We had selected Catalina State Park for hiking on our last full day in Tucson due to its proximity to our vacation rental, and its reputation as an excellent hiking venue. I had identified three potential trails that met our guidelines – varied ecosystems, a preference for loop trails, and of moderate duration. We had honed in on the Birding Trail, the Nature Trail, and the Romero Ruins Trail. The surprise was the 18 hours of rain that began the afternoon the day before.

Our plan was to start on the Birding Trail that wove through three different habitats. The hike started out good with a sighting of a Gila Woodpecker.

But then we were presented with a challenge – while it was not raining at the time, the previous heavy rain was draining from the Catalina Mountains and had begun to fill the Sutherland Wash, a stream bed that is generally dry. While it was only ankle deep, we did not want to wade through it, plus we did not know how high it could rise as we might be trapped on the other side as there was a chance of more rain that day.

Other hikers balanced themselves on a grouping of logs with the use of two walking sticks, or waded through, but they were not carrying valuable cameras.

We elected to turn around and restudy the trail descriptions. The Nature Trail Loop appeared to be a reasonable candidate given its description as “easy” and that it was a trail that coursed along a ridge top. “Easy” did not take into account the lead segment of this trail that led to the ridgetop loop – a steady climb up a significant slope, the exact terrain that had injured the photographer’s Achilles tendon last fall. So at a slow and steady pace we climbed the trail, excited to be in the shadows of some massive Saguaro Cacti.

Once atop the ridge the reward was immediate, with outstanding views of the nearby Catalina Mountains, as seen in the title photo and below.

This Ridge Top Trail wove through a classic Sonoran Desert landscape with Palo Verde and Mesquite trees, as well as Cholla cacti.

The trail allowed some views onto the Saguaro studded Catalina foothills that were nearby, and other classic desert landscapes.

After a short break for lunch we decided to attempt the Romero Ruins Trail, which is named for the farmer that settled in this area in the latter half of the1800’s. The trail would take us to the site of a Hohokam Indian village atop a low mesa, where the rancher also built his buildings. To do so we would have to cross the wash about one mile downstream from where we encountered water at the start of our day. Our hope was that there would be a more stable way to cross the wash and any water that was running through it. On the way to the wash we came upon this stately, aged tree. Its architecture was outstanding. Given its twisted nature and location amongst some smaller Mesquite trees, I assumed that it was just a massive Mesquite, but it was larger than I expected of a Mesquite.

Later, Ellen and I returned to study it more closely and found a few old hickory nuts amongst the sand and a single remnant compound leaf from last season still adhered to the tree. Did I mention that I love hiking with a fellow scientist?

So it appeared to be a hickory, but what hickory? I had no familiarity to hickories from the Southwest. This emerging bud perhaps gave us our answer. The terminal bud looked like “praying hands”.

My guess is that it was a Pecan, a tree not native to Arizona. The nut was more round than the modern “thin shelled” pecan, but my research found that many of the older varieties of pecans from the 1800s did in fact have smaller, rounder nuts.

Yes, pecans are the aristocracy of the Hickory family. I suspect that in the later half of the eighteen hundreds the farmer Romero had planted this tree along the wash, hoping that it would provide moisture that would nurture this tree in this otherwise harsh environment. Little did he know that it would still be dropping pecans one and half centuries later. Interestingly, Arizona is now a major producer of pecans.

As we headed further onto the trail, crossing the broad wash, we were surprised that there was no water.

So we crossed the exposed sand and began to ascend to the bluff utilizing a combination of trail grade and stairs.

Once atop the mesa we found ourselves exposed to a cold wind and some light rain. The temperature plummeted. We hurried from point to point reading the interpretive signs that were outstanding and explained some of the less than obvious findings amongst the otherwise desert plant life.

They noted that the Hohokam peoples established a village here in approximately 500 AD and lived here for about 800 years. While the population waxed and waned, at its peak the village included about 300 people. Around the year 1150 AD the village was encircled by a 5 to 6 foot protective stone wall. The rocks in the photo below were thought to be the remnants of the stone wall that surrounded the village that covered an acre of ground, and provided shelter for approximately 100 Hohokam.

Other structures reflected the remnants of the Romero Ranch from the 1800s. One would have to suspect that Mr. Romero repurposed the stones from the Hohokam village for construction of his structures. Understandable for the time.

It was fascinating but the weather conditions were deteriorating and necessitated a retreat toward our car.

As we were completing the hike we pondered about what happened to the water in the wash that caused us to abort our first hike of the morning. Why was it not in the wash just a mile downstream approximately four hours later?

We hurried back to the car and waited for a let up in the rain. After about 15 minutes there was a break, and Ellen and I went back to the wash and began hiking “upstream”. After a half mile we saw our first trickles of water – on either side of the wash there was a narrow stream slowly advancing.

So what appeared to be happening was that the storm runoff from the earlier extended downpour had found its way to the sand laden dry creek bed, and rather than rushing downstream, it slowly seeped into the space in between the granules of sand – filling the aquifer, or water table so to speak. When you read about the depth of the sand in some of these valleys, which can be hundreds of feet thick, you can understand why the significant runoff just appeared to vanish. A little further on we ran into a little more of a stream.

The Sonoran Desert has two rainy seasons. In the late winter and early spring it get days of moderate rain as we experienced in the 24 hours prior to this hike. But in August and September torrential rains occur, dropping inches of rain per hour, whose runoff fills the washes, causing flash flooding. That is a much more dangerous scenario.

As we have mentioned in previous articles covering our hikes in Arizona, the desert is not without color, especially in the spring when we were visiting. These are a sample of the many species of wildflowers that we saw on this outing.

Wire Lettuce and Western Tansy Mustard

White Woolly Daisy and a Green Blister Beetle on a Mexican Gold Poppy

Desert Glove Mallow and Silver Puffs

But there are a few images that warrant a full spread.

Texas Stork’s Bill – its seeds are equipped with a specialized structure that when exposed to moisture causes the seed to drill into the soil to increase its germination rate.

California Suncup – the plant is armed as noted in the second photo below.

Mexican Gold Poppy – it filled a rocky hillside below a stand of Saguaros. They are considered somewhat hard to find and the flowers only open fully when in direct sunlight so they were only partially open on this somewhat overcast day. Interestingly, even an established colony will not flower every year. So we will count ourselves lucky.

I particularly liked this macro image of a Wire Lettuce bud. It reminds me of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.

One thing that had us pondering as we viewed the Catalina Mountains was whether there was still snow on them.

Binoculars and a telephoto lens let us know that, at least at the lower elevations, the white appearing areas were wet exposed rock reflecting sunlight.

We enjoyed a couple effects offered by the clouds as they moved quickly across the sky on this dynamic weather day. First was the way they engulfed the mountain tops.

But we also liked to watch the rapidly moving shadows from the clouds dance across the open landscape.

In summary, our outing at Catalina State Park was a perfect way to end our week in Arizona. We had one last rendezvous with the Saquaro, Mesquite, and Palo Verde, plants that we came to better understand on this trip. Also, we enjoyed additional exposure to the history of the Hohokam peoples of Southeast Arizona. And finally, it was fun to solve the mysteries of vanishing storm runoff and the isolated ancient Pecan tree.

This is the last in the series of articles on our trip to Tucson, Arizona to hike in the Sonoran Desert. Appropriately, there is a mosaic sculpture at the shared trialhead that artfully depicts our experience of the wildlife in the desert. Much to our surprise we found the desert to be full of color and diversity which animated our adventures, and we would encourage others to consider a similar trip. March and April are the wildflower season in Southeastern Arizona and is perhaps when the desert puts on its best show.

To get a better appreciation of the beauty and creativity of the mosaic, consider copying and pasting the image above, and use magnification to allow you to study it more closely, as seen below.

Mosaic is an apropos art form to depict nature, as each species in an ecosystem is like a tile, and only when all the species are assembled together is the picture complete and fully understood.

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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns and Ellen Burns.

Overview:

Location – 11570 N Oracle Rd, Tucson, AZ 85737, 15 miles northeast of downtown Tucson.

Parking – large gravel lots at all trailheads.

Facilities – restrooms at the trailheads and picnic areas.

Trail Conditions – bare dirt and native rock/gravel.

Print Trail Map Link – https://arizona-content.usedirect.com/storage/Park%20Map-CATA.pdf

Benches – several along the trails.

Picnic Tables – in the formal picnic areas.

Kids – four and over should do well but with the understanding that many of the plants are armed with spines or thorns and that there are rattlesnakes.

Dogs – are welcomed on a leash.

Paired Hiking Trails – a loop consisting of the Sutherland trail and the Romero Canyon Trail looks like it would be an excellent but longer hike.

Links:

https://azstateparks.com/catalina