Essence of Place — Brown Mountain in the Sonoran Desert

Exploring Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

Here are limitless views of desert vegetation, strange giant cacti forms, rock formations uprising sharply into forms and craggy peaks almost unreal to strangers and ever fascinating in the changing flood of desert light. ~ C. B. Brown

For several years, I thought Brown Mountain was named for its predominately reddish-brown rocky face, a face studded with whiskers of toothpick saguaro cacti. Then I researched the origins of Brown Mountain, a small rounded mountain located in the Sonoran Desert in Tucson Mountain Park, just west of Tucson Arizona, and discovered it was named in honor of C. B. Brown (1889-1979) the foremost advocate for keeping the Tucson Mountain region a natural space.

Under Brown’s guidance and continued efforts, the Tucson Mountain region was closed to mining and homesteading in 1926, and preserved in its natural desert state for the enjoyment of all.

Cactus Arms © 2014 Bo Mackison

The scenic qualities, luxuriance and variety of desert flora, abundance of wild life, and historical romance of the land are accepted material bits. ~ C. B. Brown

On Top of Brown Mountain

On Top of Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

More fascinating is the intangible charm and spell of the desert region where the haze of the mountain ranges meet the blue of the sky and the desert impressive in its cloak of utter silence awaits the nature lover. ~ C. B. Brown

The Brown Mountain Trail has trail heads at both the Brown Mountain Picnic Area and the Juan Baptiste Picnic Area. It’s a five-mile hike, up, around, and back, with distant vistas at every turn. The views are especially great considering the minimal effort required to reach the peak.

The hike covers undulating ridges with views of Tucson Mountains and distant views of The Santa Ritas, Kitt Peak and other far away mountain ranges. Baboquivari, the sacred peak of the Tohono O’odham Nation and traditional home of I’itoi, the creator-god of the land, can be seen on a clear day.

There is a huge diversity of flora and fauna, easily a cross-section of what is found in the nearby region.

CCC Shelter in Brown Mountain Picnic Area © 2014 Bo Mackison

No portrait of the Brown Mountain area would be complete without a photograph of the historical picnic area built by the Citizen Conservation Corps in the 1930s. You might notice a camera pack, a hiking stick, and a pile of books on the concrete table. This is my office away from my office – I can often be found working here when the desert sun works its magic and calls me to the desert.

Brittlebush © 2014 Bo Mackison

Recent rain has brought yellow and green to the desert floor. Most of the common flowers are yellow — brittle-bush, desert marigold, acaia, mesquite, and many more.

Mesquite Near Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

And when the rains come, the trees, often without leaves in the more arid times, sprout tiny specks of leaves. From a distance the trees show lovely and soft green forms.

Sonoran Desert in Brown Mountain © 2014 Bo Mackison

I am no longer surprised at the diversity of plants, cacti, and trees I see in the Sonoran Desert, how they are so openly spaced in order to provide each plant with needed rain and nutrients from the ground, but I am often taken aback by how “manicured” the desert often seems — as if a landscape gardener comes out early every day to rake the rocks, put all in place.

Hiking Sabino Canyon

Yipes Stripes

Yipes Stripes © 2012 Bo Mackison

On a sunny, 80˚ day in March, Sherpa and I agreed it was a great day for a hike, especially a hike that had a bit of a cheat to it. We hiked the Phoneline Trail in Sabino Canyon, a gorgeous canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains bordering Tucson. Our cheat was this — we paid a few bucks each for a ride on the shuttle which comfortably took us from the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center to the top of the line, stop #9. We figured once we were up on the mountain, it would be an easy hike down.

I love this photo of Sherpa with the many variations of stripes. Stripe shadows, stripes from the ramada on Sherpa’s shirt, and he’s even wearing a shirt with horizontal stripes. “Yipes, stripes” is right. I was seeing stripes for most of the shuttle ride.

End of the Shuttle Run

End of the Shuttle Run © 2012 Bo Mackison

As the tram takes you deeper and deeper into the canyon, the world of natural beauty feels immense. Towering mountains, rocky ledges, saguaro reaching up. This is another sky island, once of several dozen in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. Desert at the lowest levels, a juniper, pine, and rocky habitat at the top.

The Hike Begins

The Hike Begins © 2012 Bo Mackison

This trail starts at the end of the paved road. A half mile climb of ever-upward-reaching switchbacks takes us to the main Phoneline Trail. Once there, the trail follows the road, only several hundred feet higher. It isn’t a hard hike, but there are gentle ups and downs throughout the “descent” and several hundred boulders to help you climb up or climb down.

The Peak

The Peak © 2012 Bo Mackison

Once we climbed high enough, we could look to the north and see Mount Lemmon, the highest mountain peak in the Tucson area. If we had been really ambitious — and 30 years younger — perhaps we would have climbed up and over. But since neither the ambition or the age was happening, we took a lot of long looks from the trail we were on.

Eye Level with a 40 Foot Tall Saguaro

Eye Level with a 40 Foot Tall Saguaro © 2012 Bo Mackison

There is one tricky thing about hiking on a desert oasis on a mountain trail. The saguaro are conveniently within grabbing distance if one was to lose their balance. I started to reach out for a steadying cactus arm more than once before I realized what I was doing and quickly pulled away. This saguaro was a forty footer, but at my eye level on the trail I could see the upper third in great detail. Wow! Imagine what it will look like in another month, full of white cactus blooms.

Switchbacks on the Sabino Canyon Trail

Switchbacks on the Sabino Canyon Trail © 2012 Bo Mackison

We looked back and laughed when we saw the trail we had just hiked, snaking up and down, switch-backing a mere 200 feet in elevation in a half mile.

It Seems the Trail Always Climbs Uphill

It Seems the Trail Always Climbs Uphill © 2012 Bo Mackison

Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. Careful here to not trip and stumble, as the fall would be a long one. Since this area had a foot of snow earlier this week, the trail was bordered by lots of green — bushes, trees leafing out, wildflowers everywhere.

Wildflowers Along the Trail

Wildflowers Along the Trail © 2012 Bo Mackison

We both had had our exercise for the day when we reached the picnic area near the Visitor Center. And let me say — my peanut butter and strawberry jam on thick whole wheat never tasted better. And that cold bottle of water — perfect!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC, is living in southern Arizona,  photographing and hiking the sky islands and giving thanks that she can see such sights.