Catalina State Park is conveniently located just outside of Tucson in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The park provides miles of equestrian, birding, biking, and hiking trails which wind through the park and into the Coronado National Forest.
We spent 4 nights in the RV park which is clean and well maintained. Our first day we dropped Bailey into the bike basket and took a short bike ride in the area just to get oriented.
Doug took a second ride that I was glad I missed!Just as he was starting to peddle up a steep and rocky hill, he noticed something move near his left pedal. Had he stopped to get a closer look, this huge rattlesnake would have been even with his ankle. He found that super-human strength to blow by it as it started to cross his path. Doug speculates that since this happened in late March, the diamond-back may have been sluggish coming out of hibernation which definitely helped in avoiding the encounter.
The next day we ventured off into the desert for a hike. I’d been looking forward to it because the planned hike started in the desert and then moved into a more shaded area of the mountains. However, we came to a point on the trail that notified us that the trail was under construction, so it directed us back towards the desert. The hike was ok until we decided to make a bigger loop of it and then there just seemed to be endless wandering paths around the desert making the destination very unclear. I was still struggling with the disappointment of the first trail closure when all this was happening. As it got hotter, I got whinier. I’d had enough of prickly, pokey plants and blazing sun. I needed a down day and that’s how I spent day 3.
Doug repeated his “rattlesnake ride” while I spent the day walking the dog, listening to music, painting my toes, reading a book and throwing back a few vodka tonics. We had a gorgeous AZ sunset and by nightfall, all was right with the world again.
I was back in the saddle and ready for our next adventure…Picacho Peak!
