Their habitat in the Santa Catalina Mountains has been protected for over ten years now, but our hike into Pima Canyon didn't introduce us to any bighorn sheep. Maybe if we'd done the full 14 mile round trip or climbed above 4,000 ft. Or maybe not. It is Rodeo Week and with the "rodeo days" holiday, the trail is hopping. Plenty of families and groups of adventuring teens are connecting with nature. 
Suguaro, prickly pear, barrel cacti, ocotillo, mesquite. Across a dry creek, I thought I heard water. I stopped short, heard birds. No water. A few steps and I pause again. Ah, it's the water bottle on my back.
July and August bring monsoons to the Sonoran Desert. A few miles in, Mexican blue oaks edge the low areas, drawing the shallow remains of last year's rains. Our hiking book identifies this as the ancestral home of the Hohokam people. A thousand years later, the smooth depressions of their bedrock mortars bring history, its genius and distress, to walk with us.
3 comments:
I grew up in AZ, a child of the desert, but have been gone from there for many years. These photos fill me with such a sweet and precious longing. I didn't even realize I was missing it. But now, I can almost taste the sky of canyon lands. HMMM.
Must be time for a trip south soon.
Depending on your love/tolerance of HEAT, visit soon!
We've met folks who call February pre-spring. The perfect season. The period before you need oven mits to drive your car.
The cautionary tales might make me curious enough to visit some July...
This hike was fantastic. It was so supprising to find pools of water, huge trees, and green plants.
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