Catalina State Park March 1-6

Days 33, 34, 35, 36, 37   Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday   March 1, 2, 3, 4, 5   Catalina State Park, Oro Valley, AZ

We made our reservations for Catalina in early November; the last two years we were not able to get into the park, as it gets booked, and the overflow area at Catalina is a dustbowl!  Lots of snowbirds like this park, as it is close to shopping and also in a riparian area at the base of a mountain range, with Tucson on the other side of the mountains!  We got a great site with trees for the birds to perch and a view out into the desert.  Lots of events going on at Catalina! 

We stocked up on groceries at Fry’s.  We put up a birdfeeder, and Jim went to Walmart and got a finch feeder and a seed block as well.  In less than a minute we had Cardinals, Vermillion Flycatchers, Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, Pyrrhuloxia, Gambel’s Quail, the ubiquitous Mourning Doves, White-Crowned Sparrows!  They are familiar with feeders; my guess is they check every new arrival to see what may be happening.  We went for a walk around the campground.  Sarah sometimes does not want to go for a walk, especially if only one of us is walking her.  She seems to be able to get up or down the motorhome steps if she is motivated by possible treats, but other times she needs help.  Her hind legs are weak because of her hip problems.

Lesser Goldfinch

Pyrrhuloxia

Northern Cardinal

Gila Woodpecker

Wednesday morning we showed up an hour late for the bird walk, had not understood what time it was to be!  So we walked on the Birding Trail ourselves for a couple of hours, saw a few birds, and Jim took some pictures.  There is water in the wash by the campground today.  All kinds of plants blooming!  What a pretty spot.  Wednesday afternoon we relaxed, got caught up on things around the RV.

Fairy Duster

Lizard doing pushups

Chipping Sparrow

Thursday we did the 6 mile hike up to the Romero Pools, a series of pools in a rocky stream up on the mountain.  It was a rough hike, rocky, with big steps up (or down).  I brought my sticks to protect my knees, and we did not try to bring Sarah.  We got views of the campground below from the side of the mountain.  Although there were other people on the trail, often we were alone in the wilderness up there.  We had lunch under a shady tree at the top.  Coming back down was harder than going up!  My legs were tired!  Ice and two Naproxen helped my knees not to be sore the next day. 

Beginning of the long trail

A very rough trail!

Agave

Romero Pools

Friday we rode our bikes out of the campground, then on a bike path that led us up into the Oro Valley neighborhoods.  There were some metal sculptures along the road that we took pictures of.  It is great biking here, lots of choices for where to ride, with wide bike lanes on the streets and many paved paths.  We rode 20 miles, up and down.  Nice temperature for riding, in the low 70’s.  Great views of the Catalina Mountains.  

Rattlesnake sculpture, Catalina Mountains in the background

Jim found a model airplane field in Oro Valley called Naranja where he could fly his copter.  He lost sight of it while flying it.  He had put a beeper on it to help find it if it went down out of sight, and a fellow who was there could hear it better than he could, so he got it back!  Yay!

Sculptures at Naranja Park

Saturday we drove up to Mt. Lemmon, the highest mountain in the Catalina Mountains.  It is 30 degrees cooler here than in Tucson, and there are mountain cabins, restaurant and gift shop, and a ski lift!  We stopped on the way for a picnic lunch, and there was snow along the road.  We got ice creams for a treat and I bought postcards at Mt. Lemmon.  On the way back down we stopped and walked down to Rose Valley Lake and back, about 4 miles round trip, through campgrounds and picnic areas that are closed now.  There are lots of interesting rock formations in these mountains, “hoodoos”, they are called, pillars of rock with interesting shapes and balancing rocks.  On the way back down our speed limit on the very curving road was 35 mph, and a cyclist passed us!  There were lots of bikers, both skinny tire and motorcycles, riding up and down that mountain.  Saturday night we went to dinner at Red Lobster, so that was a treat!  We had clam chowder and lobster tacos.

Looking back down the road toward Tucson

Snow along the road up on top

View north from our lunch spot, pines and firs rather than saguaros!

Mt. Lemmon ski lift

Rose Valley Lake

Sunday morning I got up at 7:30 to go on a marvelous bird walk.  New birds I saw were Green-Tailed Towhee and Bewick’s Wren.  There were lots of experienced birders in the group, so they were good at spotting birds and also recognized the songs.  We saw many kinds of sparrows, Canyon Towhee, Verduns, Phainopepla, Cactus Wrens, and also the species of birds we have been watching at our campsite.  Jim worked on his drone some more.  

View of the Catalina Mountains from the campground