Hiking in Bear Canyon

Friday
A great day hiking today in Sabino Canyon Recreation area, northeast of Tucson, in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains. It is a fee paying area, but our lifetime senior National Parks pass is accepted. There are many miles of trails, some leading out into the back country. There are two open air trams taking you up into the canyons, Sabino Canyon, and Bear Canyon. We had decided on Bear Canyon for today, and Jen had booked us onto the 10.15 tram. While we were waiting for the tram, the roadrunner in my thumbnail picture came to pay us a visit, and I managed a quick shot of him. The tram takes you two miles up the canyon to the trailhead for the Seven Falls trail, which follows Bear Creek up the canyon, cross-crossing it a number of times - about 5 or 6. At this time that wasn’t a big problem, the water was flowing, but there were enough big sturdy rocks to cross on, though I was thankful for my hiking poles in places. However, after their heavy monsoon-like summer storms, it could be a different story! After two days of hiking in the desert, with no water in sight, it was lovely to be walking accompanied by the sound of running water. Once you’ve finished criss-crossing the stream, the trail starts climbing in a series of zig zags, but nothing too steep. The stream cascades down the mountainside in a series of falls, as seen in my central image, forming a couple of little pools, where one or two people were braving the cold water to take a dip. As the temperatures rise over the coming months I’m sure there will be many more! We just enjoyed sitting on the rock by one of the pools, having a snack and a drink, and talking to a young English girl who was there with her American (military) husband and their children. She’s only been over here since January, so is still adjusting, and heard our English voices and came over for a chat! Her husband was one of those who went in the water! We then retraced our steps all the way back to the car park, a total of 8.5 miles. The bird in the lower right is a Phainopepla, a glossy black bird, with bold white wing patches which make them quite distinctive in flight. We saw them quite regularly during the course of the week. The name comes from the Greek for “shining robe” a fitting characterization of the male’s glossy black plumage.

Step count for today: 22,750