Tucson 2020

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Our next stop after Bisbee was Tucson at the Pima County Fairgrounds. Earlier in the winter, we had hoped to stay here for a month or so, but the facility gets several large events during the course of the winter and it precluded us from getting in earlier. There is an RV show going on for the first few days of our eight night stay but this event doesn’t fill up the campground area. It’s only about an 80 mile drive from Bisbee to the fairgrounds since it is on the far southeastern side of town. Another storm front was coming in and it turned out to be windy but I didn’t really notice it while driving. When we got out of the rig at the campground and my hat went blowing as I disconnected the Jeep, I realized just how strong the wind was. The fairgrounds campground is really just a large gravel parking lot with 50 amp electric, water and sewer. So nothing special, but it would be a convenient place to use as our home base to explore some more of Tucson.

We had on and off rain overnight and the next morning but it stopped long enough to take the short walk over to the RV show. I was surprised to see the large number of rigs the dealer had brought in. We checked out some of the motorhomes to see what new features they might be including. The class B and class C motorhomes we inside one of the large buildings. We looked at several of the class B’s to see if one of these might be an option for an Alaska trip in the future. It was fun to see some of the options. This show really didn’t have many towable rigs so we couldn’t do much research with that option. That even at sunset, we had a pretty dramatic sunset.

Sunset After Stormy Day

Saguaro National Park is in the Tucson area. It is divided into two distinct parks. One on the west side and another on the east. Saguaro East isn’t very far from the fairgrounds so with the rain long gone, we head there for a hike. We have been here before and done the 8 mile scenic drive as well as some of the hikes along the drive. For this visit we headed to the far southern portion of the park that isn’t accessible from the main entrance. The Loma Alta trailhead isn’t hard to reach, however the last half mile or so is  over a very bumpy and poorly maintained dirt road. We were surprised to see how many cars were parked here given there isn’t a lot of room. Fortunately two cars were just leaving when we arrived so we didn’t need to park further down the road.

As we got out for our hike, the trailhead sign wasn’t the most encouraging thing to see. One warning about this being mountain lion habitat and another regarding Africanized honey bees. It’s a pretty area with only a few different trail options out of here as a day hike. We follow the Hope Camp Trail for about 3/4 mile before intersecting the Coyote Wash Trail heading toward the Ruiz Trail. As the name implies, the trail basically follows the wash. Even with the rain it was fairly dry with only small puddles of water here and there. I guess the desert is adept at soaking in the little rain it receives.

Trailhead Warnings

Entrance Gate

Pretty Day for a Hike

Watch Out for Coyotes

Gravel Wash

This trail heads back towards the road but never really reaches it before it turns back north and becomes the Ruiz Trail. There is a bit of climbing to get out of the wash but it is never too steep or challenging. Along the way, we keep our eyes open for a spot to sit and enjoy lunch. Unlike a wooded forest, there aren’t fallen trees to use as a bench and we are smart enough to not use a fallen saguaro! We eventually spot some rocks that work. We hadn’t seen any people on the trails so far and were surprised when a couple of women on horseback came plodding by.

High Enough for Good Views

Our loop only gets us 600 feet of elevation gain, but it is enough to provide a nice view of the area. The trail eventually works it’s way back down to the main Hope Camp Trail which continues to the east but doesn’t lend itself to a manageable loop. We head west back towards parking and pass Deer Camp with a few remnants from the cowboys days of the past. The old windmill could use some TLC to get it in operation again. This was a nice 6 mile loop. We ran into a small number of people along the trail but not too many. Mountain bikes are permitted on the Hope Camp Trail but we only saw two out during our hike. Looks like it could be a fun ride for a future visit.

Old Windmill

When we were in Tucson two years ago we had “discovered” Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. I say discovered because we seemed to be the only people that had never heard of the place before. We had come twice for two different hikes and each time the parking area was nearly packed. With parking for nearly 300 vehicles, it sees a lot of visitors. We headed back for another hike and were pleased to find the parking the only half full. The two hikes we had completed before, Bear Canyon & Telephone Line Trails, were some of our favorites and we even considered repeating one of these hikes. But after investigating other options, we decided on the Esperero Trail. This is a long trail (10 miles) that connects with several other trails in the area including ones out of Catalina State Park and Mt Lemmon. We weren’t in for something of that magnitude but figured we could head out until we hit our bodies’ halfway point and then turn around.

We spoke with the ranger on duty in the information booth to get any insight he might have regarding the trail. He didn’t have any specific comments on unique features along the route but said it was a pretty hike. The trail starts out easy enough with the first mile or so being mainly flat as it winds thru the lower section of the park. On hikes like this one where there are mountain peaks all along the horizon, I always wonder exactly which one our trail leads towards. Just a few minutes into the hike, I spot a bird perched on a palo verde tree. It was a good distance away, but it looked to be a cardinal except it was all black. Another couple happened to be walking past us and they both had binoculars. Suspecting they were birders, I asked them what we might have seen. They immediately knew what I was describing and told us it’s a phainopepla or black cardinal. Since it’s unlikely we would ever remember the official name, we’ll need to stick with the common name.

Follow the Trail

Mountains in Distance

Pretty Flower Along Trail

After a mile and a half, we enter the Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area. And things are feeling quite remote. The few people we had come across on the trail hadn’t come this far so we seemed to have the place to ourselves. I spotted a strange little saguaro cactus growing in between some rocks. It’s body had contorted to work it’s way thru the available space. It would be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming years as it grows taller. Just over two miles into the hike, a sign states we are entering private property for the next half mile and to please stay on the trail. It didn’t take long before we spotted a large home sitting well up the side of the mountain across the ravine. The driveway looked to be very steep, winding and long - but oh the views.

Desolate Area

Cactus Weaving Thru Rocks

Entering Private Property

Home on Mountainside

The trail continues along the bottom of the ravine before heading up even more. The views of the ravine walls are quite impressive. There are loads of wildflowers in bloom with yellow poppies being the most abundant.

Cliff Along Ravine

Since the trail nearly all uphill at this point, we weren’t moving super fast but that was okay since it was so beautiful. As we got up higher, the views back thru the ravine into Tucson were impressive although there was a fair amount of haze blocking the view of the distance mountains. We found a shaded spot to sit and enjoy our lunch as we tried to determine how much further we could (or should) go.

Trail Continues Up

Looking Back Over Tucson

At about the 3.5 mile mark, we could see the ravine we were in was approaching a peak. It was still a few hundred feet elevation and maybe a half mile. We spotted three people heading down so we asked them if it was worth the effort to make it to the top. With their encouragement, we continued on the rest of the way. Along the way, we spotted a saguaro with more than a dozen small arms originating from the same point of the main body. Nature can be odd at times.

Head Towards That Ridge

Saguaro Arm Explosion

Once to the top of this small peak, we were impressed with the views. Back to the south was the view of Tucson. To the north was the view of another large ravine with a small stream of water making a waterfall. It likely was bigger than it appeared since it was nearly half a mile away. We sat and to a break while eating a snack and enjoying the views. We could see the trail continuing on but we were a bit more than four miles into this hike and figured we should turn back. The hike back down was nice and a bit easier. None of the trail had been too steep or rocky so our footing was fine. It took a while to get back to the car but this was a good hike. 8.4 miles, 2000 feet elevation and six hours. Another winning hike in Sabino Canyon.

Tucson to the South

More Mountains to the North

Waterfall

Rugged Rocks

The Pima Air & Space Museum was on our list of things to see. When we were here a couple years ago, we stopped by to try to get tickets for the “Boneyard” tour but struck out on that and didn’t bother with the museum either. We could at least make up for skipping the museum by spending the bulk of the day there. When we arrived, we could tell from the parking lot it wasn’t very crowded which was good for us. We decided to purchase the tram tour as well and managed to get on the next one that was only a 15 minute wait. We toured some of the main hangar before heading out for the tour. This is a big place with several hundred airplanes from all eras of flight both inside several hangars as well as sitting around the grounds outside.

Itty Bitty Plane

Bi-plane

Blue Angels Jet

Our tour guide for the tram ride is retired military - Air Force if I remember correctly. The ride took us around the grounds with numerous stops for a story of some plane or helicopter. The variety of planes and jets was pretty impressive. Even though we aren’t ex-military, we still enjoyed hearing about the planes and how the museum came to have some of them. We felt the 45 minute tour was worth the $6 per person.

Amphibious

Big Cargo

Four Props & Four Jet Engines

Bigger Cargo

After the tour, we ventured off on our own into the various hangars. There are nearly an overwhelming number of planes to look at and read about. In each of the hangars are a couple of volunteers to answer questions or point out things they feel we should investigate.

Incoming!

B-24 Bomber

MiG-15

B-29 Superfortress

After checking out a couple hangars, we continue our walk outside. This gives us the chance to see closer up some of the planes we learned about during our tour. Plus we can head back to some sections of the grounds that the tram doesn’t go past. Plan on a lot of walking if you intend to see them all. I suppose for those that are really into planes, buying the two day pass might be a good option in order to spread the walking over a couple days.

Nice Paint Job

Mobile Eye Surgery Plane

Counter-rotating Props

B-36J Peacemaker

B-52

As we made our way back towards the main hangar, we get to a cluster of helicopters. There was a huge range in the size and shapes of these things. Although possibly my favorite was the Sikorsky CH-54A often called the Skycrane.

Helicopter Aisle

Skycrane

There were a few other airplanes that were on the grounds that seemed a bit out of place compared to all the others. They were more like canvases for artists to decorate. We were getting a bit tired of walking around out in the sun, so we didn’t get the full scoop on them.

Psychedelic Paint

Art?

Scary Plane

One of the newer buildings was dedicated to the B-17 Flying Fortress. There are lots of neat displays about the plane. They were one of the more famous bombers from World War II. They have a couple of the bay doors open to peak your head in to see the inside up close.

"I'll Be Around"

B-17 from 2nd Floor

We enjoyed spend the bulk of the day exploring the museum but it was a tiring experience as well. We didn’t even get to enter the Space Gallery since it’s closed for remodeling.