Ever look up into the Tucson sky and see white objects on top of mountains? Well it's not a UFO, but one of the many space observatories that are located on our mountain tops. While on a wildflower and wildlife hunt, I passed by Kitt Peak and decided to stop by.....
As stated, I had been searching for the amazing California Poppy displays around this mountain range, but I was disappointed to discover that I had been too early for the show. I'll be heading back that way again and crossing my fingers that they will be in bloom this month. This photo series was taken in March. The story I tell today was a strange one.....but hey, I replaced my chapstick that I use on my hikes during the dry season.
While the trek wasn't a complete waste, it wasn't the most exciting. Thankfully I went on the tour with our guide by the name of Bill. He was a retired man with a wonderful smile and patient heart. Sounds like I love him. I just recognized the fact that he is an excellent educator for the public. Someone who likes people and likes what they do. First. If you plan on going to Kitt Peak(south of Tucson) during the day, you need to take the tour. Second. Be prepared for chilly weather on this sky island. It doesn't look like it's high up, but it is. And the wind can be COLD!!! Wear pants and a jacket during this time of year. Kitt Peak is the most accessible for visiting the observatories. Did you know? Tucson has a light ordinance to help reduce urban light pollution for our space observatories?
Grey-headed Dark-eyed Junco
I went to see what kind of birds were hanging around the mountain tops. And I wasn't disappointed. The Grey-headed Juncos and Mexican Jays were all over the place. And the Chihuahuan Ravens were majestic in the wind. Beautiful birds. Before the tour, I walked around the several observatories enjoying the fresh air. The tourists visiting this day were a little bizarre. A group of nasty smokers had a difficult time with the higher altitudes and couldn't breathe well. I wonder why? Even though one of the space observatories was nearby, several of them complained about walking less than a block to visit one!!! They got back into their cars and lit another cigarrette and drove off. That's okay because they were annoying. But why drive all that way just to drive back down again??? And smoking is bad for you. The smell annoys me as does a Southern drawl or a Wisconsin, "Hey der!" I rid myself of my Cheesehead accent years ago. I still have to make a concentrated effort on pronouncing words like "bag, flag, etc." Open vowel sounds....not closed. It's not "beg" It's "b-aaahh-ggg". Some habits are hard to quite I guess:) My family has a strong and thick accent so I have to be careful when I'm home visiting not to slide back into that German/English mishmash. I don't always succeed. Okay den, let's focus more on da topic, ya?
Kitt Peak was created in 1953 and funded by several universities around the country. Today many observatories are located on top of this Tohono O'odam run land and are funded by the various universities around the country and the world! Without the tour, it was boring....but the birding part was fun. Some of the structures look like they need some work. One observatory looked like it needed some updating. The Solar Observatory, in my opinion, was depressing. There was termite damage inside one of the telescope areas. You can visit some areas but not many.
I suppose to give it a fair shake, one would need to visit the observatories at night when the place "comes alive". Like finding life in the Amazon Rainforest or searching for owls, the night is when stargazing is done by astronomers. And that makes sense. Several of my friends have done the dinner, overnight stays and telescope viewing from Mt. Lemmon and Kitt Peak and had loved the experience. So to get the real experience, set up a stay for the night via their websites.
But if you go during the day, you may be disappointed. Check out this empty basketball court below. It looks like it hasn't been used in a hundred years! In fact, it reminded me of my trip to Gamboa in Panama. Do people really use this place to look up into the night sky? I was doubtful. So instead of me making a snap judgement, I took the tour at 1:30 and was glad I did.....
It put a human face to the barren white domes. The people in this tour group were B.I.Z.A.R.R.E. Well there were a couple cool people in the group.....like the nice couple from Washington. I think everyone I've met from this state has been really wonderful. But I know there are always a few bad apples....like the couple from Minnesota!!! Seriously.....Minnesota. Most people from this state are really amazing as well. Bill, our guide, was friendly and answered every question as if it were important. One of the telescopes on Kitt Peak is monitoring for incoming asteroids passing by Earth's orbit. The female version of crazy asked if they would be able to see a shot of an asteroid hitting Earth!!! She was serious. Everyone in the group chuckled except Bill. He answered the question as if it were important. Must be the scientist part of him. Or he goes home afterwards, cracks open a beer, writes down the quote of the day in the book and laughs to himself. Hey we all get one of those moments don't we? Once, when I was younger, I asked an incredibly stupid question on a submarine. At the end of the tour, I innocently asked our guide, "Is this where we started?" I won't forget that moment.
On the way to the observatory during the tour, male version of crazy starts rattling off strange facts about nothing. Once inside the observatory, there were annoying kids running around while our tour was going on. Crazy guy turns to an older couple...they looked like Grandparents....and asks them if those were their 5 or 6 year old kids!!!???? Again everyone in the group just kind of looked at each other. My final opinion is that they were not human but instead.....Martians. Martians from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I was also thankful for this sign. It was a reminder that a cliff was right next to me and that I could fall off.
So like this Mexican Jay, I took off from Kitt Peak adding two more birds to my list for the year. And with a bit more knowledge on telescope design. But mostly that I could tell the difference between a Junco and a Warbler:) And that there are Martians posing as human.
And the wildflowers? Major fail on my part. Kitt Peak really is a great place for wildflowers...especially in April in May. But because it's a bit cooler there, the flowers don't develop until later. My best bet would have been to go up Hwy 77 in March. There were wildflowers...just not in the mass groupings I was hoping for. I'll try again because this is definitely a hotspot for them! More tomorrow....
There's nothing more embarrassing than a 38 year old hiker struggling up a mountain being passed up by a 60 something mountain biker! Well to be fair, we were both struggling, but I seriously don't find riding bikes uphill very exciting stuff. I prefer the walking workout because I can stop,scan, and snap! However, I was impressed and fell in love with the idea that getting older does get better if we don't let our bodies go to hell. So I'm not going to dwell on that for now because a lot of incredible things happened on our 3 day escape from the holidays. This year I took the initiative and made Christmas with my other half our own tradition. I have to admit that it's not an easy thing to do because when I get used to a routine, it's hard for me to change it. And it was time for a change. We both love returning back to Wisconsin for Christmas to be with the family, but it's costly and a bit crazy with all the kids running around. Instead, we rented out a cabin in Madera Canyon and had a blast! Christmas for me isn't so much religious as it is a time to be with my family which is what I miss the most this time of year. So we escaped into the woods and discovered several things........
1. There are a lot of birds. So when I wasn't hiking, having friends over for a meal, or sharing time with Pat, I would try and sit down and read....in quiet. On our cabin porch, I discovered why Madera Canyon is a huge birder's paradise. Southwestern Tucson is a hotspot for birds and people come from all over the world to visit places like the Buenos Aires Bird Refuge, Carr Canyon near Sierra Vista, Madera Canyon in Green Valley, and of course, the Santa Catalina mountains. Now there are more places like this that I haven't mentioned, but these are the top 4 that birders come to visit. So I'm reading my book quietly in the rocking chair, occassionally being passed by hikers, when suddenly a hummer starts flying around me. The noise of a hummer's wings sounds like a rapid succession of a plane flying overhead while you are sitting in front of your fan at home. And just as quickly as it came; it will disappear. When the fear of human presence was gone, the forest erupted with bird sounds from all over the place. Several other birds noticed me and flew onto the porch and watched me read....or try to read. It was really really loud and there were A LOT of birds. The minute hikers passed by, the birds stopped chirping for several minutes. After the several minutes of quiet time passed, everyone would be back up flying around and having their bird party. Tap tap tap. Squeak squak. Gobble gobble gobble. Fluuuuum fluuuuumm. And other various sounds like those of parrots squaking in the tree tops. In the video below, you'll see what I'm writing about....I snapped quite a bit of video from some of the action. It was fun to see what birders get excited about.......and speaking of birders......
Our woodpeckers
2. Birders are creepy... and kind of neat people. I can understand their frustrations with people who are loud and annoying in the woods as you need total quiet to see the action happen above and around you. But again, I tried reading my book, and out of nowhere there were several birders staring into the trees whispering like they were French people at a Paris cafe. Birders are cool people because they respect their noise levels and their surroundings extremely well. It is a rule that when you travel in any kind of natural setting to keep your volume levels down so that you can spot more wildlife. Had I been on a boat full of loud tourists in the Amazon, I would not have been able to spot my first Jaguar in the wild. It's just a bit freaky to think you are not alone in the woods. There was something else that was unique and I need to ask about this.....but, the birders proceeded to take money out of their wallets and put it in a can. Was this to support homeowners so that they keep putting the bird seed out to keep attracting birds to their cabins? Or a thank you for allowing them to look upon their bird haven? Anyhow...fascinating group of people:)
3. There's a good reason why paved roads end. There were loud obnoxious people who drove up the road into the canyon only to spin around and drive back. What's the purpose of that? Get out of your car. Look around and breathe. Some sports cars would fly up the road at dangerous speeds and fly back down as if they were the only ones who mattered. Many of them were older drivers which was completely shocking to me. A dead squirrel was the product of one of these idiot drivers. I am grateful that the road limits the morons from the heart of the canyon and forest. If you travel to Madera canyon, the best parts are the hikes that lead off into the park. You won't be disappointed. I shot some video from these quiet trails. I think naturalists and birders enjoy the fact that most people are contained within this rather small area into the park. It's not worth driving to if you're not going to spend some quality time there:)
4. Sky Islands are amazing. They really are. In the desert, you'll find heat and the brutal sun during our summer months. These "sky islands" are contained mountains of cooler, shadier, and greener areas. Because of their higher altitudes, they will also have higher than average precipitation rates. A person is always reminded that they are on these islands when they look below or around them and can see the yellowish brown of the desert in the far distance. Tucson, and Southwestern Arizona, are much more diverse than other areas in Arizona because of several factors.....the desert, the subtropical currents that make the Sonoran desert what it is, and our Sky Islands.
Sky Island view when above the treeline.
We had a fantastic time and I'm thinking we may do this again next year. This week I have a house to clean and I'll also be working at the butterfly magic exhibit on Thursday morning at the gardens. It's hard to imagine that we are celebrating winter right now and that we've got a garden where butterflies thrive! Happy Holidays wherever you may be!!
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