space.  The experiment was called a failure, but with all that we learned, although much negative, it really was successful.  Biosphere 2 is now part of the University of Arizona’s College of Science. 

 

 

The U of A has classrooms and other building around the grounds.

We climbed around inside the glassed in structure, checking out all the different ecological areas.  They have a small saltwater ‘ocean’, a rainforest, a savannah and a desert.

 

 

We also went into the support sections.

 

We got to see the ‘lungs’ of the Biosphere 2, the large oversized balloons that controlled the atmosphere as it expanded and contracted along with the day and night time temperatures. B2 is no longer a sealed structure, but when the people lived in it, it was.

After our tour we continued north to Oracle for lunch.  We stopped at the Patio Café for lunch

 

The wait staff wore these t-shirts.  After a great sandwich and pie, we continued north through Superior and Florence Junction to make a loop back to Picacho Peak.

That large stack is from mining operations.

Evidence of mining

Check out this cactus

Big truck in the distance 

 

 

Wow, they have moved a LOT of dirt. 

Big Mine

 

Really big mine!

 

Home in time for sunset at Picacho Peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 13, 2013 Picacho Peak AZ

Our next destination was Tucson Arizona.  We had won a free week at the Picacho Peak RV Resort about 50 miles northwest of Tucson.  We arrived in the afternoon on Tuesday and decided that we would hike around at Picacho Peak State Park on Wednesday.  We are camped right at the base of this 1,500 foot peak. It is an impressive sight.  The unique shape has been used as a landmark by travelers since prehistoric times. One of the first time it was mentioned was in the 1700's by the Anza Expedition as it passed through the area. It was also the location of a battle in the American Civil War on April 15, 1862. The action occurred all around Picacho Peak. It was fought between a Union cavalry patrol from California and a party of Confederate pickets from Tucson, and marks the westernmost battle of the American Civil War.  Re-enactors come each spring to do it all again.

 



Picacho Peak

 According to the local PR publication in Tucson this hike to the top was voted best winter hike. “It's a four-mile-round-trip butt-kicker, harkening to the likes of Camelback Mountain and Piestewa Peak. Steel cables and planks help nervous hikers overcome the steepest parts, and the 360-degree view at the top of the surrounding desert and nearby mountains is well worth the effort."  Neither Wayne nor I consider ourselves to be hikers, we’re more walkers, but we decided to see how far we could go.

 

 

We decided to drive to the farthest point in the park, and then walk up from the Sunset Vista Trail Head, about 2.5 miles from the visitor’s center.  From there we can walk along the south side of the peak, which is the top of this map.  The trail starts out of the parking lot, and meanders up and over some foothills.

 The trail starts by going up and over the little foot hills. 

 

 

The view along the trail

 

The desert is starting to bloom

 

Mexican Gold Poppies

Wayne on the more gentle part of the walk

 

The park rangers get to use the roads, we have to take the trail.  I wonder; maybe this road is really for the emergency vehicles, so they can pick up the pieces if you go off the trail above…

This is a Teddy Bear Cholla, a very nasty type of cactus.  You think it looks soft and furry.  Nope, those spines are sharp and hooked like a porcupine. This type of cactus propagates by having the little ends break off and attach to anything that moves close enough to it.  In nature that would be Javelins, burros, cows.  Also humans that are silly enough to get that close.  Once one attaches itself to you, your first instinct is to brush it off.  Wrong, now it’s stuck to your hand.  It’s a real life example of the old story about the Tar Baby.  You actually have to get a stick or a comb and flick the offender off.  Two years ago one of our cats got incased in this stuff and it was 2-3 layers thick in places.  It's a long story for another time.



 

 

Picacho Peak from the back side

 

Yes, we are going up there…

 

The first of the cable ‘assist’ spots.  Nice view.

 

Yes those are steps in the trail

 

The trail goes up between those cables, and so did we.  The camera doesn’t do it justice, but that is as close to vertical climbing as I want to get. There are toe holds, but really….

After this section our trail met with the Hunter trail from the front side.  Here we made the decision not to go to the very top.  I could see a section of the trail above us that was just cables and manmade treads out over the space where a trail should be.  You had to hold on with both hands and inch your way around the edge of nothing.  Not for me.  The stuff where there was actually rock to walk on was bad enough.

 

The view was spectacular, even from here at the saddle, which was where we headed back down. How much better could it have been from the top?

Can you find the trail below; you can see it in several places, way down there.

More steps with cable assist. This picture does not do it justice. This is a long slot canyon and you have to duck under the rocks on the right and the steps are too tall for me to make without holding onto something.

 

The view from Hunter Trail looking down on the visitor’s center

This view shows our campground way down there.

Wayne on one of the last cable sections

 

According to my GPS, by the time we made it down to the road and a shady table for lunch, we had walked 4 miles in close to 4 hours, had gone up and then down a thousand feet in elevation and we still had to walk back to our truck, 2 miles away.

About 40 minutes later we were back at the truck.

From here there was only one logical place to go…

 

Boy it felt great to cool off in the pool!