The Birds and the Beads: February 2021

OUCH.

As a young, fairly penniless graduate student at Tucson's University of Arizona, I had a job that helped make ends meet. I worked for Pima County Parks & Recreation transplanting cactus (huh?) from the impending blading of the desert for construction of the Central Arizona Project water canal to revegetate trampled areas adjacent to roads in Tucson Mountain Park. My co-worker and now good friend Dianna and I worked fairly solo, with park staff Billy and Manuel checking up on us on occasion.

But worse were glochid hairs (photo credit)

The labor was pretty intense for two gals in their 20s: use pickaxe and shovel to dig out cactus from the canal location, truck them to the park, and re-vegetate designated areas by using above tools to break through caliche and hard crusty rock to put these things back in the ground. Spines, and worse, glochids (masses of fine but strong hairs), would embed themselves into our backs and arms and break off, requiring constant daily tweezing or endless festering.

But we couldn't complain, really. We weren't sitting at a desk filing papers or answering telephones, we were physically active at one of the most beautiful places on Earth: Tucson Mountain Park. It was fantastic; I had a full year to observe daily changes in light and rainfall, flushes of wildflower and cactus blooms, the survival of same plants through the hot and dry months...it was breathtaking and well worth the cactus wounds and tired muscles.

Not a bad "office"

Since then (we're talking 35 years ago, egads!), I have made several moves and landed four hours away at my current residence, far enough away from Tucson Mountain Park that it's not a regular place I visit any more. Until now, I felt that my year there gave me what I wanted to learn about that special place, that I "knew" the park, its feel, its landscape, what it wanted to teach me; that any subsequent visit would be like visiting an old friend. I'd say hello and then settle in, comfortable in familiarity.

Until now...

As luck would have it, fellow camping friends Bob and Moira (see my And Carly Too page for our Inaugural Journey and our summer Greer trip) invited us to join them at Tucson Mountain Park for several days of general enjoyment of the Sonoran desert in winter. Bruce and I couldn't say no to that, and after making reservations months in advance (it is the Year of Covid Campers after all), we met up for five days of life in Tucson Mountain Park.

Nice view from Campsite A-18

WOW. Tucson Mountain Park, I hardly knew ye. I remembered the beauty but realized quickly that I didn't know much else, including the history and naming of features. How the park came to be is a combination of vision, leadership, entrepreneurism, hard work, and a little luck. C.B. Brown, Pima County's first agricultural agent in 1920, proposed removing the mining claims from at-the-time federal land to preserve this area he had come to appreciate for its natural beauty. Brown Mountain and the trail around it is named in his honor. Jack Kinney (of Kinney Road traversing the Park), a Pima County Supervisor at the time, helped Brown set aside and acquire both the current Park and what is now the Tucson Mountain District of Saguaro National Park. J.C. McCain (of McCain Loop Road) was Tucson Mountain Park's first park ranger. Here's a good summary of how one of the largest parks managed by a local government came to be.

Sun rising through Gates Pass

Morning walks with Carly involved PAVEMENT ONLY after
curiosity and sniffing led to a mouthful of cholla cactus

A Verdin waking up in the winter sunshine

Other colorful historic figures include Thomas Gates of Gates Pass, who constructed that pass as a shortcut to his Avra Valley mine from the city of Tucson (for $1,000!), Gilbert Ray (of Gilbert Ray Campground), the first Parks and Recreation Director (1947-1972), and Hal Gras (the namesake for the road leading to Ironwood Picnic Area), who traveled around in a Studebaker with his personal zoo, the Desert Ark, inspiring the world-renowned Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.

Hal Gras's Zoo from a Studebaker
(photo credit AZ Sonora Desert Museum)

One of our days was spent at the Desert Museum, always a fantastic place to visit. Thank you, Kerry, for your hosting and added insights as a Trustee into the history and context of this magical place!

Mexican Gray Wolf, endangered and reintroduced in my neck of the woods

Crested Caracara, a bird of the desert growing more populous in this area

Desert bighorn sheep ewe, one of three sheep at the Museum

A Spiny-tailed Iguana perching in the sun overlooking the sheep

Black Rattlesnake

Thank you for the separate enclosure from Mr. Black Rattler.
Sincerely,
Mr. Gopher Snake

Mexican Leaf Frog

Masked Bobwhite, a rare subspecies of bobwhite, in the Museum aviary.
Attempts at re-populating the species at the nearby
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge continue today.

Besides the array of Sonoran desert critters at the Desert Museum, the park's natural display did not disappoint either:

Black-throated Sparrow

Curve-billed Thrasher

The sweet Phainopepla

A Red-tailed Hawk surveying its domain

And the hiking trails! More trails than I remember. In the years of living in Tucson, I hiked a few, but there are miles more I want to explore. Thanks to our friend Walt, who lives adjacent to the park and has threaded his way up and down and across and back on all of them, I got a taste of the joy of hiking in this phenomenal place.

Bruce and I explored a bit of the Brown Mountain trail

Awed by these desert sentinels

Stands of Chain-fruit Cholla edged the trail,
we were stunned that mountain bikers raced through with little protective gear!

Walt pointing something out to us (Bob, Chester, Jane, and Moira)

Hiking towards the ridges in the distance

And here we are. Oh, the views!!!

Walt's love of this park is contagious, thank you, dear friend!

We weren't at Tucson Mountain Park long enough to satiate my thirst, and I need more. More of its tranquility, beauty, and peace; more walks along its trails and watching the light change from sunset to moonlight on centuries-old cacti. I am now driven to come back, again and again, because its obvious there's so much more to bring into my soul from this special place.

Thank you Bob and Moira, for including us in your camping plans and introducing us to your friends Jane and Chester.

Thank you Walt, for your boundless love of the Park and enthusiasm for exploring every inch of it.

Thank you Kerry, for your visits and as always your informative updates on the fascinating wildlife studies occurring in the Park, especially bobcats.

Thank you Brooke, Fran, Nancy, and Gita for taking the time to swing out to see us and visit! So great to see you all!!!