August Art Hike Recap - Mt Bigelow, AZ

Our August Art Hike allowed us to explore the Bigelow Trail after an incredible week of monsoons in Tucson. The Santa Catalina Mountains have been gobbling up all of this rain, turning the mountains lush and green, and sending huge amounts of water down to the thirsty washes and desert below. Seven Cataracts was roaring when I drove up the mountain and there were serveral waterfalls right off the side of Catalina Highway! The mountains are a gorgeous sight right now.

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We saw plenty of water at the Bigelow Trail trailhead parking lot. I've never seen any kind of running water on this trail but we've gotten so much rain there were several creeks running along the side of the trail, for a second I thought we were hiking along Marshall Gulch rather than Bigelow Trail.

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On either side of the trail we saw several species of mushrooms popping up, their bright colors contrasting the dark brown, wet earth. It's been fun to see what plants pop up over night when a good monsoon has come through.

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We found a great spot to sit and paint off of the trail junction between Bigelow Trail and Incinerator Trail. There were several flat spots to take in the view or paint the small details in front of us. 

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We had so many fun and creative drawing and painting styles this month! I love seeing the variety of styles and what grabbed each person's attention. We had several spiderwort flowers and pine trees drawn so they must have been a group favorite!
I was so grateful for this group. We had some great conversations and I'm really excited to see how this community has grown since May when we had our very first Art Hike. I'm excited to see how they continue to grow!

Bigelow Trail, Mount Lemmon, AZ

Date hiked: August 14, 2022

Total miles: 2 mile out and back

Elevation gain: +/- 600 feet

Total time: 4 hours

Land acknowledgement: Ancestral lands of the Tohono O'odham and Yaqui

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