Pima Canyon Trail

The Pima Canyon Trail in Oro Valley, near Tucson, AZ, was a real workout! The first part of the trail skirted private property; that was the boulder hopping segment.

I carefully watched my steps as we slowly worked our way towards the canyon, hugging the mountain slope that was the edge of the Coronado National Forest.

Six Javelinas in the wild! We had seen them before as they wandered through the schoolyard, or slept at the Desert Museum, but these were really in the wild, about six of them, nibbling on the vegetation instead of on leftover bits of student lunches. The picture below shows one at the school, but today we watched instead of photographing.

Javelina in the schoolyard

Javelina snack. Ouch!

About halfway through the morning, the vegetation changed from prickly pear cactus, barrel cactus, creosote bushes and lots of saguaro cacti, as we entered the side of the canyon, the shady side. Mesquite trees, ocotillo, and other small leafed trees (live oak?) lined the trail, creating a dappled shade. The path wasn't quite so littered with rocks. I don't have a picture of the shaded part.

Tall Occotillo

The first landmark was the Cottonwood trees,

 and even a few shallow pools of water and 

bits of a stream escaping downhill. Water!

 Every time I heard a sound that wasn't people talking, we stopped to try to identify it. A Bridled Titmouse was a new bird for the year's List. Today was the first time Terry mourned aloud the loss of his beloved digital camera, left behind on the BC ferries during the summer.

“What on earth is that?” I exclaimed. 

 Something large and brown moved in a small tree, but it wasn't a bird! At first it looked like a group of monkeys. Russet brown fur, long bushy tails, and faces like badgers or raccoons. The Arizona Coati! These creatures were eating the berries of the tree, truly hanging in every direction just like monkeys.

We kept asking people if there was a destination to our trail, and finally a couple of volunteers who were trimming branches told us about a dam.

“It's about a mile and a half from here. You cross the wash (dry canyon bed) two or three times until you see some cattails and a small dam.”

Rock dam on left

I could hardly wait. I didn't really have our whole lunch with us, but stuffed a few items into my fanny pack at the last minute—cheese, a piece of carrot and one green onion, and a few walnuts and dates. That would have to be our midday meal, and it was noon, three hours after we started.

Finally! There was the dam, a wonderful deep pool of water, and a big slab of rock if you wanted sun, and a granite “bench” to have some shade to cool off. 

Across from us the canyon wall held the promise of seeing the Canyon Wren close up. I had spotted it earlier, but now got reacquainted with its song, kind of a descending trill made up of five notes.

“I bet he'll come right on that rock in front of us” said Terry as we quietly munched on our snack. And he did.

Desert Marigold

Oh yes! I almost forgot the Indian grinding holes that the volunteers mentioned. These were by the dam as well.

As we approached the small parking lot at the beginning of the trail again, five hours later, Terry hugged me and exclaimed, “Well done!”

And I was pleased that I had walked 10.5 km, the same distance as the trail on Madera Canyon, in April 2015.

I think all my muscles will be sore tomorrow, though!