David Yetman trail, Tucson, (hike on November 12)

Let me share some of this venture here, where you can click on each picture and view full screen.

Trail runs here along the wash

Saguaro, actually a recovery....has to be over 100 years old at least.  Somehow lost the origial trunk and grew arms around it. The tenacity of the desert!

Trail winds up the wash here quite a ways.

First View of the Yetman Stone House, more follow....

This is from the West side

Inside looking north. Sure would have been a fabulous house!

View that heads out the West door

More of the wall facing West

Fireplace facing south

OH, who is that in the window!!

View of the house on the East side, outside

Close up of the rock wall, very colorful.  From outside the South wall.

A bit about this house, I found on the Net...

The Old Stone House is located just off of the David Yetman Trail in the Tucson Mountains. Sherry Bowen, a typesetter and later city editor for the Arizona Daily Star, built it of native stone in the early 1930s. The Bowens had lived in Rockford, Illinois but moved to Tucson in the late twenties with the hope that the change in climate would help Ruby Bowen’s serious heart condition. The Bowens first lived in Tucson but soon decided to homestead in the Tucson Mountains. They moved to the homestead in 1931 and lived in a cabin while the house was being built. The Bowens eventually expanded their claim to 2000 acres.

Ruby Bowen kept a diary of her first year in the Tucson Mountains. The diary makes several references to the wildlife that existed in the area including javelina, deer, wild horses and sheep that would come down from the cliffs every evening to graze in the valley. She even mentions a mountain lion that would come near the house when she was cooking meat and that one time attempted to get in a window.


The Bowens left Tucson in 1944 and moved to New York City where Sherry Bowen worked for the Associated Press. The valley and their homestead became part of Tucson Mountain Park in 1983.
This Summary was prepared from the Tucson Hiking Guide written by Betty Leavengood.

65th. Birthday Adventure. November 7, 2009 , Mt. Wrightson

Heading up the trail to the peak of Mt. Wrightson from Baldy Saddle.

Trail leading to Baldy peak from Baldy saddle.

This was interesting, in that this tree, healthy growing, was in a ROCK!

Heading up one of 21 switchbacks from Baldy Saddle.

Marker at the TOP, tells about the lookout that was here once. Explains alot of pipes you see on the way up this mountain. Can't imagine having to LIVE there.  The remants of the post are still there.

The trail as it arrives to the top, which is VERY SMALL in area.  The peak ones sees from a distance, actually IS a PEAK!  Very limited in size, but what a view!

Ok, now you can see me with my special flag in celebration of my hike on this day!

And one with the view!

What can I say.  This view is AWESOME!

East view

North view towards the Rincons I believe.

The Catalinas, another favorite hiking spot!

View of Baldy Saddle crossroads.  The first trip I made stopped THERE.

Wow, looking down, I had nothing to hang onto either.  The foreground grass is the edge of the peak!

Have to head down ....this trail really hugs the mountain!

Baldy saddle destination. Can't see the trail but it zig zags up to the "V" here.

Pleasantly on the way down!!!!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Madera Canyon, Hike on Oct. 24, 2009 (Part 3 and done)

On going here....still up, on yet another switch back...a pretty one too...

Very pleasant along here for sure. The view is sparse of forest , secondary to the fire of 2005. Saw alot of burned trees interspersed .  Considering it was only 4 years ago.  Amazing to not see alot worse.

View of a "finger rock"  Yes I DID get up to that, and go PAST it and looked down at it.  GOLLEE!

Beauty along the way

Hey this is looking DOWN to the trail I came up on....2 in the distance.

Can you see them?

At Baldy Saddle...WOW...what a view from here....like sitting on TOP of the world for sure! The far mountain, I believe is Mt. Graham.  I lived at the base of that Mt. 8 months.  Hiked a bit back then, but NOTHING like I am doing now.  ONE DAY...I do want to hike there....

Not sure the mountains seen here in the distance. What a view!

The fire affecte this side of the mountain alot more obviously.

This trail continues to the peak of Mt. Wrightson in the distance.  .9 miles from here.  I WILL do that in the future....the view from there is even more

phenominal than at the saddle.

There while I was resting with a snack, this nice oriental fella arrived.  He had been there before, with snow here.  NO THANKS!

I left here at 1:30 pm.  It took me 5 hours up there...wasn't sure about the trip down!

Last view for now.

This pine reminds me of the Bristol pines , in that you can see how it formed in the wind....and it WAS windy up there too.  VERY windy, and COLD!!!!

Here we go down.....

Hey couldn't resist!

Looking up from the trail as I am going down.  WOW.

This very green tree, was a surpise in light of all the color up there.

again, looking up the hill...

Resting at Josephine Saddle...looking back up where I came from.

Getting there ?! BOY...couldn't believe only 3 hours to hike down.  That was something else.

The peak I will scale the next adventure!!! 9,4530 feet

Highest point in the area around Tucson, Arizona

Driving away, with the afternoon soon creating alot of beauty!

Back towards Tucson....Catalinas in the distance...
Amazing thing is my work here goes automatically into a SAVED site, thank goodness....because while I was posting here it crashed!

Well that is it for this time!