Clock Out, Click In

River Walk: 3 Coyotes and 4 Horses

Cool Tucson mornings mean everyone's out for a walk, amble, run, or ride on the Rillito River Path. I choose a mild meandering adventure of 3 or so miles in 45 or so minutes. This morning, the creosote and mesquite create a symphony of smells after a rainy night. White datura blooms among tall desert grasses. Thank you, beautiful monsoon season.

Behind me, I hear a symphony of barking and turned to see who might be following us. I see three coyotes emerge from Christmas Wash and amble across the dirt road to torment yard dogs. My walking partner Lisa shoos them away from the dogs.

But they come right back and so does the barking. I grab Lisa's I-phone for a quick picture.

 
Squint your eyes to see coyote in the sunshine. 

More shooing, more in and out of the wash coyote dance. I take another picture and regret the lack of zoom lens on the phone camera.

 
Coyote returns to Christmas Wash.

We continue toward the river path and enjoy dawn's changing light on the Catalina Mountains.

 
 
We say hello to a couple regulars: the woman who uses a roller/walker while her dog runs hither and thither,  the man in the safari hat who carries one dachshund to the path while walking his other dachshund.

Cyclists and gasping runners don't say hello. Four horses emerge from the desert trail and ride alongside the path. Everyone knows the river path is a great place to start your day!

It's a multiuse morning on the path!

 

  

Tucson Tumamoc Hill Climb and De Anza Trail View

 

Tumomoc Hill stands west of its famous Tucson sister: "A" Mountain. There's no car or bike access to the top, you must walk or run.  The hill has been a research station since 1903 and is currently managed by the University of Arizona.

Today, I walk up the hill under threatening skies, so the trail is not mobbed like some mornings.  It's 6:50 am, and I must speed walk up and down to make the 7:30 am cut-off time. Don't want to disturb the research stationeers. 

The morning air is cool for Tucson--about 78 degrees, but I still work up a sweat. It is steep. 700 feet elevation gain in 1.5 miles.  Click on the map below to view path and elevation.

I hear shuffling steps from behind me, so I walk faster to stay ahead of the jogger. She eventually passes me.

 
Uphill jogger and downhill walkers, with view of Catalina Mountains. 

 

A runner pounds down Tumamoc Hill.

I pass research buildings, some built in the Civilian Conservation Corps style, using local volcanic stone, wood frames, and metal rooftops. More recent storage buildings were built on the cheap: stucco and sheet metal.

 
Research station building, ocotillo, and top of Tumamoc. 

Saguaro and another old research building.

 
A less appealing research storage building.

Switchbacks steepen and I pass volcanic rocks with dried moss designs reminiscent of the real petroglyphs found on this hill.

 
Moss grows on the north face, then it dries out.

 
Petroglyph picture from Tumamoc: People and Habits.

Ruins of a  Hohokam village from 2,300 years ago is on the hill, but not accessible from the walking path. Here is a link to the Trinchera, the ruins of a wall that surrounded the village on the hill. The wall is known as "Arizona's oldest public works project."

I reach the top filled with communications towers and enjoy the view in all directions. The breeze cools my sweaty brow.

Well after the time of the Hohokam, the Tohono O'odham Indians lived along the Santa Cruz and saw the first Spaniard expedition come through en route to San Francisco in 1776. I'm not walking or biking the De Anza Trail today, but I have a view of 100 miles of the Conquistador's route. From the top of the hill, I can see De Anza route: from Tubac to Tucson in the Santa Cruz River Valley, then north and west, continuing along the Santa Cruz River and what is now Interstate 10.

Barrel cactus in bloom with view north toward the Catalinas.

I follow the female jogger, who paused for a hilltop rest, down the hill.  She inspires me to jog a bit, which seems easy, until my thighs protest. So I resume speedwalking.

I see a partial rainbow pushing through the dark clouds in the western sky. It's raining in other parts of the valley, but not on me.  I reach the bottom of the hill by 7:40 am, a 50-minute roundtrip.

Walk and learn about the hill's cultural past and biological present through evening "Tumomoc Talks."