Hike to Rincon Peak -Part One

This morning the mountains around us were covered with a fresh dusting of snow.

That is Rincon Peak in the background. Can you see the frost on the windshield of my truck?

From our front door looking north-east... that snow on the tops of the Rincon Range won't last very long. So I got out early to make sure I captured the shot.

All our hopes of getting off to an early start last Thursday were frustrated by not being able to find the trail head. It is the second time that it eluded Chuck and me... and we were right there and didn't see it in the predawn darkness.

Kevin and Chuck posed for me as we got ready to start our hike on Thursday.

The first section on the Miller Creek Trail is very gentle with several creek crossings. There was no problem keeping our feet dry today, as we could easily walk across on large stones... but there could be times after a rain that it wouldn't be so easy.

It took us about 40 minutes to hike to the entrance to the Saguaro National Park, where I signed in for the three of us at 9:00 AM. Later I signed out when we got back at 4:30 PM.

Much of the trail today was in and around a lot of rocks. Notice the large Manzanita trees.

The higher we went the more rocks we encountered.

Sometimes the path goes around the rocks. Sometimes, like this the path goes over the rocks.

We stopped several times for a water break and a snack.

I also had to stop and take a few shots of the flowers and the incredible views.  I was surprised to see this Beardlip Penstemon still blooming in December.

There were a lot of Rocky Mountain Pussytoes growing along with the grass.

This Rincon range is made up of a lot of rocks.  Do you see the waterfall rocks?

This looks to me like a place where the water runs down the rock face and leaves a pretty interesting stain. 

All the large rocks reminded me of Joshua National Monument near Palm Springs, California.

There didn't seem to be any shortage of these huge boulders.

It was here on this large rocky plateau that we stopped for our lunch. As we shared with each other some of our food we soon discovered that most of what we had brought with us came from Costco. The bread, the eggs and the mayonnaise that made the sandwiches, the nuts, the granola bars, the Kind bars, the fresh apples and oranges, the carrots and peppers... even my water came from Costco. All except my coconut and another energy snack Chuck brought.

Sometimes there were just a lot of little rocks, like these in the path.

As we came around a corner the sight of our goal was most impressive. Even though we knew we could not reach it today and still make it back by dark, it was pretty awesome to see it proudly standing tall.

This told us that we had come 4.4 miles from our starting point.

From the Happy Valley Campground the peak was very visible thru the trees.

A path led to three large campsites in this stand of tall Ponderosa Pines.

There probably was room for more than three campsites, but likely not the need. Can you believe that someone carried a folding table over four miles up here?

The presence of these lockers suggest that there may be furry friends who may drop by for a snack as well.

We wanted to go just a little further so that we could see over the other side of the ridge towards Green Valley and Tucson... and hopefully get a good enough cel phone signal to call our wives.

We didn't have to go far from the campground to see this view.

We took each other's picture at the point where we turned around and headed back.

I seldom take as many photos on the way back from a hike... but these little Verbena were begging me to take their picture.

When we stopped for a snack and water break I noticed more Common Sotol... they are very plentiful along this trail.

Their stalks grow tall every summer...

With a lot of yellow flowers at the top.

This is the first time I have used the panorama feature on the iPhone. Can you see the windmills on the distant hills.

I couldn't either. But with the Nikon on full telephoto I could pull them in. They are a long, long ways away.

The folds in the hills with the random trees make an interesting composition.

This Manzanita has a lot of character. I love the shiny red bark. As it ages and starts to die the tree loses its pretty red bark and the wood takes on a weathered look.

These are the Manzanita leaves.

This Manzanita is hosting a little fungus.

We didn't see any Saguaro cactus on the hike today... but there were a few Cholla. This one was loaded with fruit.

What a pretty fruit when they turn from green to yellow with some orange.

No one was happier than Kevin to be getting back down the mountain.

We were almost back to the  Eastern Saguaro Park entrance when Chuck's friends caught up with us... Jerry and Barb Retzalaff, also snowbirds, from Washington state.

They made the roundtrip hike to the top in about 9.5 hours... about 16.5 miles. They met Chuck thru his biking adventures... and they are also avid hikers.

Jerry shared a link for an app that I'm going to install on my iPhone... alltrails.com   

It has over 50,000 trails with maps and great information... so finding your way could not be easier. Check it out.

Next time we hike this mountain we will get off to a better start and should be able to make it to the peak and back in one day before dark. 

Or if I can find any friends to backpack in, I would enjoy going to the Happy Valley Campground the first afternoon and then go to the peak the next day and spend some time there before heading back off the mountain.

"What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die of course. Literally shit myself lifeless."-Bill Bryson, "A Walk in the Woods"

The Uplands

I decided to post some of the renderings and plans on a blog to make sharing easier. After much discussion we decided to name this new project on Chase Road, "The Uplands." It's all uphill from the flat ALR farmland across from Chase Road. There is a community in Victoria called Uplands, and it has some of the finest homes... a very desirable address.

The architect prepared this first rendering from our townhouse plans. I have no intention of doing a Craftsman theme... but since he spent a lot of time on it I asked for a copy.  It shows the street scene on the lower road for the three buildings between Celeste Road and Chase Road.

These renderings were done from unfitted sketches of floor plans... and since then we have plans that are totally completed ready to go for permit. 

This is one idea of what Contemporary style may look like.  The colours, window and door styles need to be selected to reflect the price point we are going to target. We want to look very nice but not with full glass front doors or all those lights in the garage doors.

It was from this sketch that the finished floor started. The size grew slightly to 1013 on the main floor.

This sketch of the floor plan of the town homes is 970 on the main floor with master bedroom and master bath, plus a powder with stacking washer/dryer. Lower level with two more bedrooms, a full bath, family room and some storage, using some space under the garage.

I knew from the onset that we would need some serious site preparation for most of the lots... but didn't realize until the engineers had completed the road design, that to keep the driveway close to level with the garage we would require some retaining walls on a few of the lots.  

This shows the road with a 4.5 meter (15 feet) setback to the garage... a variance that we got approved for these three lots only.  The other lots on the loop road must be 6 meter setback for the garage.... but other parts of the house are ok to be up to 4.5 m. setback.

These three renderings show the style and character of the south condo building.  The north building is similar, with a few minor modifications for parking to the lower level. Each building has six condos on the lower level and middle level, and four condos on the upper level. It is good selling feature to have most of the parking on the same level as the owners condo is.

These four elevations are of the south condo building.  Most of the condo has 4/12 pitch roof but portions of the garages have some flat roof to give the character of Contemporary style. 

The architect thought it would be cool to have a green roof on a couple of the garages... but the District of Lake Country never even picked up on it and I'm not sure that the cost is justified. This will need some cost analysis before I would say we do it... but it no doubt looks cool.

As I was shooting some of these plans on the patio table on the view side of our house the ferry to Saturna went by. It was a pleasant afternoon, and it was nice enough that Shirley and I had our lunch outside on the lower deck today. Not bad for November 4.

"We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us." 

-Winston Churchill

1. Here is a group of photos that we took on Friday at Lakestone in Lake Country. Check it out...

and browse thru these photos to see applications of the Hardiplank panels with various colours and patterns.

2. There are aluminium extrusions that come in a variety of colours as well... with corners, drip caps, and vertical joints like H-clips ten feet long.

3. This was stucco, but we liked the look.

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6. There is an aluminum product called Longboard... finished to look like wood but without the maintenance.

7. They even used it here on the soffits.... but it is too expensive for us to use it there.

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14. The product comes in 4x8, 4x9 and 4x10 foot size panels.

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16. I think this is a good affordable garage door look.

17. This is the show home at Lakestone... Of course they were closed on Friday!

They do not use lawn in here.

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22. We talked to the owners of this home and in less than a year their pine exterior is showing need for attention.  They wouldn't do that again.

23. Here is a combination of panels and conventional siding boards. We may elect to do a little of this on part of the side walls to save costs.  But only where the houses are vary close to each other and hardly seen.