Posts Tagged With: Arizona swimming hole

Spring at Redington Pass

Spring 2019

Redington Pass is always such a pleasant little trip. It is only a half of an hour carnuding from Central Tucson to the trailhead. It feels like getting away from everything, leaving the pavement, the urban structures are miles behind.

We park just off of the road. The quality of the space is first come first serve. Usually, I can park right next to the trailhead in my 4×4. There’s a hill with a gulley there that most vehicles don’t dare. This spot gives me a clothing optional access to the trail.

Of course, I go for the more liberal option, but at times, there can be others around. We don’t want to upset the opposition. The now, clothing mandatory area’s trailhead is just a couple of hundred feet down the road. There can be textile sensibilities within view. You just never know with people like that, how that they may react. We all want to be left alone.

Generally, we are free, especially on weekdays. I have learned to take something like a sarong to protect my shoulders, in case we want to stay longer than planned. If my ability to relish my freedom is impeded, it is only a very short 50 feet or so to the first sign and I’ll have that sarong around my waist. There, we are enough out of sight to get completely comfortably nude.

I feel the pleasant sense of liberation, knowing that I don’t have to dress. My nudity is accepted, a norm and not a surprise to anyone. Everyone is pleasant, whether they chose to dress on the trail, or not. There is nearly always a friendly greeting, or a smile. From that sign, we are in liberated territory. Life is as it more ideally could, or should be.

I smell Spring. I’m grasped by the air and sun. A breeze comes by and I swish it in my hand. I am of this Earth.

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Fossil Creek: Exploring the Sites

2019-09-18

We are camped next to the Verde River, about a mile’s walk from the Verde Hot Springs. Today, we have a parking pass for a spot on Fossil Creek, which is up the hill on our way home. We plan to explore the entire Fossil Creek area as best that we can and then take our spot and enjoy the blue green waters. Yesterday’s foray downstream at Matzatzal was beautiful, so we expect more wonderment.

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Fossil Creek: Matzatzal

2019-09-17

We are camping in the designated campground of the Verde Hot Springs. We have a parking pass for Matzatzal, a designated spot along Fossil Creek. We’ll have the serenity of a clear mountain stream. The spot should be all to ourselves and no intrusions expected.

We awaken to the gobble of a turkey in the morning….

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The Verde Hot Springs

2019-09-16

Our destination is the ‘ol hot springs on the Verde River. The plan is to spend three days with a couple of side excursions into Fossil Creek’s sweet riparian area.

I am gambling, but thinking that odds are in my favor. After being extremely sick the week previous, I figure that I’m left with just a little recovery to deal with. The hot springs and subsequent skinny dipping in blue green waters in the mountains near here will be my healing.

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Verde Hot Springs: Back in the Day

We went down to the Verde Hot Springs a couple of months back. I thought that I’d first review a bit of history to warm up to that tale.

In the mid-nineteen seventies, we used to head up to Flagstaff on the weekends to party with Tucsonans at Northern Arizona University. You’d find me in a pearl snap stomper shirt, Levis and custom Stewart Boots.  I might be accessorized in a fun western hat and a buckle belt. I identified as something we referred to as a “cow-pee,” or “cow-pie,” a laughable contraction and pretty much a cross of a cowboy and a hippie. Please, refer to the “Outlaw” crew of Waylon, Willy and the boys. It was, I suppose, a thing in the day, even without associations with horses and cows.

Back in the Day

Skirts would fling high, as we spun with young women in the intricate entanglements dancing to the electrified local country swing music.

We were not being “naturists” per se. We were college aged. Our antics could be a tradition of a group shower with sometimes 6, or more, making a coordinated dance in a tub meant for one soaker. It was better than packing phone booths could ever be. It took a genuine team effort, a trust with a level of intimacy to make it work. Friends were having fun.

View from the Verde Hot Springs

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Grasshopper Point

2019-08-23

When our granddaughter’s camping trip with us was cancelled, our plans evaporated. We had an invitation in Prescott as a backup.

As we leave home in Tortolita, we are given a sendoff by a new neighbor. A young tortoise is passing through on the front patio. It is small, cute, but now big enough to be established. We make an offer for the tortoise to house sit and take off.

As more backup planning, I have made a completely different itinerary based on the current weather patterns. We now plan to be doing day hikes in the Prescott area. With this Friday off, we set out for an old stomping ground of mine, one that I hadn’t visited in decades, Grasshopper Point, up by red rock Sedona.

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More About Redington Pass

2009-ish

Redington Pass missed out on its monsoon rains this year. It has been a sad and befuddling experience to arrive and to find naked people sitting in the shade and waiting for water in the rocks.

There are times of drought, in Tucson. There are mini-climates in this area. An entire region is sometimes flooded and next door there is drought. The Rincon Mountains didn’t produce the cascades to flood the canyon. There was some rain, but it only produced ponds and no flow. Where a black wall of water used to roll in everyday like clockwork, extremes have taken over.

I’ve been looking at some old pictures of Redington. They are of DF and me back in 2009 and 2013. I also found a couple of incomplete stories. Since Redington has only been given a lush spring, another story to come, I’m going to piece together some memories.

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In Observance of Desert Flowers

2014-09-20

The monsoon has been different, coming out of a drought, odd weather patterns and lastly some late spinoff from a couple of Mexican hurricanes. The desert is now back to green, especially the last couple of weeks, so we have decided to see what these rains have created for us up in my Tortolita hills.

We take off in the truck Saturday morning through the neighborhood, sitting on our clothing, a sundress for DF and a bath wrap for me.

We drive as far as we now can and park in front of a new gate.

We begin our walk, me with wrap in hand and DF with the dress hanging on her waist, just in case. It is a relatively short trip to the wash that we have decided to explore, just a couple of football fields uphill. We will be less likely to see others up the wash except a possibility of local neighbors.

It is looking very beautiful.

This is a story to pay homage to the desert flowers of the monsoon season. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but DF is a trail name. It stands for Desert Flower. She deserves some homage, too.

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Hutch’s Pool: Part II

2019-05-18

 

Day II:

It is very pleasant to open sleepy eyes to overhead gnarly oak trees above my head. The overcast that has been clinging to these high mountains has melted away. I remember the full moonlight from the night before. A grey moonlight, that I thought might keep me awake, didn’t stand a chance after such an active day on the trail and climbing around through and over the plethora of rock formations. DF lies beside me. I turn my head as she turns hers. Her eyes are peaceful.

The waterfall sound of the creek rushing through the boulders, washing away its channel through the Earth continues on. A few birds call out. A turtle dove, or “tortolita” coos. Nothing wrong here. We stretch.

I’d forgotten the foam mattresses, which keep the air mattresses from sliding, but we agree that we slept well, even though not tight spoons as usual. We’re ready for a wonderful day, a celebration of life, a birthday. The sun is nearly exactly where it was the day that I was born. This old tree is shading us today.

We are thinking about heading back today. We have put off the decision and brought extra food, just in case. We are feeling the effects of our first backpack foray of the year, a groan here and there. The day and circumstance are beautiful. We would have to leave early to make the 4:30 shuttle, or walk another four miles on pavement. We have appointments the following day and would have to get up and away early….

I ask myself, how would I like to spend my birthday? Pushing a timetable, or making the most of now and putting strife aside?

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Hutch’s Pool: Day I

2019-05-17

We arrived for the first the shuttle at Sabino Canyon Visitor Center. We had had to wait out the weather.

There had been a nearly full moon the night before to walk up to the last shuttle stop. It can be a beautiful hike, but for the asphalt for miles and breaking rules about pitching a tent. We decided that for the five bucks to ride the shuttle, we would ride past the tourists, enjoy the views and be fresh. The tourists will be gone sooner, and we will be on the trail and free.

We are heading up to Hutch’s Pool for a night or two. I have a Birthday to celebrate in proper attire. I want to be with my favorite friend and enjoying my favorite activities. The pool is a favorite, about four miles hike for us. There are clouds over the Catalina Mountain range this morning, but the forecast is sunny. The grey covering is beginning to dissolve as the sun breaks through.

We place our packs on the back seat of the shuttle and listened to the descriptive recording along the way, as we watch the beautiful canyon pass by. The driver is friendly and helpful. I think back years to the last time that I had ridden the old shuttle and the driver’s voice had been our guide. Each one had had a different personality and enthusiasm. This recording sounded like one of those typical Disney movie narrators.

I was surprised as this recording mentioned plans for a dam a few decades ago. It would have killed all that fans out below Sabino Canyon and bury the rest of this wonder under water! Fortunately the funds dried up, so the water didn’t and the catastrophe was averted.

I watch the familiar places pass and remember my first trips up into this canyon. We used to be able to drive up and park on the side of the road before the shuttle. Hidden behind the giant boulders, we would drink cheap wine, smoke and skinny-dip. These days, 1.3 million visitors each year populate our old playground.

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