Hidden Waterfall - Catalina State Park

February 14, 2020

We continue to discover sensory delights on little-known trails of Catalina State Park.

On this hike, we investigated reports of a hidden waterfall. Along the way we found some more bedrock mortars.

Recent rains made for a thrilling spray of water tumbling down the western slope of the Catalinas.

The west coast gets more rain than the Tucson valley. The season's first wildflowers show up here, including owl clover, Mexican lupine and Mexican poppies.

Poppies popping.

Oh that late afternoon winter light!

Hopping across the braided washes that feed into Sutherland Wash.

Catalina State Park - Secret Pool

February 5, 2020

Thrills, spills and chills on a little-used trail in Catalina State Park. Fell in the water (2x). Finally found the secret pool. Just a fine day, all the way around.

"Sonoran Iceberg" (glob of frozen foam)

Barb and me.

Catalina State Park - Exploratory

November 2018

It started with a Mirasol camping trip to Catalina State Park. While researching enough trails to keep the teens busy for three days, we discovered that there's much more to Catalina State Park than we ever imagined.

A lightly used trail ended in an impressive dry waterfall, but we managed.

We've had an extraordinarily rainy fall, so a bit farther on we came across this delightful tank. Last skinny dip of the year!

Continuing our explorations a few days later, we found a group of metates just off the trail.

And farther upcanyon, these dazzling clear jade pools!