Ranches and Riparian Conservation Area

I walked 5.3 miles around my neighborhood today, so I am getting back on track.

On the virtual route from San Diego to Washington D.C., this brings me close to Roger's Heaven Sent Ranch, The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Banderilla Ranch, and Kelsey Canyon.

Roger's Heaven Sent ranch is a ranch for award-winning quarter horses, miniature horses, Angus beef, and organic alfalfa.

(The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area), where some 40 miles of the upper San Pedro River meanders, was designated by Congress as a Riparian National Conservation Area on November 18, 1988. The primary purpose for the special designation is to protect and enhance the desert riparian ecosystem, a rare remnant of what was once an extensive network of similar riparian systems throughout the American Southwest. One of the most important riparian areas in the United States, the San Pedro River runs through the Chihuahuan Desert and the Sonoran Desert in southeastern Arizona. The river’s stretch is home to more than 80 species of mammals, two native species and several introduced species of fish, more than 40 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 100 species of breeding birds. It also provides invaluable habitat for 250 species of migrant and wintering birds and contains archaeological sites representing the remains of human occupation from 13,000 years ago.

Kelsey Canyon looks like this.

 

Cascabel, AZ

I walked 6.98 miles in the last 2 days.  I'm behind my average, I realize.  I need to get my motor going so I can catch up.

On the virtual route from San Diego to Washington D.C., that brings us past the 500 mile point to a ghost town named, "Cascabel."

Cascabel is a ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona, United States.
It is located at 32.291N / 110.378W, on the banks of the San Pedro River, east of Tucson and about 37 km north-northwest of Benson.

The name Cascabel derives from Spanish for "rattle", because an early settler killed a large rattlesnake here.^[2] Cascabel was a small farming community. The post office was started by Alex Herron, a small ranch and store owner, in 1916. When deciding what to name the Cascabel post office, Herron, while on the way to Benson, met a Mexican man with a dead rattlesnake. Herron asked what the name of the snake was and the man replied "Cascabel." This was the name Herron decided to name the post office.^[3] The post office was in operation until 1936. Wikipedia

The route is also near Hot Springs Canyon, where there is rugged hiking.

Out of Saguaro

I only walked 15.98 miles in the last 7 days.  I had to take a break for the first 5 days due to blisters on my feet.  So, I took a break with my sleeping tiger friend with a leisurely stroll through the San Diego Zoo. 

And sometimes you have to rest, just like the Okapi does, standing up.

But, eventually, I got back to walking again.  I've walked over 10 miles in the last 2 days, one walk from University Heights to downtown San Diego to the pier where they had a sand carving contest. 





And another walk around Old Town today. 

All in all, I'm getting to see a lot of my home town of San Diego from a walker's perspective.

So, on the virtual trip from San Diego to Washington D.C., that brings me to a point East of Tucson in the high desert.

Someone asked me how far I have walked in the last 107 days.  Well, that would be 498.36 miles, which sounds like a lot, but considering that the whole journey is 3,073 miles, I'm 16% of the way to my ultimate goal.  Since I've had to take some rest days, my daily walking average has slipped below 5 miles, but I hope to get that average up again with more 7-mile days now and then.  I'm stronger than I used to be, so I'm hopeful.

Saguaro National Park East

In the last 2 days I've walked 11.49 miles on San Diego's sidewalks and around Lake Miramar in San Diego.  Lake Miramar has many picnic and grilling facilities and a 5 mile loop trail that is suitable for running, walking, biking, or roller blading.

On the virtual trail from San Diego to Washington D.C., that brings us into the heart of the Saguaro National Park East, which is East of Tucson, AZ.  Saguaro is the home of the largest cactus in the world, iconic of the West.  Here's a link to view the park webcam.  Sometimes you can see wildlife, like the javalina, a wild pig, on the the web cam.

Ta-ta, Tucson

I walked 11.22 miles in the last 3 days.  When I started this journey, one of my goals was to lose weight.  But, I haven't.  So, today I started a new more stringent approach; I am cutting out all grains, sugars, and dairy from my diet.  I take vitamin and mineral supplements, so, I'm not worried about missing out on any key nutrients.  But, I had to do something to change the course of my weight. 

My heart is doing well, though.  My resting heart rate is down to 58 beats a minute, and I don't breathe as hard when I walk quickly, and my heart rate while walking fast no longer hits my peak rate on my fitbit.  So, that's something.

On the mapped route to Washington D.C., we are now entering Saguaro National Park.  The park is in 2 sections on either side of the city of Tucson. The park is named for the large saguaro cactus, native to its desert environment. In the western Tucson Mountain District, Signal Hill Trail leads to petroglyphs of the ancient Hohokam people. In the eastern Rincon Mountain District, Cactus Forest Drive is a loop road with striking views of the desert landscape.

Well, I'm not really well liked by the trans community in Tucson, so I'll just leave them behind without further comment, as I virtually walk out of the city.  Ta-ta, Tucson. 

The Heart of Tucson

In the last 3 days I've walked 12.28 miles.  On the mapped route to Washington D.C. from San Diego, that put's us in the heart of Tucson.  Here's a brief history of Tucson.  Here are the top 10 things to do in Tucson.  Here's a guide for travelers to Tucson.

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There are resources available to transgender people in Tucson.  For example, there is the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, the University of Arizona's LGBTQ Affairs website, and therapists who specialize in assisting transgender people.

Tucson prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in public and private employment.  However, there's still plenty of controversy in the schools over the transgender issue.

Tucson, AZ and Mammoth to Yosemite

I took some needed vacation time this last week since Sunday, 8/14.  But, since I last blogged on Thursday, 8/11, I still walked 27.26 miles.  On the mapped route to Washington D.C., that brings us into another major city, Tucson, Arizona.

While I was on vacation, I did some hiking on real trails, up and down in the Sierra Nevada.  First, we drove to Mammoth Mountain, which is a gateway to many back-country Sierra trails.

We took the shuttle bus down to the trail head for Devil's Postpile, an unusual igneous rock formation created when lava cooled quickly, cracking in hexagonal columns.

 After that, we walked on the Pacific Crest Trail.

 We eventually made it to Minaret Falls.

When we left the falls area, we encountered a California Conservation Corps crew that was repairing wooden bridges used for crossing Minaret Creek, which roars in the Spring, but is a pussy cat in August.

Finally, we drove through Yosemite.  We didn't linger in Yosemite Valley, because of the crowds.  Instead, we drove South on the road out of the Valley and toward Glacier Point, where we parked and hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome.  Yes, that's the same dome that I climbed a year ago that is the cover shot for this blog.