The CAP Trail will be Pima County’s third Trail of National Significance, one that has been formally recognized under the 1986 National Trails System Act for historic, scenic or recreational importance.  The CAP National Recreation Trail joins the Anza National Historic Trail and the Arizona National Scenic Trail as part of Pima County’s development of a regional trail system.

The CAP Trail, which will be used by pedestrians, bicyclists and equestrians, connects to 12 or more trails in Tortolita Mountain Park, Saguaro National Park’s West District, Tucson Mountain Park and Ironwood Forest National Monument.

The trail will generally be on the levee or protection berm on the east side of the CAP canal. The canal is off-limits to recreationists and is protected within its own chain-link fence.

The Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department first envisioned the CAP trail in the mid-1980s and executed a recreational development agreement with the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the developer of the canal, in 1986. The County completed a CAP Trail Master Plan in 2009.

“The CAP Water Conservation District, the folks who operate the canal, agreed that we could put the trail on the protection berm, which is a terrific victory,” said Steve Anderson, the Planning Division Manager for Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation. “That’s the best place we could ever want the CAP Trail. The berm gives the trail user a terrific view of the entire countryside.”

Anderson credits David V. Modeer, the general manager of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District who was previously the director of Tucson Water, and Tom Fitzgerald, CAP Land Administrator, with moving the trail project forward.

The CAP Trail in Pima County was designated as a National Recreation Trail by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 2003.  Since then, the cities of Scottsdale and Phoenix have developed trail systems along the canal, and Pinal County has included a CAP trail in its Trails and Open Space Master Plan so the designation has been extended to the entire 336 miles along the canal from Lake Havasu to Tucson.

There is a CAP trailhead near the southeast corner of Sandario and Mile Wide roads.

See the CAP canal on the Pima Regional Trail System Master Plan map at http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/pdfs/Trails_MP_map_2012.pdf.

Slide 1 of 13.
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, right, points out a wildflower as Linda Vaught, left, Joy Hought, center left in white, and Martha Burgess, center right, look on during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon on July 19, 2012.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 2 of 13.
Martha Burgess, left, talks with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, center right in blue, along the Oracle Ridge Trail.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 3 of 13.
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, right, talks with the group.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 4 of 13.
Joy Hought takes a close look at Fendler's meadow-rue during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 5 of 13.
The group heads up the trail past veins in rock.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 6 of 13.
A bee makes its way around a Geranium Caespitosum, or Purple Cluster Geranium, seen during the wildflower hike.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 7 of 13.
A sign marks the start of the trail; there is a large parking area just off of the Control Road.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 8 of 13.
A Penstemon Barbatus, or Scarlet Budler, is seen during the wildflower hike.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 9 of 13.
A Geranium Caespitosum grows in front of a stump charred by the 2002 Bullock Fire.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 10 of 13.
The group walks through lush green groundcover mixed with burned trees.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 11 of 13.
A bee rests atop a Wheeler thistle.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 12 of 13.
A Ipomopsis Tenuituba is seen during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 13 of 13.
The group makes its way down the trail during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail. Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn led the group on the hike.
Source: Pima County Communications Office

Wildflowers are beautiful wherever you find them, but the more you know about them, the more they will amaze you.

So seven Pima County residents were appropriately amazed in mid-July when Meg Quinn led them on a wildflower hike on Mount Lemmon.  The hike is one of the many free outings, workshops and special events offered by the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s Environmental Education and Interpretive Programs.

Quinn is the adult and volunteer program coordinator and the author of two books about Southwest wildflowers.

The monsoon brings a “second spring” to Mount Lemmon, Quinn explained as the group gathered to walk the Oracle Ridge Trail after carpooling from Tanque Verde Road and Catalina Highway at 8 a.m.

“The season starts in July once we’ve had some summer rains,” she said.  “The peak season is usually in August.”

The Bullock Fire burned the trail area in 2002, and flame retardant left red stains on the rocks.  The skeletons of silver leaf oak trees stand stark against the sky, with new branches springing from the roots, competing to become surviving trees.

Unfortunately, the charred trunks of ponderosa pines show no such signs of renewal.

In 3½ easy-paced hours – less than four miles out and back – we saw more than 20 types of wildflowers, most of which were on a list that Quinn distributed.

Showy red-orange paintbrush and beardtongue penstemon.  Yellow Hooker’s evening primrose and purple Wheeler thistle.  Tiny and delicate lotus and ipomopsis tenuituba, whose even tinier pink spots – visible through shared hand lenses – prompted surprised oooo’s.

Quinn did more than match common and botanical names with flower faces.  Careful to share the single samples she picked – instead of each picking our own – we smelled the spicy scent of bee balm, stuck sticky bedstraw to our shirts and felt the flannel leaves of mullein.

We learned that yarrow is also known as wound wort because it stops bleeding and that Arizona fleabane “is supposed to keep insects away.”

Who knew that the leaves of Palmer lupine follow the sun?  Or that its “banner” petal changes color after it’s been pollinated – a “don’t bother” sign to passing bees?

Quinn shared a poem to help us tell the difference between the rushes we saw and other plants.

“Sedges have edges,
Rushes are round,
Horsetails have coarse tails,
Cattails have flat tails.”

If you go on Quinn’s wildflower hike on Aug. 8 or Aug. 30, you’ll probably get to see coral bells in bloom.

“It’s never the same on this trail,” Quinn said.  “There’s difference species in different places.”

If you’re really lucky, you might get to see an orchid.

“You don’t find orchids; they find you,” said Quinn, who says they appear in her peripheral vision when she’s looking at other plants.

Whenever you go, you can expect cooler temperatures on Mount Lemmon than in the valley below.

Linda Vaught, who’s been going on the Environmental Education hikes for 6-7 years, calls them Pima County’s “best-kept secret.”

“I just love to go on the Pima County nature hikes,” Vaught said.  “You don’t have to have any money. People are willing to carpool.  It’s a wonderful thing.”

For more information about the Environmental Education programs, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/eeduc/environ.htm

To see a list of the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s scheduled wildflower, birding and even lizard walks, and other events, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/calendar/index.htm

Books by Meg Quinn

• Cacti of the Desert Southwest
• Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest
• Wildflowers of the Mountain Southwest

The trailhead is north of Interstate 10 on Marsh Station Road, about ¼ mile west of Cienega Creek.  Because parking at the trailhead site is limited, please carpool, park next to the Cienega Creek ¼ mile to the east of the trailhead and take the shuttle that’s provided, or you can park at the Rincon Valley Fire Department 2.5 miles west along Marsh Station Road and take the shuttle that is provided.

Zimmerman, a 30-year-old aide to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was killed along with five others in the Jan. 8 attack in Tucson that injured Giffords and a dozen others.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors renamed the Davidson Canyon trailhead in February at the request of The Arizona Trail Association, of which Zimmerman was a member and his mother, Emily Nottingham, is president.

Zimmerman, a Tucson native who was an avid hiker and runner, helped obtain the National Scenic Trail designation for the Arizona Trail, an 817-mile path from Mexico to Utah that was completed this month and that connects to the Davidson Canyon trail.

The Arizona Trail Association has been working to add signs, a ramada with tables, wheelchair-accessible paths and tribute areas for Zimmerman and the other Jan. 8 victims at the trailhead, which is in Pima County’s Cienega Creek Natural Preserve.

In addition to the trail association, Pima County Supervisor Raymond J. Carroll, District 4, and the Pima County Regional Flood Control District and the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department are hosting the dedication ceremony.

For more information about The Arizona Trail Association, go to http://www.aztrail.org/.

Colossal Cave, which is full of stalactites, stalagmites and other cave formations, was used for centuries by prehistoric peoples before it was “discovered” in 1879.  The 2,400-acre Colossal Cave Mountain Park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, and is open every day of the year for cave tours, hiking, birding, trail rides, picnics, camping, parties and cookouts.  Winter hours (through March 15) are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Coming up:

• Sunday, Dec. 4:  Marc Severson of Old Pueblo Archaeology will share holiday stories from native peoples from 2 to 4 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 16, and Saturday, Dec. 17:  Don’t miss “Holiday in The Park” – wagon rides around the 132-year-old La Posta Quemada Ranch, followed by hot chocolate and s’mores, and a Candlelight Tour of Colossal Cave.

The Candlelight Tour (1-1½ hours, candles are provided) is one of three Adventure Tours available by reservation for groups ranging in size from 2 to 20 people.  Visit mysterious, off-route areas of Colossal Cave few others have seen on the Ladder Tour (1½ hours, helmets and lights provided).  Follow in the footsteps of outlaws and early explorers into the depths of the earth on the Wild Cave Tour (2-4 hours, helmets and lights provided).

Call 520-647-7275 for more information and Adventure Tour costs and to make reservations.  What a great gift for adventurous friends and family members!

Regular Cave Tour Rates (no reservations required):

Adults (ages 13 and older)…………………$13 (up from $12, effective Nov. 15)

For military with ID……………………..$11

Children (ages 5-12)…………………………$6.50

For military with ID……………………..$6

Children ages 4 and younger………………FREE

You can get half off the price of a children’s ticket with purchase of an adult tour ticket if you print out a fun pass at http://www.colossalcave.com/PDF/FunPass.pdf

Daily park use fees are $5 per auto ($1 per person over six people); $1 per bicycle; $2 per motorcycle; $1 per person on a tour bus; and free for school buses.

For more information about the Pima County-owned park, go to www.colossalcave.com or call (520) 647 PARK (7275).

Wild animals can bring hikers and walkers face to face with the rabies virus.  Rabid animals have been found not only in their natural habitat, but also in urban locations throughout Pima County.

Rabies is a dangerous virus that attacks the brain and nervous system.

The disease is carried by infected wild animals like bats, skunks, foxes, javelina, and bobcats. Contact with the saliva of an infected animal through a bite or an existing open skin lesion can allow the virus to pass easily to humans and pets.

There are no known effective treatments for people with symptoms of a rabies infection.  However, it is possible to prevent rabies if immunization is given soon after a bite or exposure.

The best way to protect yourself and your pets from rabies is to avoid close contact with wild animals. Here are some safety tips:

•  Enjoy wild animals from a distance, even if they appear friendly.
• Never feed wildlife or leave food or garbage that might attract them.
• If you see a wild animal acting strangely, report the sighting to Pima County Animal Care at (520) 243-5900.
• Reduce the possibility of pets getting exposed to wildlife by not letting them roam free.
• Ensure all pets are up-to-date with their vaccinations.

If you do have a contact with animal saliva, are bitten by a wild animal, or see a wild animal acting strangely call Pima Animal Care Center at (520) 243-5900.

“In an effort to protect both human and bear populations, forest officials encourage increased vigilance regarding bear safety practices,” she said.

Included in the warning are tips for keeping bears from coming too close in residential areas of the county.  Here’s what she advises, based in part on recommendations from the USDA Forest Service:

• Never store food or garbage outdoors. Always keep food or garbage cans in a secure place bears cannot access.
• Always bring pet food inside, especially overnight.
• Do not feed birds from April to November, unless the feeders are out of bears’ reach and have spill pans to prevent seeds from reaching the ground.
• Keep outdoor grills clean and when not in use, store them inside a garage or building.
• Dispose of food scraps in a garbage can that bears cannot access and never leave food as bait for any animals.
• If a bear approaches, move your family indoors immediately.

Schewel also has tips for county residents or visitors who hike, picnic or camp in or near the forest:

• Let someone know where you are going and when you plan to return.
• Hang food, garbage and anything with strong odors (toothpaste, bug repellent, soap, etc.) at least 10 feet off the ground and 4 feet from a tree or limb; use special food storage boxes and cable systems if available.
• Eat and cook food up to 100 yards away from the tent.
• Do not take clothes used while cooking inside a tent.
• Avoid camping and hiking alone in backcountry.
• Make noise to avoid surprising a bear.
• Never approach a bear or other wild animal. If a bear approaches you, back away slowly; do not run.
• Avoid hiking in the dark. Hiking in the dark increases the chances of encountering a bear.
• Carry Environmental Protection Agency registered bear pepper spray.
• Pack trash out, do not bury it.
• Keep children close at hand, and avoid taking pets – they may attract bears.
• Watch for bear signs: scat, claw marks, digging, logs or stumps torn apart.