March wanderings

This month (yes, I'm actually blogging about events in the same month that they happened for once!) started out with a big week.  Southwest Spring Week (SWSW), 8 days of orienteering in the desert.  Super fun!  Almost non-stop, daily navigating (and usually picking up controls afterward), several social events, and driving to different, varied and interesting locations.

I offered to help hang controls for the first day/night events, something fairly new to me.  I got to see more of Catalina State Park and perhaps got less scratched up from catclaw than if I had run the courses instead.  It was also neat to watch the Night-O from on top of the hill - so many lights going all different directions.

The Night-O map:

John had a couple good runs on Saturday and then we both did the Javelina Hustle long course on Sunday.  Not only did we climb fairly high up on the ridge, we also got to see fields of yellow poppies in full bloom.  I'm not sure who to credit for this photo except it was someone from the Tucson Orienteering Club:

Sadly, John had to go back to work on Monday.  At least he had been helping to vet (pre-check) the Monday course at Ironwood and the Thursday one at Chimney Rock, so he didn't miss everything.

The Ironwood course had my favorite format - the Cholla Chaser.  It's a mass start, beginning with up to 11 (or 12, if you feel like doing extra) controls in a "box".  Depending on your gender and age, you had to get a certain number of those controls.  I had to find any 5 of them.  If I had done that without making a large error (d'oh!) I might have been near the front of the pack.  As it was, I came out of the box for the 2nd half of the course with a group of runners right about at my speed.  It's always a balance between doing your own nav and following other people.  If I had balanced it better (i.e. not getting pulled toward the wrong area when I had the better idea initially), I might have even placed ~4th overall.  Maybe another year - there is always hope  :)

The Cholla Chaser map and handicap chart:

Tuesday was a 3-hour Score-O up in the hills with more grass and less desert.  Back to running on my own and enjoying the much-more-calm experience.  It was just large enough of a course to be a good challenge while being still (barely) clearable by yours truly.  Plenty of ups and downs and interesting terrain.

Afterward I picked up a few controls.  Can you spot the one in this picture?

Spoiler alert...

...it's in here:

The rest of the week involved some sprints on the university campus, some interesting rock formations up in the Catalina hills, one bruised ankle from jumping off a rock and accidentally coming down on a small tree stub, and 3 entertaining events east of Phoenix (with John back in the game) where I was very careful with my ankle and managed to walk a portion of each course.  Happily, the ankle recovered quickly.

Thank you to the Tucson and Phoenix clubs for so many entertaining and enjoyable map-filled days outside!

It's flower season in southern Arizona.  Lots of little flowers, various colors, coming and going over the weeks as rain (and snow up high) passes through the area and then the sun comes back out.  A couple examples from Finger Rock trail:

It's not Texas Bluebonnets but I love the resiliency:

Looking down the trail toward town on a lovely morning:

So delicate and pretty:

On a "mural run" through downtown - the parking lot murals have been redone and now we get to see Tina Turner and the Thunderdome:

And... whatever this is:

One of my favorite murals in Tucson:

John had recently pointed out this large tire sculpture so I went over to get a closer look.  And I was surprised to get squirted with water as I walked through!  The plaque explains that it is called the "Wet Wheel" and that "You were warned!" except my mistake (or not) was coming through it from the other side.  Good for a laugh!

Rivian spotted in downtown:

We have driven past Picacho State Park many times while driving to/from Phoenix, and we finally took a weekend to camp there and explore the trails.  Picacho Peak is a big rocky feature with desert all around:

More flowers to admire:

There's a trail up to the top, or should I say a "trail" - cables are a big part of the experience.  That didn't seem to faze most people.  So I grabbed onto the cables and hauled my way up.  Looking back at some of the landscape:

John is on his way down in the above picture.  I zoomed in with the next shot but he's still hard to see (in gray on the upper left, waiting his turn to descend a rocky slot):

Views from the top are most excellent.  Glad I did it.  Once.

Funnily, I didn't realize I was wearing the extra cap when I took the picture.  John had found it and given it to me to transport (I was wearing a small pack and he wasn't, but I hadn't stashed it yet).  I plum forgot I had it on.  Bonus - our truck is in a parking lot somewhere down there:

One of the easier cable spots:

Looking down the slot.  Going up, I had been wondering how hard it would be to descend, and it turned out to be easier than expected.  Which is always nice.  I was glad I had experience with rappelling, as it was similar to that.

Going down the alternate trail around the back side of the peak -- more cables.  I had no idea just how long this part lasted.  Here is about half of that section:

Phew, I did it, glad that's over!  The rest of the running in the park was much more my speed and very enjoyable.  A look at Picacho Peak from the other side:

We did a guided hike, part of the bird watching walk, and a wonderful morning yoga class.  The camping was great too.  Highly recommend.

Well that's all of the pictures and blogging for the moment!  Stay tuned for whatever other adventures we might get ourselves into.