Exciting Times at Catalina State Park

 

Exciting Times at Catalina State Park

We’ve been to Catalina State Park a number of times, and it’s never disappointed!  This time, however, we got a bit more excitement than we bargained for!

We like camping at Catalina State Park for a few reasons – there’s a nice back road to explore, which I covered in a previous post, the campsites are nicely spaced, so we’re never on top of the other campers, and the view is great!  We often sit at the back of our rig, to take advantage of the great open views, which include the Catalina Mountains.

We also get to have visits from the local roadrunner family – however extended that family is!  I have become a fan of the quirky looking roadrunner – doesn’t look at all like the cartoon version, and although they make a distinctive chirping type sound, it’s also nothing like the “Mbeep, Mbeep!” of the cartoon!

One evening, when Jeff took Max for his last walk of the evening, he called me outside.  As soon as I stepped outside, I smelled smoke, which was unusual, since the campground was under a burn ban.  We could see something off in back of the rig, beyond a ridge or two, that had an orange glow.  Wildfire?  I called 911 and the operator confirmed it was a wildfire, that people were already working on it, and at that point, there was no cause to evacuate the park.  The next morning, as we headed out for a grocery store run, we noticed the entrance to the park was closed.  When we checked with the ranger, he said that the park had been closed to new campers and day-use folks, due to the wildfire, but as of yet, the park didn’t need to be evacuated.  We couldn’t even smell the smoke any longer, because the breeze was blowing away from us, also keeping the fire away.  The ranger did tell us not to head too far away, in case the park did need to be evacuated.  Later in the morning, the firefighting planes were out, dumping the fire retardant foam off behind the ridge(s) where the fire was.  It was quite impressive to see, and a bit of an illusion, as the plane looked at times like it was going to crash into the landscape!

After one of the foam dumping runs, one of the planes flew directly over the campground, and I was able to get this shot of its underbelly.  The red color is the residue of the foam.  The plane was a very large plane, a DC-9.

Although the campground was not evacuated, since no new campers were allowed in, and several left, either because their reservation dates had expired, or because they decided to evacuate anyway, the campground began to have a bit of a “ghost town” feel to it.  We drove around both camping loops – ours was only about 1/3 filled, and the other was about half full.  Still, it made for a very quiet day and evening!

Enjoy!

 

 

Mt. Lemon Drive

 

Mt. Lemon Drive

We’ve been to Catalina State Park a few times and one of our favorite drives is to take the back road up the back side of Mt. Lemon.  The views have never disappointed us!

This time, we got an additional treat!!  We believe this is a band of wild horses!  They were off to the side of the road, and seemed quite content on their own.  They didn’t seem startled at all as we drove slowly by, although we didn’t attempt to stop and walk over to them.

As I said earlier, the views did not disappoint, and we love the peacefulness of having the road to ourselves (except for the horses!).  That may have been Mt. Lemon we were looking at, although I can never tell on these mountain roads!

This view is from a bit further up the road.  You can see the road we’ve already traveled down off to the right of this image, and the bit of haze toward the horizon is the city of Tucson.  We were very close to town, and yet, a world away!

Autumn was underway in all its glory the further up the mountain we traveled, as you can see from this shot of the trees along a ridge up the mountain!  I do love the reds, greens and rust colors blended together!

As we headed up the mountain, we drove through a number of patches of areas damaged by the wildfires that ravaged the area over the summer.  This had been a bad wildfire season for the area around Tucson, and truly much of Arizona.  Still, it’s always heartening to me to see how Mother Nature displays rebirth in the midst of some of the devastation.

Enjoy!

Lost Dutchman and Apache Trail

 

Lost Dutchman and Apache Trail

The next campground we visited was Lost Dutchman State Park campground.  The state park is named after the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine.  There is a legend that a rich gold mine was hidden in the Southwest, somewhere in the Superstition Mountains, to which the state park backs up.  This state park, and the supposed mine, are just east of Phoenix, Arizona.  According to legend, Jacob Waltz (1810 – 1891) discovered the mine and kept it a secret.  Jacob was a German immigrant, and the term “dutchman” was used to refer to someone of German descent during that time.  Jacob supposedly died before he could tell anyone where the mine was.  A map was supposedly found that would lead to the mine, and folks have been looking for it since 1892.  It’s estimated approximately 9,000 people each year look for the mine and several deaths have been attributed to the searching.

No, we didn’t look for any gold mine, but we did have a real treasure of a campsite, with some lovely sunset views (above).  The saguaro cactus were found all over the campground, along with another cactus that looked very golden and lovely. (see below)  Don’t let the looks fool you.  Those golden barb were mighty long and looked mighty sharp!!

One day, we took off on a ride down the Apache Trail.  The Trail is historic as being one of the trails that originally was a stagecoach trail through the Superstition Mountains.  It was named after the Apache Indians that used to use that trail to move through the mountains.  At the beginning of our drive, though, was something I didn’t expect in the desert near Phoenix, Arizona – a lake!!  This view is of Canyon Lake, which is not just a lake, but the hub of a recreation area along the Apache Trail.  Boats, swimming, etc., could be found all along this lake. 

A bit further along the Apache Trail lies the very small town of Tortilla Flats.  It’s somewhat of a ghost tourist stop now, but used to be a stagecoach stop.  The Superstition Saloon wasn’t yet open for the day when we passed by the town, but we stopped for some photos, anyway.

You can see that today’s Tortilla Flats had several things to offer, although a motel was not one of them.  However, just down the road a little ways on the opposite side of the road was the Tortilla Flats Campground.  Frankly, it didn’t look all that inviting to Jeff and me, but I guess if one needs a place to stay, it could be a welcome site!

I decided I couldn’t tell the story of the Dutchman Inn (which I think is now the saloon) better than this sign!!  

We drove on down Apache Trail until the road was abruptly closed at the top of the Lower Fish Creek Canyon.  We got out to see the view from there.  What we couldn’t see,  but were told when we later stopped back at Tortilla Flats, was that vegetation on the ground had been burned during one of the wildfires in Arizona over the past few years.  Then, there was a rainstorm caused by the remnants of a hurricane, and the rains loosened up the ground, and because there was no vegetation to hold the ground in place, a landslide occurred, wiping out the bridge at the base of the Lower Fish Creek.  So, we had to be content with this view at the end of the road we could travel down.

On the drive back, we took in the sights of some saguaro cactus and a magnificent dead tree along the side of the road.

Enjoy!!

 

 

Red Rocks of Sedona

 

Red Rocks of Sedona

One day while visited Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Arizona, we took a drive on Snebley Hill ‘Road.  Although the name of the road is not terribly impressive, the views from it are!  It’s perhaps the best way to see the red rocks of Sedona.

And, they are impressive!!  From the direction we were driving, they were on our left, so when Jeff stopped the Jeep so I could capture an image, I truly had to look both ways before crossing, as the fairly rough dirt road we were on was pretty packed with Jeeps – tours taking visitors who don’t have a Jeep on a very bumpy ride to see the same red rocks!!  I felt like there should almost be periodic traffic lights, just to allow folks like me to cross the road to get some photos!!

I did love the snippets of views that allowed for some perspective.  This one gives you some perspective about how high the rock formations are.  No, they aren’t considered mountains, but they do tower above the prickly pear cactus you can see in the foreground of this image!

I know I just said there weren’t any mountains here.  Still, this quote really seemed to fit this image, if one doesn’t get too technical!!  The red rocks were actually formed by erosion and are made up of buttes, mesas, pinnacles or hoodoos.  They are at an elevation of about 4500 and are a part of the Colorado Plateau.

Although this seems to be a trail leading up to the red rocks, I don’t recall seeing any mention of any trail head on the road on which we were traveling..  There certainly are opportunities for hiking, however.  Parallel to the road we were on were some biking trails, too.  I don’t know how far up into the rocks they went.

I was struck at how wonderful the red rocks and green trees, shrubs and bushes looked “next” to each other.  In a way, it seemed like Mother Nature is always wishing travelers a Merry Christmas!

One of the things I really enjoyed about this day’s view of some spectacular rock formations was how the sky was just perfect, and set off the rocks beautifully.  I especially like the wispy clouds that are in the lower sky.

I thought I’d leave you with this last expansive view of the red rocks in Sedona.  As an interesting tidbit, the road we were driving on is called Schnebly Hill Road, as I mentioned before.  I was curious about the name of the road, and after doing some research, discovered that the layer of rock that makes up the red rocks is a unique layer of rock known as the Schnebly Hill Formation.  And, Sedona is the only place you will find these rocks.  It was deposited during the Permian Period.

Enjoy!

 

Hutch Mountain

 

Hutch Mountain

One day while at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Arizona, we decided on an off-road exploration on a road called Hutch Mountain Road.  This was a new route to us, and we had no idea what to expect – let’s see what we found!!

Stoneman Lake was supposed to be a lovely lake, full of perch and northern pike fish, formed by a depression left by volcanic activity over 8 million years ago.  The lake is a “closed system” lake, meaning that all water in it comes from run off from nearby mountains, and that there is no outflow of water.  However, as you can see, apparently there hasn’t been any water/snow run off in quite some time.  The lake is still a depression in the ground, but appears to be very dry for a very long time, with no fish able to survive.  I feel especially bad for the homes on the opposite side of the “lake” – they have no nice lake view.

This image is of some dried sea grass, or perhaps seaweed.  I thought the peaks and mounds looked a bit like the waves might have looked, and couldn’t resist capturing this image!

As we continued to drive along, hoping to get to the top of Hutch Mountain, some elk ran across the road right in front of us.  This image was taken after they crossed the road, and stood a bit off to the side, checking us out.  I was a bit taken aback by how large they are, compared to deer..   You can get an idea of their size by comparing them to the trees behind them.

Sadly the final part of the road leading to the top of Hutch Mountain has been closed, and we weren’t able to reach the top.  However, I did enjoy the autumn colors that we beginning in northern AZ!

Enjoy!

Rattlesnake Point Ruins

 

Rattlesnake Point Ruins

At the far end of Lyman Lake State Park, lies some ancient pueblo ruins.  The name of this small village is Rattlesnake Point.  It was occupied by ancestors of modern Pueblo Indians.  This village was used by the Pueblo Indians from about AD 1325 to 1390.  It was home to about 15 families, and in total, there are between 80 and 90 ruins.  However, only 3 rooms have been excavated by archeologists at Arizona State University.  To protect them, they are under the cover of a shaded pavilion. 

This room appears to have been used as a storage room for ceremonial or religious items or as a place where preparations for ceremonies took place.  There were few artifacts found in this room.  If you look to the far (outside) wall, you can see some stones that archeologists felt could have been an altar.  A painted sandstone fragment was found that was used at Hopi pueblos.  The room was otherwise empty when found, which may indicate that the residents took everything that was in this room with them when they left.

This section of the pueblo appears to have been built around AD 1328 and is thought to have been a sort of living room used for cooking, eating, manufacture of some tools and some food storage.  Remains of woven matting also seems to indicate it was used for sleeping as well.

This third excavated room seems to have primarily been used for food storage.  In the lower left area of the building used to be a stone with a design chiseled or pecked into it.  It’s not visible any longer from any angle I could get to, but archeologists think that stone was perhaps used as somewhat of a cornerstone.

These images are of some of the pottery shards (upper left) and pieces of flint (lower right) that can be seen at the base of the area where a kiva had been discovered.  The archeologists filled in the kiva area, as it was open to the elements, and they felt it could be better preserved if it was refilled.

This lovely view, that I thought of as “just a pond” was a part of the fields in which the ancient Pueblo Indians grew grain and other crops.  It’s really quite peaceful here with the mountain reflected in the still waters.

And, finally, this view is from what I believe to be the front area of the pueblo.  I may have inadvertently been standing on part of the pueblo itself, since what they have determined is the complete outline of the pueblo has not been marked off in any way.  If I was standing on ancient ruins, I certainly apologize.

Enjoy!

Petroglyphs - Rock Art

 

Petroglyphs – Rock Art

Petroglyphs along the trail tell a story of the ancient people who lived in this area.  To us, they just look like primitive drawings.  We need archeologists to help us decipher what story they were telling – their own journal of their lives.  Petroglyphs were made by chiseling through the upper patina of the rocks.  Although nothing indicated which petroglyphs were from which period, the petroglyphs here dated from the Archaic Period and the Anasazi Period.  I referred to a book I had on what were called “rock art symbols” to try to determine what the ancient people may have been telling us…

 

 

Although these symbol don’t tell a “story” in terms that we understand – a linear telling of a story – it does seem to indicate important occurrences during the ancient people’s lives in this area.

Enjoy!

Petroglyph Trail on Lyman Lake

 

Petroglyph Trail on Lyman Lake

One of the nice things about Lyman Lake is that there are several different things to do without ever leaving the park.  One trail that we walked a couple of times (in different directions) was the Petroglyph Trail.  Besides the petroglyphs, which will be covered in another blog post, there was some lovely scenery to be seen.

The trail begins at a level with the lake and early in the morning, it’s quite a lovely scene, with the lake just about mirror calm.

Walking along, and looking up toward the hills, there’s always something different to be seen.  The small tree on top of the nearby bluff, reminded me of the solitude I felt walking down below it on the trail.

Looking closer at hand, the patterns created by moss growing on the rocks was remarkable.  I always thought that moss grew in wet, moist places, but these rocks weren’t close to the lake and I don’t think that the park got all that much rain.  Still, nature will have its way!

And, finally on another morning, we walked the trail going in the opposite direction, and I saw this lovely tree, in all its fall glory.  I don’t think I would have noticed it walking in the same direction as I began the trail the previous day.  Sometimes, it’s worth pursuing something from a different perspective!

Enjoy!

Lyman Lake State Park

 

Lyman Lake State Park

Our first stop on our tour of state parks in the state of Arizona was Lyman Lake State Park.  It was dedicated on July 1, 1961, and became Arizona’s first state park!  It was formed when there was an impoundment of the Little Colorado River.  It is also fed by runoff from both Mount Baldy and Escudilla Mountain, the two tallest mountains in Arizona.  The lake itself is 1400 acres and lies entirely within the state park.  I think of it as a somewhat hidden jewel.  It’s a bit off the beaten path, not close to a major highway or major city in Arizona, and so doesn’t seem to be that well known.

Here are a few images of the Little Colorado River meandering toward Lyman Lake.  If you look closely, you’ll be able to see some cattle grazing and drinking along the river shore.

And, at this time, it’s clear autumn has arrived.  The colors are changing, even though the temperatures are trying to convince us it’s still summer!!

Another day, we decided to pack a lunch and drive down the dirt road in the park to a secluded spot along the lake to have a picnic!  What a scenic place to munch on some fried chicken we got from a local grocery store!!

And, with the lake right there, Jeff and Max couldn’t help but play a game of water fetch.  It’s nice to see Max enjoying time in a lake.  He was very hesitant around the ocean waves, and we hoped he’d take to the water.  He seems to be catching on to water play very nicely!

And, his fetching is a success!!  Here he is bringing sticks back to shore.  He has a habit of running along the shore with the stick for a bit, then dropping it, and giving himself a shake.  Usually, this is done away from us, and we like the last little touch of this new habit!

Enjoy!!