the wandering chick
...Oracle State Park
a treasure of a park
Oracle State Park is a gem of a park, 4000 acres with more than 15 miles of trails for hikers, bikers and equestrians. A wildlife refuge, it sits snugly in the northern-most foothills of the Catalina Mountains in the small town of Oracle.
Besides the rambling trails through high desert shrubbery and huge impressive boulders, the park is home to the Moorish-Mediterranean styled Kannally family ranch house and its collection of historic artifacts, photos and art. A self-guided tour is offered of the house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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This and the following images were taken on the Granite Trail. Since I've done this trail before there are probably shots similar to ones above.
A summer monsoon followed by drought left dead shrubbery covering much of the healthy foliage throughout the park.
Another beautiful day, a year later, landed me at Oracle State Park in the Oro Valley, north of Tucson. Again, with friends, I hiked the Granite Overlook Loop Trail, roughly three miles with some elevation and a tiny bit of squeezing through rock. It's probably the best hike in the park. Hiking it never becomes boring.
There are more than 200 varieties of the Agave plant, and they come in myriad shapes and sizes. A common name for the Agave is the Century Plant, so called because it was believed it only bloomed once every 100 years. Not so, according to various reputable web sites, which explain that the Agaves live for only up to 30 years. They bloom and produce seeds only once in their lifetime. At that point, they produce a large flowery stem, sadly called the death bloom, that can reach up to 30 feet, then the Agaves die.
