Madera Canyon~~~Part 2

[Trishness]

We really didn't do any hiking on this trip which made me more inclined to post it under "other" activities since we really saw and did alot of other things in and around the area.

This was my second visit to Madera this year and the first one since the devastating fire in the Mt Wrightson/Santa Rita Wilderness in July of 2005. 22,000 acres burned from this beautiful area and evidence of this fire is apparent as you drive into the area. You can see the burned out areas to your east and there are singed trees as far in as Madera Canyon Road. There are few trails that are even open and all the trails to the Mt Wrightson area are closed....Super Trail, Old Baldy Trail, Florida Trail etc. Madera Canyon was luckily spared.

On our way down to Madera we made a stop at Ted DeGrazia "Gallery in the Sun" in Tucson which is a must see (AND FREE!!). There are exceptional displays of all his artwork and he not only did watercolors and oils but also did all kinds of metalwork and sculpture. Truly a talented man. We also stopped at the San Xavier Mission on the Tohono O'odham reservation which is a remarkable church that was founded in 1692 by the Jesuit priest Father Kino. The interior is a fine example of retablo and San Xavier is the northernmost mission in the United States that exhibits this art form from the Spanish. On subsequent days we visited other historic sites in that area...Tubac, the Presidio at Tubac and Tumacacori....all dating back to the late 1600's. The history in this area is very rich and interesting.

While at the cabin we had visits from some wild turkeys that were roosting in Madera Creek behind our cabin and some "vicious" squirrels that stole our charcoal bag (left all the charcoal though). I still want to know how those little critters made away with a 5 pound bag of charcoal. While the wildlife was no where near what I saw in June, we still managed to sight some hummingbirds, western jays, acorn woodpeckers, bridled titmice, white breasted nuthatches and some goldfinches. I'm thinking that between the fire and the seasonal change that many of the birds have already migrated south.

Friday morning I decided to take one last stroll on the trail behind the cabins to see what birds I could find and was treated to a white tailed deer that appeared out of nowhere about 25 feet in front of me on the trail. I stopped dead in my tracks and she just looked at me and then went about her business of eating. I took two steps and stopped...she didn't run. I took two more steps....she didn't move. Then she looked right at me and I got a picture from about 15 feet away. She still didn't run off. I felt truly blessed at this moment.

This trip was more of a "decompress" type of thing for me and I did just that. I posted pictures on Webshots so here's the link

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=459546029


_________________
~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

[sherileeaz]

I accompanied Trish on this trip. My first time to that area. It was beautiful and full of history. We stopped at De Grazia's studio and enjoyed viewing his pastels and other works of art. From there we went to San Xavier Mission which has been fully renovated on the inside. It's breathtaking. I recommend seeing this if you are down in that area. Words just can't do it justice. From there we went to the cabin and I was instantly in love with the place. It's rustic which adds to the charm. We usually did our sight-seeing in the morning and early afternoon and would return to the cabin around 4 pm and enjoy watching the birds, hummingbirds and the "vicious" squirrels. The highlight was the 3 turkeys that came to visit. Yep turkeys! Another must see is Tubac, this is so full of Arizona history. The first newspaper for Arizona was published there plus there is another mission but not as well kept up as San Xavier. We did venture into Tucson, but that wasn't anything special so we headed back to San Xavier one more time and then to the cabin. It was a wonderful vacation and a chance for me to experience another part of Arizona that I haven't been to. I would have liked to hike, but there weren't any trails open but hopefully another time because I will be back!!