2/8/20 Mt. Cannon Hike

So far the winter at home has been pretty warm and rainy. Given that it is now February, I felt the need to go find some snow. I decided to head to to Cannon for a walk in the woods. I started at the Lafayette Campground, which at this time of year is completely buried in snow. From there I hiked up to Lonesome Lake, the first of a few really spectacular views.

I walked around the edge of the lake taking lots of photos. I clearly was enjoying the view a bit too much, because somewhere around here I lost one of my water bottles. Oops! This was also the junction where the trail turned completely fresh, and I started breaking trail. I would highly recommend the experience to anyone who has not tried this before. There is something very peaceful about hiking through the fresh snow. You get to feel completely alone.

Eventually I made it up onto the ridge and decided to take a side trip up the Northeast Cannonball, a minor peak just up the ridge. This turned out to be trickier than I expected given the fresh snow and steep trail. However, I eventually made it up to the top… only to be rewarded with a very windy view of the inside of a cloud. After one obligatory picture I headed back down.

When I made it back to the trail junction, I was pleasantly surprised to find that some others had passed me, and I was no longer breaking trail. I made quick progress on the easier terrain until I caught up with the couple doing the work in front of me. We worked together for the next few minutes to get past the steepest parts of the ascent, and the soon made it to the summit. Given that Cannon has a fire tower with year round gondola access it is usually much busier than other peaks in the area, but I had it all to myself.

Given how windy it was I didn’t stay for long, but I did take a number of photos of the ever changing views of the peaks and clouds. After that, it was back down the Hi-Cannon trail. After a second unsuccessful search for my missing water bottle at Lonesome Lake, I headed home.

2/1/20 Medfield State Hospital

A couple weeks ago I made plans to meet up with some friends for some geocaching near the Medfield State Hospital. I had been here before and knew it was a great spot for some photos, so I showed up early and spent some time poking around. This former psychiatric hospital has a somewhat creepy backstory, and the decaying buildings only add to that vibe. Hopefully it shows through in the photographs. After having fun with the photos we had a very nice hike, complete with two excellent geocaches.

2019 Home Recap

In addition to all of the photos I have been taking and posting here from our various adventures, I also have a number of one off photos I have taken while home, or out and about. Given that I have (finally!) finished uploading all of my photos from 2019, I figured now would be a good time to share some of the highlights from the photos that I have not yet shared.

First up are a number of flower photos from bouquets and gardens we have been to. There are also a couple of nature shots that did not make it into other posts, and one majestic cat.

In addition, there were many, many photos of Rose, our pet hedgehog. I have included a couple of my favorites here. Happy new years!

12/29/19 Oro Valley Stars

The last evening we were in Tucson we had a clear, moonless night, so I set up my camera outside and tried to capture some views of the starts behind the saguaros around the house. There was a bit more light coming from the neighborhood that I would have liked, but I still felt like it captures the beauty of it relatively well.

12/28/19 Stone Canyon Waterfall

The upside to all the rain we had while in Arizona is that you get to see waterfalls running that would normally be just a trickle. I joined my dad and his friend in a short hike out to check out this falls. Though the clouds were generally not cooperating for getting good pictures of the falls itself, it did make for great photos of some of the little details in the desert stream bed. I really enjoyed poking around here.

12/26/19 Pusch Ridge Hike

The day after Christmas was a busy one for our family. We had plans to have a big gathering, dinner, and gift exchange. After the rain the past couple of days though I felt that I wanted to get out for a bit of an adventure. I settled on hiking a new trail that I had very little information about which leads up towards Table Mountain.

I started off in Catalina State Park just past the ranger station and headed up into the foothills. The scenery looked wonderful from the very beginning. With all of the recent rain, every time a tree or hill was providing some shadow, the desert was incredibly lush and green. Fresh grass seemed to be growing all over.

As I got closer to the ridge the trail got steeper and the views of the cliffs above got more and more impressive. The trail really provided a unique view of the ridge that I have not had a chance to see before. Usually I am hiking either on top of the ridge, or in one of the canyons. This was unique because I was hiking up a side ridge. For the final bit of the climb the trail got pretty faint and I ended up bushwhacking the last bit before the side summit I had picked as my destination.

After that it was a race back down the hill to make it home in time for dinner. I decided to take a chance on a different route out, and it paid off. The trail took me out to a neighborhood just off of Oracle road where I got picked up. I even made it back in time for dinner.

12/25/19 Stone Canyon

Christmas day consisted mostly of quiet time with family. I did however take some time to get outside in the afternoon and walk around the golf course a bit to take some photos. Merry Christmas!

12/24/19 Biosphere 2

In an unusual twist, Christmas Eve was a rainy in Tucson this year. A number of my cousins were looking for something to do while staying dry and settled on Biosphere 2. I have been here before, but liked it enough to be interested in going back.

The very short walk to the entrance of the facility turned out to be very very wet, and we were pretty well soaked by the time we made it in. After exploring the exhibits at the entrance a bit (and drying off) we went on a tour. I pretty much hung out near the back of the group snapping pictures of all of the interesting plants, flowers, and mechanical wonders. Fortunately it had stopped raining by the time we left so we made it back out without a second soaking.

12/21/19 Tohono Chul

After our afternoon hike we visited the Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens for their Holiday Lights event. This was my first time at Tohono Chul, and I enjoyed it. There were many many decorated cacti and trees, art, sculpture, and live music. One stand out was a performance by Gabrial Ayala on the guitar. His music was outstanding and he had no trouble filling the room.

12/21/19 Romero Pools

After getting to Arizona, we decided to kick things off with a familiar hike that we have not done in a couple of years. As usual, Romero Pools did not disappoint.

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