Visiting Friends and Hiking Ventana Canyon – Tucson

Tucson, AZ

The weather was very good at the beginning of this past week so we took advantage of it to get out and about.  One day we road our bikes north into the city for a ride through the University of Arizona.  We had to check on the crested saguaro located outside the Old Main building.

Still doing well

We then headed through the downtown to have lunch with Dave and Sue at Thunder Canyon Brewery.

A couple of days later we went to Steve and MonaLiza’s site for a happy hour, complete with MonaLiza’s famous lumpia, a traditional Filipino version of an egg roll.  Dave and Sue also attended and we met Laura and Kevin there.  They both left careers in the legal field in the D. C. area to travel around the country in their motorhome.

Front: Laura, John, and Kevin  Rear: Steve, MonaLiza, Dave, Sue, and Pam

With rain in the forecast for later in the week we knew we needed to get out and hike while the sky was clear.  Gay and Joe (good-times-rollin) had written in their blog about a hike they did in Ventana Canyon during a previous visit to Tucson.  The hike sounded interesting to us so we decided to try it.

Ventana Canyon Trailhead

The trailhead is in a parking area for the Loew’s Ventana Canyon Resort, located off of North Kolb Road.  Signs direct you through an employee parking lot to an area designated for hikers.  The trail begins by winding up behind some apartments before turning north into the canyon.

The trail crosses back and forth across the Ventana Canyon Wash a number of times as it moves up the canyon.

Bone dry this year

About a mile up the trail you go through a cattle guard and enter the wilderness area of the Coronado National Forest.

After another half mile the trail becomes more difficult as it goes steeply uphill through a series of switchbacks.

Looking back down the canyon at the nimble hiker

We hiked up about 2.5 miles to a spot known as the Maiden Pools, which we knew would be dry due to the lack of rainfall in the Tucson area.  But we found a great perch on some large boulders where we could have lunch while enjoying the great view to the south.

Lunch with a view

While hiking back down the trail we could look back and see our lunch spot high above us.

Our lunch spot high in the distance

One of the many beautiful views in the canyon

The sharp eyes of the nimble hiker spotted a number of crested saguaros along the trail.

Crested saguaro arm

Last year friends Jenna and Michael (Restoration Cowboy Style) purchased a piece of property with two “fixer upper” houses in Pearce, AZ, about 75 miles southeast of Tucson, and are in the process of renovating them.  They have completed work on the smaller house on the property (to be used as a guest house later) and invited us down for a visit.  While southern Arizona has not seen any rain for a significant period of time, the day of our visit was one of a steady rainfall.

Scenic Interstate 10

Jodie and Bill (On the Road Abode) are staying in Tombstone, just to the west of Pearce, and also came over to join us.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the beautifully restored “guest house.”  Michael and Jenna sure do nice work!

Michael (holding Emmi), Jenna, Bill, Jodie, and Pam

Every few days we are treated to a visit from a nearby motorhome resident.  Dave and Sue’s buddy Lewis loves to come over to enjoy a few treats and chase a ball around in our motorhome.  He especially loves to make a pile with our throw rugs and lose the ball in the pile.  His motto is “play hard or go home!”

Things finally dried out on Saturday, allowing us to enjoy a happy hour at Dave and Sue’s site along with Steve and MonaLiza (Lowe’s RV Adventures), and Joe and Gay ( (good-times-rollin).

Oh, we almost forgot to mention another attendee at happy hour!

After three days of rain and cool temperatures, we’re hoping for better weather in the upcoming week.  But things don’t look too good for the next couple of days so activities may be curtailed a bit.  More on that later . . .