HIKE AMONG THE SAGUARO

Monday, January 19 - With beautiful weather to brag about to those in the North (83 degrees today), we enjoyed a hike in Saguaro National Park. Here in Tucson there is a West park and an East park. We've hiked both, in previous visits to Tucson, as long-time readers may recall. The East park is closer to our campground at the Pima County Fairgrounds, so we decided to head there for our hike.

We stopped at the Visitor's Center to get input from the National Park volunteers on the best hiking trails. The trails in the East park are short and all interconnected so by careful planning you could put together a hike at just about any length. The only negative is the elevation gain is minuscule since the park is on fairly level ground.

We put together a hike of 5.3 miles which was enough to tucker us out. These trails were a little unusual in that they get so much use, that the trail is worn down below ground level. In some areas, the base is worn a couple feet below ground level.

The texture of the desert floor here is quite sandy with very small gravel mixed in. Almost "kitty-litter" texture, which probably leads to its wearing down.

Using the map we were given and the trail makers, we had a great long hike.

For about .6 mile, our route took us down the Javelina Walsh. This was a killer. Much like hiking on a sandy beach. Talk about a workout! Whew! We don't recommend that for anyone. Stay out of those sandy washes.

A killer. We would rather rock scramble any day than to do this again!

We enjoyed our hike again today and especially enjoy the magnificent weather.

Once again we enjoyed hiking among the Saguaro cacti and other types of cacti. Hope you have an opportunity to venture out on a hike in the desert sometime soon.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

RV SHOW, FARMER’S MARKET, HIGH TEMPS…AHHH!

Sunday, January 18 – Since Thursday, La Mesa RV here in Tucson has had a free RV Show at the Pima County Fairgrounds where we are camping. We’ve walked over a couple times to window shop. They must have 100+ RV here at the campground. We have no desire for a new RV but it's fun to see what's available in the 2015 model year.

Our two favorites were the Lifestyle which purchased production rights to the former Cameo, which we own, and a motor home on the 550 Ford truck chassis. We'll stick with our 2010 Cameo - it's paid for and serving us well!

Today, we went to Heirloom Farmer's Market held at Rillito Park in north Tucson. It is the newest and biggest framer's market in Tucson.

There was fresh vegetables and baked goods every where. Of course, we had to try a baked good.

We really enjoy seeing all the local produce and local food items available at farmer's markets. We tasted several different local food items purchasing some Pepitas, which are make from pumpkin seeds and sea salt. They look like roasted coffee beans. Google says Pepitas is a Spanish term for pumpkin seeds....huh! They are very tasty. We also purchased some dried strawberries which also make a nice snack.

We enjoyed a couple cups of freshly roasted coffee as we walked among the booths talking to the local vendors. They are always so friendly and the free tasting is neat too!

This place had the best coffee. That is Paul in the background getting his free refill.

At a different coffee stand, we watched this gal make coffee a way we never saw before. It must be good. She had a long line of customers.

Two different areas had entertainment.

If you are in Tucson on a Saturday or Sunday, give it a try. We think you won’t be disappointed…but maybe a little lighter in the pocketbook.

It was a gorgeous day with temperatures eventually soaring to 85 degrees by mid-afternoon. Bella joined us outdoors in the sun, relaxing and taking in the warmth of the Southwestern sun. Nice to be in shorts and t-shirts again!

Almost forgot......while out today, Paul stopped to fill-up on diesel fuel. Lowest price we've ever paid for diesel. Check it out!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great time!

SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS AND MADERA CANYON

Friday, January 6, 2015 – The Ohio Buckeye victory earned us a box of delicious Oregon chocolates from fellow blogger, Russ. Russ and Donna live in Eugene, Oregon, and are huge Oregon Duck fans. Thanks Russ. The candy was awesome!

Oregon Wine Truffles…Yummmmmy!

Had to burn some calories so we could enjoy those chocolates, so we headed out on a hike to Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains in the Coronado National Forest.

Madera Canyon is known for its exceptional and varied hiking trails. Our campground is just east of the Santa Rita Mountains. We can easily see them from our campground, but wouldn't you know, we have to drive about 45 minutes to the north side of the mountain to enter the National Forest. So close but yet so far!

We chose the Nature Trail to begin our hike. The trail begins at the Santa Rita Lodge (which we forgot to check-out) and makes its way along Madera Creek and into Mount Wrightson foothills for about three miles one way. This is a well-maintained trail with about a 1000' elevation gain. There are very nice views of Madera Canyon and the Santa Rita Mountains.

The trail takes on many different looks from crossing the Madera Creek to gravel to large rocks.

At the beginning of the hike, we followed the Madera Creek for about half mile.

At the end of the Nature Trail there stood Mt. Wrightson with some snow showing.

After completing the trail we had to walk the road for about one mile to reach the Bog Springs Trail. This is a short trail of a couple miles that would lead us back to the parking lot and our truck. This trail was not well marked, and we wondered around quite a bit searching for the Bog Springs Campground which was our destination. This trail had only about a 600' gain in elevation but was pretty rocky in places. We did enjoy some bird watching just before reaching the campground.

See the woodpecker?

The views were lovely.

Marsha used to enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles. She swears she did one that looks like a picture she took.

We were very pleased with today's hikes. The trails were very nice, the weather was super, and we got a fairly nice workout. Marsha received a Fitbit from the girls for Christmas. It reported she traveled over 5 miles and 12,735 steps. Her busiest time was between 12:30 and 12:45, when she walked 1359 steps. We recommend Madera Canyon in Green Valley, AZ, for our hiking friends!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!