RV Trips South : Gilbert Ray County Park February 28-29

Day 31, 32: Sunday, Monday February 28, 29 Gilbert Ray County Park, Tucson, AZ

We drove the short distance to Gilbert Ray, which is on the west side of Tucson Mountain Park. No reservations here, but we have always been able to get a spot. The mountain range blocks the city light, so the skies at night are bright and clear. We are surrounded with rolling hills with saguaro cactus, cholla forests, barrel cactus, palo verde trees, and many other spiny things! Thrashers and Phainopepla can be seen and heard, and there are bunnies in the desert. At this campground we always hear the coyotes at night. Many trails lead from the campground out into the desert.

Our campsite in the desert

Chain-fruit Cholla

Prickly Pear

Barrel cactus and the photographer

Sunset at Gilbert Ray. City of Tucson aquifer basins in the valley below.

Monday morning we went on a loop bike ride out of the campground, down McCain Loop Road, then back up to the campground. It is about a 12 mile loop, gentle downs and steeper ups (it seems), very little flat! In the afternoon we drove up to Marana to visit Jim’s friends Gary and Bianca. They have a lot with a small house and an amazing cactus garden on the property. Bianca puts out birdseed twice a day, and it lasts about a half hour! Doves, thrashers, Cardinals, various sparrows, finches, and quail visit her yard. Later in the afternoon Fibber and Sharon, also old friends of Jim’s, showed up at the property they had just purchased next door and joined the visit.

Tuesday morning we went on a 6 mile Brown Mountain hike out of the campground. We went way up on a ridge, up and down, up and down, some rough hiking, saw lots of blooming plants, trees, and cactus. I took a picture of Tarantula nests this year – last year I had noticed this thick webs around holds in the ground but had not known what they were! It took us longer than we had thought, so we were late checking out of the campground, but they were nice about it.