April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009

Today is Tax Day. Normally this is a day of mourning, but with the market so bad, I am getting almost all my money back. Now if I just didn’t have to spend several days filling out the forms and using a computer to calculate what I owed.

I need a stress break after dealing with the IRS so Aimee and I take a hike up Bear Canyon on Tucson’s northeast side. It is one of our favorite hikes and with the recent rain I am thinking we should see flowing water. We are not disappointed. Not only is there a rush of water in the stream we cross several times but at Seven Falls where the hike ends we witness a real live cascade of water in the desert.

The moisture must be also be bringing out the desert fauna. I almost stepped on a gopher snake crossing my path. At quick glance he looks a little too much like a rattler for my nerves. I also spy a “horny toad” for the first time. Although he could pass for the spiky desert version of this amphibian, a horny toad is actually a Regal Horned Lizard, and boy does he blend in well with the desert.

April 3, 2009

April 3, 2009

Now that we are back in the “summitting” mode, I took Aimee on a hike I have wanted to retry. Pusch Ridge, the mountain that I look at everyday from our apartment, has been calling me. We checked out the trail last year but stopped halfway because it was getting a little too steep for Aimee’s liking. She is a lot more confident this year, plus it seems only right that we finally climb it.

It is a long, constantly uphill climb. Tiring, but good preparation for redoing the Grand Canyon this Spring. In a little over two hours we make it to the top of Pusch Peak, the highest part of the ridge. We get a great view of Oro Valley to the west and Tucson to the south. Unfortunately the breeze that kept us cool on the way up turns out to be a gale force wind at the summit. We don’t spend long at the top; Aimee is in a hurry to start back down. We were the only ones on the trail and all she can think about is a mountain lion lurking around every corner. Surprisingly it takes longer to go down this “rough” trail as we tiptoe trying to avoid sliding down all the loose rock.

March 23, 2009

March 23, 2009

My sister Jean and her family came out to visit again to celebrate my birthday; I am still 39 for the curious. Since we know from last year they can handle strenuous outings, we took them on their graduation hike to the top of Picacho Peak. Despite being a pretty difficult hike/climb, they passed with flying colors. As a finale we took them to the summit of Mt Wasson in the Tucson Mountains. Now they are certified mountain climbers.

During our downtime, we did some touristy things like visiting Tombstone and panning for garnets in Sabino Canyon. The only negative was my nephew’s run-in with a dangerous denizen of the desert. No, not a rattlesnake, bobcat, mountain lion or scorpion…. a squirrel. Having raced to the top of Picacho ahead of his “huffing and puffing” relatives, he got bit in the finger trying to feed it. He luckily avoided a series of nasty shots when we learned rabies is extremely rare among rodents.