Sabino Canyon -Hiking the Phoneline Trail

For many years we have enjoyed coming to Sabino Canyon.

We have fond memories of hiking the Phoneline Trail many years ago in the spring when the hillsides were alive with yellow flowers and the cactus were in bloom.

We were here early, and already the parking lot was full of cars. They say that Sabino Canyon is the fourth most popular tourist attraction in Tucson... a million visitors come to this park every year.

The sky was clear and the air was crisp as we started on the wide and level road that leads to the Phoneline Trail... which we soon found to be neither wide nor level.

The Sabino Creek flows down the canyon... but today we crossed on a dry road.

I took this photo of Shirley crossing on a bridge in this canyon January 2010. There are eight bridges on the main road up the canyon, and every one of them had water flooding over the bridge decks. If you wish you can check out my blog from back then.

This was water coming over the Sabino Dam at that time.

As we headed up the trail the climb was pretty gradual... and views were spectacular.

There was always a pleasant mix of saguaros.

We were climbing on the left side of Blackett's Ridge.

The Phoneline trail follows along the Sabino Creek. A paved road also follows the creek along the floor of the canyon.

We wondered why this saguaro had a little beanie on top... maybe it was Jewish?

I had no idea what kind of flower this was when I took the photo... but in my Google search it turned out to be a flower of Acacia. It was nice to find a little colour along the trail.

This is the same flower that Shirley took at a recent visit to the Desert Museum... except this specimen has foliage that confirms the plant name. This one had the luxury of living in a place where it was watered and nurtured. What a great shot, Shirley!

Across the canyon is the Catalina Mountains...

and far up on the side of the mountain, in the very centre, is a house with a super view of the world.

What an absolutely incredible location.

Does anyone know the name of the mountain to the right of the cactus?

This saguaro looks like a dancer or a gymnast.

The first trams in Sabino Canyon began operating in 1978. From that point forward, access by cars was restricted to allow visitors to reach Upper Sabino Canyon by foot, bicycle or tram.

Walking in the sunshine was always nicer than walking in the shade today.

Being early in the day there were not very many people on the tram... but we went back on the weekend and the trams were totally full with people in line waiting.

Several workers put forth a lot of effort to build this trail along this side of the mountain... moving rocks and creating a ledge that was safe for hikers.

From this point we could see Thimble Peak to the east.

Taking photos on the shady side of the mountain has it's advantages. Look on the positive side... you can get some great silhouettes.

This prickly pear has been busy getting ready to have some blossoms and some fruit.

I loved the beautiful conical shape of this new arm... looks almost like a football. What a beautiful pattern!

As we were walking on the trail we were mostly looking at our feet... but when we came around a corner it was amazing to look up and discover this incredible sheer rock face looming above us... the Acropolis Wall.

I turned around and told Shirley to look up... it was a "wow" experience!

We all stopped here for a break and a snack... and then I asked the group to pose for a photo as I went over the edge to get low enough to capture them with the rock face behind.

They kept asking me to back up... just a little more!

Someone said, "Look up there... is that a plant growing up there?" Sure enough. It was an agave. Shirley liked her shot of this so much she is using it as her "cover photo" on her blog.  Check it out!

As we started back down the trail it was really chilly walking in the shadow of the ridge. I suggested that it would be great if we had a small hang glider kit... one that would fit into a backpack and we could just pull it out and jump over the edge to soar back to the parking lot.

I had no takers. Someone thought I might land in a cactus. I didn't get any orders for my little invention from this group... but I'm not discouraged.

Without exception we were all looking forward to getting back into the sunshine. We could see it around us... but we just couldn't feel it.

It was wonderful to finally break out around a corner and feel the warmth of the sunshine again.

Looking back into Tucson we could see in the distance a north-south road.  What was it?

At first glance we thought it might be Houghton Road... but upon further study of maps and a drive-by look see, I have no doubt that this is Camino Seco. The Tanque Verde Wash forces the end of Camino Seco at Wrightstown, where it is a narrow, little  two-way street to Speedway.  From there to the Pantano Wash it is a divided four lane road with turning lanes in the central boulevard, then it resumes from Golf Links south again to Irvington where it dead ends.

Looking south from Speedway intersection on Camino Seco.

North on Camino Seco where the road narrows... looking to the ridge where we first saw this street. If you blow up the photo you can see the ridge where we were hiking.

This is a pretty tall, old granddaddy saguaro.

And nearby was a younger saguaro having babies... starting a family!

There were more questions than answers when we saw this saguaro. Was this caused by a injury?

Both Shirley and I found heart-shaped paddles on a prickly pear cactus. Did someone take a bite out of the cookie?

We found a number of unusual saguaros. This little soldier was standing up as straight as possible.

But the most amazing to me was to see another Crested Saguaro. This one was located only a short distance from the beginning of the Bajada Loop Nature Trail, very close to the Visitor Center.

Just like with people, no two Crested Saguaros are the same. They all have their own personality.

It is most common to have the crested curls on the very top. But this one has grown several arms that exceed the top of the crown of this monarch. Very cool. Does this not look like a King with his crown and a Queen beside him?

It is always a good sign of spring to see new leaves come out on the ocotillo. These are the first ones we have seen this year. They are oh so tiny... but no stopping them now.

"The sun was warm,
But the wind was chill;
The hike was great,
And I got my fill."

The top two lines were Robert Frost... the last two lines were Sherwin Goerlitz!

2014 Year in Review Photos

Our Arizona winter life gives us what feels like a 4-month holiday. We have a lot of opportunity to get out in the desert and enjoy the beauty of nature in a part of the world that is so different from what we grew up knowing... and I totally love the natural beauty here!

Here are some of the highlights of our past year.

We live close to the Saguaro National Park East, so we got a Seniors pass that gives us unlimited enjoyment to all the National Parks... and we do use it often... always taking our cameras.

We enjoyed going with our Dell Webb photo club to the Museum of Art to see an exhibit by Ansel Adams.  The above photo is a group selfie of our group that day. What an inspirational day! You can see me with the white cowboy hat.

This is just one of the photos I borrowed from the exhibit that day. To see more of Ansel Adams work and our day at the Museum click on this link.

Another favourite hiking place is the Sabino Canyon... and here is a group enjoying hiking around on the rocks in the canyon by the stream.  Wonderful rocks, eh?

When our daughter Sherilee and husband Alan came for a visit in February we took them to Sabino. Here Shirley is visiting  with Sherilee as they walked together.

We cheated a little and took a tram ride to the top of Sabino Canyon, and then walked back most of the way, before deciding to catch the tram for the last little bit back.

Another day we took Sherilee and Alan to the Desert Museum... where you can see lots of animals, hummingbirds... and endless varieties of desert plants.  What a cool place to visit. We have an annual pass to this place.

There were some ocotillo's in bloom...

This is an ocotillo in leaf.

Shirley calls this cactus, the 'Twisted Sister'. Don't you love the pattern?

This fish hook cactus has an interesting red colouring.

I always love to have a picnic in the desert... a picnic anywhere, in fact.  I even get excited to have a picnic on the ferry back home in Canada. Any excuse to have a picnic is wonderful to me.  And what a great picnic spot here in Saguaro National Park West.

Our friends Lorne and Gail joined us one day on a visit to the St. David's Monastery in Florence, Arizona. Shirley dislikes this photo... but to do a tour of the Monastery they require the women to be dressed very modestly.  If you are not modest enough, they give you a skirt and a scarf to make sure you are completely covered.

We had no problem spending over two hours walking around this facility. It has been built new since the 1990's and the architecture is quite interesting. To see more photos check out our blog.

When Shirley's sister Roberta came to visit we did a tour of Tubac, which is an artistic experience... and just a little south of Tubac is Tumacaori National Park... an old Catholic Monastery.

Tumacaori is a photographers paradise... with endless opportunities. This was a food storage room for the old monastery.

The gardens were beautiful... and even if you are not a National Parks Senior, the admission here is very modest. Check it out more.

Another pretty interesting place to visit is the San Javier Mission, just off Hwy. 19 south of Tucson. you can see it from the freeway.

We have  been here a few times, but have never seen so many people on this hillside as on this last visit.

Again, the grounds are very beautiful...

And we caught a few of the cactus in bloom.

Last winter I did several paintings... and this one was a lot of fun to do.  I cut old broken Pickle balls in half on the table saw... and glued them to the canvas. This acrylic painting is 36" square.

Shirley's mother, Opal Kandt, turned 95 this past April 5... and still is an active scrabble player!

The four daughters put on a special birthday party on April 5. I think it was more fun for all of us to get together, and her 95th birthday was a great opportunity.

This is picture of others taking pictures at the birthday party.

Katie has a great sense of humour... Her father, Greg, Shirley's nephew is in the background.

We spent a few days at the Manteo Beach Hotel in Kelowna... and I used this cool photo as my screen saver most of last summer. Don't you love the colours?

This is what a "Hole in One" at Scandia Miniature Golf, in Kelowna looks like.

I built a bookcase/ staircase in our new studio.  The project took me most of two months, took 14 sheets of maple plywood, and has no visible nails or screws, thanks to the Kreg Tool. Shirley did a blog post on our studio renovation, including these stairs.

Our grand daughters, Lucy and Maizy, were the first to do an art project in our new studio.

We always enjoy when our family comes home... Shelby and family come on the long weekend in May... and we went down to the lighthouse park.

The eroded rocks on the beach gave an excellent backdrop for Lucy to pose for this photo.

Shirley, Maizy, Lucy, Kim and Shelby, waiting for me get done taking photos so we go for some lunch.

This  book has been most helpful to me. I was diagnosed with diabetes this past April.  Now if I could only put into practice the things in this book, I too could say "Goodbye to Diabetes."

I think this is a type of fleabane flower... reaching for the sky for all it is worth!

On our trip to Alberta for our 50th High School homecoming we stopped along the way to see things like this Natural Bridge near Field, BC.

We also stopped to take a two hour hike around Emerald Lake. The trail was built by my high school roommate, Roger Moren... actually he was part of the crew that did it.

It might not have taken us two hours if we hadn't stopped to take so many photos.

Shirley is not afraid to get down and dirty to get the best angle on the flower.

I did a blog post on this amazing hike.

Our high school homecoming had an incredible turnout. This is a picture of everyone taking our group picture! There were about 50 in our class of 1964 that showed up. Pretty awesome.

My sister Rose was from the class of 1959... I was the class of 1964... and sister Dolores was the class the class of 1949. It was pretty unusual to have three from one family together on the same homecoming weekend.

There were over 120 golfers at the Alumni homecoming tournament... our foursome: Lorne Booth, Sherwin Goerlitz, Peter Lewis and my roommate for four years, Roger Moren. No idea who was inside that A&W suit.

I came within a couple of inches of wining this Hole in One Mustang!  Ended up with the closest to the pin prize on this 165 yard hole!

On our way to Dinosaur Provincial Park we saw some interesting things.

This Unesco Heritage Site was truly awesome.

There were five self guided hikes that one could do... and after we did three, we were pretty beat. It felt good to get in the car, sit down and give our legs a rest.

There is a blog post of this day at Dinosaur Park. A great place to visit.  No admission fee... and the self guided hikes are really great.

I remember standing by this huge dinosaur at the Calgary Zoo over sixty years ago! Shirley said she even remembers this dinosaur from when she was a kid... and it is still there.

We finally got to see the Peace Bridge. We first walked over a bridge a year before in Venice that was designed by Santiago Calatrava... and when I learned he had designed this one... I just had to see it. What an amazing piece of engineering. Check it out.  I love beautiful bridges!

On the way home we stopped and hiked up Johnston Canyon. It was an amazing experience! Notice how the trail is cantilevered over the river. Amazing!

This was the first time we stopped to do the Hell's Gate tram ride on the Fraser River.

We thought we would save a little by hiking down... but we were very glad to buy a ticket to ride the tram back up!  It was a lot of fun!

My vote for the best hike of the year goes to the hike out to the end of Sidney Spit on this little island three miles off shore from the town of Sidney, which is a busy port for BC Ferries traffic to the mainland, as well as to a number of the South Gulf Islands.

This is a water-colour I did of Sidney Island... done on a 4" x 6" card.

The dune grass gives a nice contrast to the green broom behind. This beacon light marks the end of Sidney Spit.

Mt. Baker showed up proudly on this clear day.. and he seagull was right at home on the post.

At the end of the Spit, Gail, Shirley and Lori mimicked the three monkeys... hear no evil, see no evil, say no evil.

As the tide comes back up you can see how one could get caught on the spit and have to walk thru the water to get back on time to catch the ferry back to town. I have done two blog posts on this venue, totally different from each other. Check it out if you wish.

We spent a day doing tourist things with Lorne and Gail... and the Fisguard Lighthouse was a delightful stop to tour, full of exhibits and history.

Adjacent to the lighthouse is Fort Rudd, and this cannon camouflage is a very small part of the tour we took of all the armoury.

Shirley had her first success growing sunflowers this past summer.

The next two photos look very similar, but if you look closely at the ferry in this photo, it is going south towards Sidney...

Then just a few minutes later it turned 180 degrees around and headed back to Vancouver.  Do you think they forgot the coffee? We never get tired of this awesome view from our sun deck.

These last few photos were on our last hike with our Del Webb Hiking Club... both hikes were in the Saguaro National Park.

What a privilege it is to have such a wonderful park so close by with so many different hiking trails to enjoy.

This crested saguaro is near the trail head at the Javelina Picnic area in the park.  We have found about six of these rare beauties this past year... and they are all as different as six people are different.

My wish to each of you... may 2015 be a super good year!

A few of my plans for the New Year:
Get out and stay active every day...
Take lots of walks and hikes...
Be aware of what is all around us...
Take lots of pictures...
Paint more pictures...
Share them with others...
Learn more creative things on the computer...
Gone with anything that hurts my diabetes blood score...
Get my blood score down to 5.0
Eat even more healthy... (less is better)
Read more good stuff...
Sing along with Shirley... (she read we should sing every day)
and pray more.

May God bless you and keep you,
let His light shine upon you,
and give you peace.