Sometimes a 'hike' is just exercise

Not exactly stunning scenery

During my time in Tucson I have taken some outstanding hikes. Some have been challenging from a strenuous aspect, but yielded unbelievable views. Others have been less challenging, but provided a glimpse at the desert that inspired and amazed.

Today’s hike in nearby Julian Wash was simply exercise. It was neither challenging from a strenuous point of view or from a vista point of view. It was long – six miles – so I did get some good exercise, but it’s not a hike I would likely recommend for someone looking for a challenge or views.

We did see some flowering plants along today’s flat trail and if you scroll down to the next post you can see a few of those.


Our group getting ready to head out

As the days progress you can see the resort starting a slow wind down to its inevitable summer hibernation. As we have been told there are nearly 10,000 people here in the winter, but only about 600 permanent residents in the summer.

Every morning we see more and more RVs leaving the park and the spaces between the RVs get wider and wider.

So I’m not sure how many more organized hikes there will be, but I plan on making a couple hikes alone, or with some of the folks here that I missed due to our trip to California.

We didn't see any such creatures

Another interesting phenomenon is that we are starting to see more and more young people – undoubtedly children and grandchildren of the people here – starting to arrive as spring breaks occur throughout the country.

Until this week we had seen few if any children in the park, but today at the pool there were at least a dozen pre-teens using the outdoor pool.

Tonight we attended the Hiker/Biker Pot Luck supper (Joan made a delicious peach cobbler from a recipe supplied by our niece Jessica). There were about 50 to 60 people at the supper and the volunteers who organized the hike/bike expeditions were recognized and appreciated for all the work they do.

The view from the trail

The food wasn’t bad either.

Yesterday, Thursday, March 21, was a day for some chores. Joan completed the laundry and then we went shopping to replenish the refrigerator. Last night for dinner we cleaned out the tuna surprise, chicken Casear Salad and Pasta Fogiole soup.