Hello again, fellow hikers and desert lovers. Herein, the second edition of Tucson Mountains Trail Hound, the new column dedicated to detailing some of the lesser know trails in the Tucson Mountains, west of the city.

Well, it’s still hot, but hike we must. So, today we feature one of my very favorite mid-level trails, one with immediate proximity to downtown, and yet seldom used. I’ve virtually never see anybody of this trail in the 7-8 times I’ve been on it, so if you’re looking to hike in peace, this is a good one for you. Good walking or hiking shoes would be useful on this trail, as it’s rocky at times.

Featured Trail: unnamed Cat Mountain trail

Approximate drive from downtown to trailhead: 15 mins.
Approximate length of trail: 3 1/2 mile roundtrip
Time: 2 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on how many stops you make
Difficulty: moderate (but it is up and down)
Highlights: dense desert foliage and saguaros, shifting desert landscapes and views, up close and personal proximity to the desert, relatively quiet hike

Please note: all distances are approximates, based on guestimates, with help from a map or trail guide whenever possible. If something is off 1/4 mile or so, you heard it here first.

To get to this trail, travel west on Ajo Way until just past the #168 marker. Pull off to the right by a mail box, addressed 3840 Calle Paso Robles, and go straight ahead (north) a few yards to a tiny parking area that’s really only big enough for two vehicles. There’s a large metal gate and a ‘No Shooting’ sign; there’s also a break in the fence on the right, which is your trailhead. There are no other markers of any kind.

As far as I can tell, this is an unnamed trail, and one that runs the length of Cat Mountain, the biggest landmark at the southern end of the Tucson Mountains. It’s possible that it might include a little bit of the Explorer Trail that runs east/west, and is also in the same area, although further east, for the most part. This trail will lead you to a natural end point at the intersection of the Starr Pass Trail; at that point you can either turn around and make the trek in reverse, or take off either direction on the Starr Pass Trail.

Passing through the fence will put you on a wide path heading north. Ignore the barking dogs by the gate on the left and proceed next to a fence and down and across a wash, which is where the trail really starts to get interesting. You’ll immediately find yourself in a very dense and picturesque section of trail with incredibly tightly packed foliage, saguaros and some great, low lying rock formations. The trail will veer to the left (west) and stay that way (more or less) for the length of the hike. At first, you’ll see houses off to the left, but they will quickly be left behind. Another trail (Explorer?) intersects at some point early on, but stay to the left and you’ll be fine.

This first piece of trail - no more than a couple of hundred yards in length after the wash - is one of my favorite spots in all of the Tucson Mountains. Between the rocks, the saguaros and the usual Sonoran mix (palo verde, ocotillo, creosote, mesquite, prickly pear, cholla, manzanita, etc.) of foliage large and small, this is a unique piece of trail, one where you can experience the desert unusually first hand, while still staying on a trail; the Sonoran Desert up close and personal, with everything Right Here, not just Over There.

Crossing another wash will bring you to a very well defined trail intersection; keep going straight (left), up the little canyon ahead. The right fork is also pretty, but soon leads to some houses and a little neighborhood, and pretty much dead-ends there. From there it’s a 20 minute walk up hill, with Cat Mountain on your left and more beautiful, Saguaro heavy ridge-lines on your right. Eventually you crest the hill and see the beginnings of the Starr Pass bowl area on your right; a 2 minute walk will bring you to a large set of sitting rocks on your left, and one of the prettiest views in the Tucson Mountains before you. Starr Pass Resort can be partially seen in the distance, as well as the back side of Tumamoc Hill and A Mountain to the east. This is a great spot to rest and take some photos.

From there a half hour walk - largely downhill - follows the rest of Cat Mountain over to where a cleft in the rocks leads to the Starr Pass Trail (not marked). You’ll pass a huge shade rock a little bit down this trail that’s a great place to beat the heat. The rocks at the end (at Starr Pass Trail) are spectacular, and totally unlike anything previously seen on the trail; they’re more smooth and stacked, and almost look like huge droppings of melted candle wax. I strongly suggest you go left (in a southerly direction) for at least a few minutes down this narrow passage way to check out the rocks in all their jumbled glory. There’s also an unusually appealing section of teddy bear cholla and beautiful, saguaro ringed ridges on both sides.



From there: reverse course, and you’ll be back at the car in a little over and hour. On the last leg, after you’ve passed the main intersection, be sure and stay to the left (and cross the wash), and not drift off where the trail goes straight ahead. That will eventually lead to some houses (and their dogs), I believe.

REMEMBER: take a knife! This is for prying those ubiquitous cholla droppings off of your shoes, boots, ankles, pants, and the occasional arm brushing up against the notorious jumping cholla. You don’t want to grapple with a cholla or chain fruit hanging off you with your bare hands; take a knife. And of course keep an eye on every single bit of brush and rock along side of the trail for curled up rattlesnakes.

More, soon. 

Local "Desert Soul" trio Copper & Congress performs tonight, Oct. 22, appropriately enough, at Club Congress before getting in the van for a two-week West Coast tour in support of the band's excellent new record, "Fault Line."



Doors open at 8, with support from Tucson's own Carlos Arzate & The Kind Souls and Durango, Co.'s Hello Dollface. Find out more about the show from its Facebook Event Page and educate yourself with Tucson Weekly music writer Eric Swedlund's profile of C&C and their music factory from September.



  

As always, you have to think of the children, and since several in Colorado have apparently gotten sick by eating marijuana edibles, regulators in the state are considering several routes to increasing safety, including severely restricting the type of edibles available, possibly to just hard lozenges and tinctures.

"If the horse wasn't already out of the barn, I think that would be a nice proposal for us to put on the table," said Karin McGowan, the department's deputy executive director.

Talking to reporters after the workgroup reviewed the department's proposal, McGowan insisted the edibles ban was just one of several proposals under review by pot regulators.

Lawmakers have ordered state pot regulators to require pot-infused food and drink to have a distinct look when they are out of the packaging. The order came after concerns about the proliferation of pot-infused treats that many worry could be accidentally eaten by children.

It does seem likely that some sort of increased distinction between a cannabis-infused edible item and its mainstream counterpart might be necessary, especially for items that come in a multiple-use option, but a ban seems somewhat impossible, considering a) edibles are quite popular and b) people can still make their own edibles, even if they can't buy them in stores. Still, Colorado (and Washington) are interesting test cases for the seemingly inevitable day when a fuller form of legalization hits Arizona and THC gummy bears (and the like) are available to a non-card holding general public.

Still on the fence about who you want to support in the Tucson Unified School District governing board race? Tonight there's likely a final candidates forum, Monday, Oct. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the YWCA, 525 N. Bonita Ave., co-sponsored by Voices for Education, Menlo Park Neighborhood Association, Brichta Neighborhood Association and Legislative District 3 Democrats.

If you've been paying attention to the back and forth politics involved in the race that David Safier has steadfastly blogged these past few months, like the latest on financial transparency and Michael Hicks' bankruptcy, then perhaps there's a chance this forum could actually be interesting.

Frankly, with so many candidates, most of the time is spent listening to candidates who have to consider either not running again next election season or making a pledge to go to more school board meetings to actually learn something about the district they want to represent. This way they will actually answer questions with more than just "smaller classrooms," and "diversity for everyone."

Besides that, Miguel Cuevas, a former governing board member who wants to return, sent out the following press release calling for TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez's resignation and saying he'll call for it if elected.

IF elected:

Former TUSD Board Member Miguel Cuevas calls for TUSD Superintendent Resignation

After lengthy discussions with current and former TUSD employees and community members, Former TUSD Board Chairperson Miguel Cuevas is calling for action regarding TUSD leadership.

"If I return to the TUSD Board, I will call for Superintendent HT Sanchez' resignation. The majority of the current TUSD Board is not holding Superintendent Sanchez accountable for multiple instances of abuse of power." states Cuevas. "Superintendent Sanchez knowingly recommended hiring the current TUSD Board Chairperson’s mother-in-law without disclosing the relationship prior to the Board vote, he recommended hiring a consultant that he used as a reference in his personal resume and with whom he had multiple discussions prior to the bid being awarded. Dr. Sanchez continues to mismanage TUSD’s budget by overspending despite numerous warnings of the potential grave
consequences by TUSD financial officers. Additionally, there are multiple accusations of mistreatment of TUSD employees by the superintendent."

While Miguel is concerned about the high turnover of TUSD Superintendents, he is more concerned about the stability of the district if Dr. Sanchez continues to lead it. He will recommend policies and procedures to fully investigate the backgrounds of potential Superintendent candidates through additional employee involvement, visitation of the candidates’ current employers and the implementation of a citizens advisory committee. These procedures are not part of the current Superintendent search process.

Deschutes brought their keg-shaped bar to town for the Baja Oktoberfest Saturday, but gosh, why not stick around Tucson for awhile? I'm almost certain that this was more of a planned extended PR event than the lark I'm personally imagining, but hey, delicious beer, right?

Apparently, the bar-on-wheels will be around town Tuesday through Friday from noon to 3 p.m. giving away free stuff and seemingly offering opportunities to do some drinking (follow @DBWoody on Twitter for updates), in addition to events happening at night.

Below the cut, the list of events, including a cheese pairing event at Tap & Bottle, a beer-themed burlesque show at Congress and a bunch of other fun stuff.

We haven't shared much about Nandi, our very own baby elephant, lately, possibly because we're still a little salty that readers of the Star got to pick the name (blergh), but hey, here's one minute and seventeen seconds of tiny pachyderm joy courtesy of the San Diego Zoo.

Zona Politics Eps.1 from Brink on Vimeo.

In case you missed Jim Nintzel's return to TV on KGUN Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. (set your DVR now for next week!), you can still catch the first edition of Zona Politics, our Journalist of the Year's new weekly show, online. This week Pima County Democratic Party chairman Don Jorgensen and former state lawmaker Jonathan Paton discuss the neck-and-neck races in CD1 and CD2, the battle to replace Jan Brewer and more.

Happy 43rd birthday to Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr., a.k.a. Snoop Dogg. While the guy has cranked out 127 singles in his 22-year-long career, my personal favorite is still this 2007 tribute to Autotune and horniness.

We thank all the HiRISE/MRO/JPL engineers, uplink folks and everyone else who helped keep us safe. pic.twitter.com/rU9e1PuXZr
— HiRISE (@HiRISE) October 19, 2014

It appears that that the UA's HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter survived this weekend's brush with comet Siding Spring and will be sending back some photos soon.

Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog has a roundup of other images of Sliding Spring's approach.

NASA reports:

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has sent home more data about Mars than all other missions combined, is also now providing data about a comet that buzzed The Red Planet today (Oct. 19).

The orbiter continues operating in good health after sheltering behind Mars during the half hour when high-velocity dust particles from comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring had the most chance of reaching the paths of Mars orbiters. It maintained radio communications with Earth throughout the comet's closest approach, at 11:27 a.m. PDT (2:27 p.m. EDT), and the peak dust-risk period centered about 100 minutes later.

"The spacecraft performed flawlessly throughout the comet flyby," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Manager Dan Johnston of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "It maneuvered for the planned observations of the comet and emerged unscathed."

Following the critical period of dust flux, the orbiter is communicating at 1.5 megabits per second with NASA's Deep Space Network. It remained on Side A of its two redundant computers, and all subsystems are working as expected.

Downlink of data has begun from today's comet observations by three instruments on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The full downlink may take days. These instruments — the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), the Compact Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), and the Context Camera (CTX) — also observed the comet for days before the flyby and will continue to make observations of it in the next few days. The orbiter's other three instruments are being used to study possible effects of gas and dust in the comet's tail interacting with the atmosphere of Mars. These are the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS), the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) and the Mars Shallow Radar (SHARAD).

Three NASA Mars orbiters, two Mars rovers and other assets on Earth and in space are studying comet Siding Spring. This comet is making its first visit this close to the sun from the outer solar system's Oort Cloud, so the concerted campaign of observations may yield fresh clues to our solar system's earliest days more than 4 billion years ago.

I always read Tom Danehy's column in the Weekly. No, Dan Gibson didn't tell me to say that. I used to read Tom before I wrote here. He's got a predictably enjoyable style and an unpredictable topic list. When I don't make it to the end, it's because I really, really don't care about his topic du jour, but that's the exception.

A column like this week's Tom talks about what really makes America great is the kind I read to the end, then go back and reread a few favorite paragraphs. Spoiler alert: It's a full-throated endorsement of our system of public education and what public schools did for him. No, it doesn't say everything's great, we don't need to change a thing. It just gives credit where credit is due.

My favorite part:

Willie Nelson's heroes might have always been cowboys. Mine have always been teachers and coaches. I'm not going to say that they saved me from a life of drugs, crime, and self-destruction. I was never headed in that direction. But they did push me when I needed pushing, they listened when I talked, and they talked well enough to make me want to listen.

There was my 6th-grade teacher, Mr. Carpenter, a man about whom I could write a book. Mr. Carpenter was so cool, he would have made Miles Davis feel like Urkel. He was proudly African-American way before anybody else. He had played pro football and occasionally sang with the Metropolitan Opera. He made these giant tapestries of Zulu warriors; each one sold for more than he would make in a year as a teacher. He lived in Bel-Air, right next to Vincent Price, but he taught elementary school in the ghetto out of a sense of duty. He taught me how to play chess and never let me win. When the other kids were being tested on the multiplication tables from one to 12, he asked me to multiply 18 times 17 in my head. He always pushed and I'm eternally grateful that he did.

Oh yeah, he wrangled some tickets and took me and some of my classmates to our first-ever concert—The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.