Walking the Loop

A Tucson pilgrimage: Walking the Loop

I was not seeking answers to deep mysteries or a path for even a smidgen of personal growth. I was searching only for a short morning stroll along The Loop river path. I began my hike at North Country Club Road and the Rillito River, walked 3 miles west to First Avenue, turned around and retraced my steps back to the starting point.

Later, considering how much I enjoyed the hike, I decided to do the same thing the following week. This time, I started by heading west from the previous week’s turnaround point on First Avenue.

So began a one-year-to-the-day pilgrimage of hiking around what is officially known as the Chuck Huckelberry Loop.

The total distance of the path I traveled covers nearly 54 miles. Additional connected trails and those with hard and soft trails on each side of the riverbed bring the total completed to 131 miles.

The Loop I walked looks like a squiggly circle that takes a bicyclist, runner, hiker, skater or equestrian alongside the beds of the Rillito and Santa Cruz rivers, Julian and Pantano washes and the Harrison Road Greenways. My one-year hike, which began May 28, 2018, totaled over 165 miles in part because I would park, hike, and return to where I started that day.

Along the way I took to heart Yogi Berra’s sage advice, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” So, when an interesting off-trail attraction appeared, off I went, packing on more miles. The Loop’s many fascinating nearby sights beg to be explored: the entire downtown area on both sides of the Santa Cruz, a variety of community gardens, two labyrinths, many parks, Sweetwater wetlands, “A” Mountain, Rattlesnake Bridge and two disc golf courses. And so many more.

Sticking to the Loop itself offers plenty of opportunities for discovery including an amazing amount of imaginative artwork. Near the Campbell Bridge, south of River Road, a metal sculpture titled “Batty Biker” is artist Stephen Fairfield’s creative representation of the “bug fighting jets” that roost under bridges on The Loop. It’s one of three along The Loop.

The Mexican free-tailed bats can fly up to 60 miles an hour, explains nearby signage. Like jets, they navigate and find prey using their internal radar.

This thoughtful intertwining of nature, art and education was one of many bonuses for me and anyone who takes the time to examine all The Loop has to offer.

A few lessons from the loop

• Beautiful and breathtaking does not mean perfect and without challenges.

Rainbows are created by light and water. To glimpse a rainbow, one must tolerate some rain. Hiking The Loop was truly a meaningful and wonderful experience, but it came with its share of discomfort and difficulty.

For example, my car was broken into and my wallet was stolen from a loop parking lot.

Another day I fell and incurred a significant gash on my arm while attempting to climb a portion of “A” Mountain. The good news is that I protected my phone in the free fall, and was later able to snag a great photo.

Another time I nearly passed out from the heat while hiking way too late on a very hot summer day. My fellow travelers had the good sense to be off the trail and safely ensconced somewhere cooler.

Still, I made it home more or less in one piece. Undeterred, I returned to the call of The Loop much earlier in the day in the weeks that followed.

The water ways, while truly spectacular, also have debris and trash in many places. Among some discarded shopping carts, I came across an unusable, beat-up printer the size of a small refrigerator in the Julian Wash.

The Loop contains much beauty, as well as some potential perils. A traveler should be prepared. To this end, keep any valuables with you, take plenty of food, water, weather appropriate clothing and sunscreen. Also, let others know where you are going and when you expect to return.

• Revelations may happen in an instant, but often arrive slowly.

The Loop, slowly and on its own time, revealed itself as I continued my sojourn. I realized that many people contributed significant amounts of their time, energy and talent to the design and formation of The Loop.

The layout of the path itself, the attempts to mostly keep The Loop travelers safely separated from cars, the artwork and informational signs were all carefully considered. It is obvious that the interplay between The Loop and the rugged, beautiful desert was lovingly woven together.

I met several cyclists on the trail who told me their primary reason for moving to Tucson was The Loop.

Another revelation occurred when I began hiking along the various washes. Though I have hiked in all of Tucson’s surrounding mountains, I have felt most deeply drawn to the Santa Catalina Mountains. I have watched as monsoon lightning storms illuminate their tall and majestic peaks.

I have hiked trails through the ponderosa pines and looked down on Tucson from mountain ledges. The Catalinas have offered me a sense of being grounded in time and space.

As I continued on my pilgrimage, I began to appreciate the presence and power of all the mountains surrounding the Old Pueblo. The Catalina, Tucson, Santa Rita and Rincon mountains are each unique in shape, height and texture. They look different depending on one’s vantage point. Yet each in its own way is deeply compelling. I realized that the sense of being on terra firma is available in each of Tucson’s surrounding mountain ranges if one can remain open to it. We truly live in an incredible place.

I began to feel as if this city where I have lived most of my life was re-introducing herself to me. I was falling in love all over again with the town and desert I had long known to be my true home.

Readers, you may want to make hiking or cycling The Loop your pilgrimage, too. The next four weeks in Caliente I’ll highlight spots I found particularly interesting and provide a basic guide.

If The Loop and nature are not what move you, I hope you consider designing your own pilgrimage. Learn more about cooking, movies, yoga, music, meditation, art, read on new topics, or learn a different language — the possibilities are endless.

I send all you pilgrims best wishes as you move from the familiar safe harbor into the beautiful mystery.

Exploration along Tucson's Pantano Wash leads to history lesson, chickens

Hiking north along the Pantano Wash one beautiful day, I stopped to walk a mini labyrinth that borders The Loop near Fort Lowell Park. Then as the path turned north, I was surprised to find myself at the Narrows — the intersection of the Rillito River and the Pantano and Tanque Verde washes.

A well-placed informational sign titled “Canals and Conflict” lays out the history and geography of this area and includes a detailed map. It also clearly describes times of significant conflict over the allocation of ground and surface water. The convergence of washes and the river takes place at what is now North Craycroft Road.

I continued westward beyond Craycroft on the south bank of The Loop and soon came to the place where the Arroyo del Fuerte connects with the Rillito. Veering off the loop onto the clear path of the arroyo just west of The Gregory School campus led me through the lush vegetation toward a community garden.

There a gracious couple showed me their plot of land. The $18 monthly community garden fee covers the irrigation system, all water costs and access to tools. The couple also enjoys the opportunity to attend meetings with other growers to discuss topics such as planting schedules and other logistical matters. They spend part of most days farming on the premises and said they enjoy feeling closer to the earth.

They even introduced me to their beautiful and hardly frightening scarecrow appropriately named Bella Donna. I’m not certain the scarecrow succeeds in shooing away unwanted pests, but she somehow seems to embody the essence of this garden.

Before I departed, my new friends pointed me in the direction of an affiliated chicken coop nearby and provided some of their just-grown greens to feed the chickens — and goats that share the space. The chickens appeared quite delighted with the healthy offerings but the goats snootily ignored my presence. Despite the goats’ rebuff, another couple of hours exploring The Loop offered plenty of connections and a few surprises.

Using The Loop to go back in time

Hiking or cycling The Loop near its southwest corner, turning east, swiftly leads one from the desert into the shadows created by the convergence of Interstates 10 and 19. Near here I happened upon the Julian Wash Cultural History Walk, which lies just north of The Loop pathway on South 12th Avenue and West 39th Street.

The Cultural Walk reminds us that we are newcomers, just the latest arrivals in a long line of people who have found refuge and made a home in the Sonoran Desert. The informational plaques explain that the Hohokam arrived in the 1100s. Yet even they were far from the first to make this valley their home. People have been residing here for almost 4,000 years.

Walking through the Julian Wash Cultural Walk, one feels gently transported into the many layers that connect the past and present. The exhibits reveal that because water was a reliable resource, early residents were able to use canals to irrigate and farm the soil.

The pathway also contains some beautiful replications of ancient pottery, which have been enlarged for the benefit of visitors.

Another exhibit recreates a Hohokam play area and ball court.

Strolling through the exhibit, I am reminded of the Billy Joel song, “We didn’t start the fire, It was always burning since the world’s been turning. We didn’t start the fire, but when we are gone, It will still burn on, and on, and on...”

From the Cultural Walk, The Loop travels through the city and around the Tucson VA Medical Center, part of the Tucson VA Hospital Historic District including the original facility that opened in 1928 as a tuberculosis hospital.

Soon, one moves seamlessly back into the desert.

South of Ajo Way and just east of Kino Parkway, I found myself once again at a fork in the road. The Loop at this juncture allows a hiker/cyclist to continue east or to travel north.

I took the northern path leading to the Kino Sports Complex, Sam Lena Park, and around the Ed Pastor Kino Environmental Restoration Project.

The project includes a large and beautiful area whose primary purpose is to establish an ecosystem that weaves together a productive interface between water and the desert.

This rehabilitation program deals with issues like storm-water harvesting and flood control. Learn more about the restoration project at the Water Resources Research Center website sponsored by the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cooperative Extension, wrrc.arizona.edu.

The northern route ultimately doubles back and returns a hiker to the fork leading eastward on the Julian Wash Greenway.

Just past the fork I encountered a cyclist wearing a particularly eye-catching, multi-colored biking shirt.

His shirt choices pay tribute to friends who have died and serve to encourage fellow cyclists, as well as other Loop travelers, to engage in activities that help them stay active and healthy, he said.

All this in just a handful of miles along The Loop — a travel back in time, a reminder to protect our precious resources, and an energetic booster encouraging all of us to stay engaged and active despite the inevitable limitations of aging.

Raw, rugged desert greets you on southest end of The Loop

Out on The Loop once again, I am heading east not far from where East Irvington Road and South Palo Verde Road intersect.

I meet another hiker, a first-timer on the trail who lives nearby and simply wanted to get out of the house for a quick stroll. We fall easily into friendly conversation. Although he has a relative who was named after the Julian Wash, he doesn’t know where it is exactly. We share a laugh when I tell him the wash is directly below us. We are standing on its bank.

Because of the camaraderie shared by those walking The Loop, these types of warm exchanges are not unusual.

I march on and discover that not far from the intersection of East Drexel Road and South Alvernon Way, The Loop passes beneath Interstate 10. A traveler quickly moves from a more urban setting, into the raw and rugged desert. Though the views of the mountains are ever present, they seem farther away. The desert itself feels flatter, with more dirt and less vegetation than other parts of The Loop. It is stark, yet expansive and wide open.

Further on up the ever-changing path I begin to see evidence of humanity working in concert with the desert and for our community. Trains occasionally pass by on the nearby rails that frequently parallel the path. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base with all its energy and activity is due north. As the trail begins to approach the Rita Ranch area, the makers of The Loop have created a small, beautiful outdoor Julian Wash information center with benches, shade and a rainwater-harvesting cistern. Huge solar fields are visible just south of the wash.

Between South Kolb Road and Rita Ranch I pass underneath the powerful Joining Hands Arch created by artist Chris Tanz. The sign located in the bricks supporting the Arch explains: “This row of figures holding hands encircles a large Hohokam bowl that was used in communal ceremonies about 1,000 years ago. Now these figures span the path of the park, which is part of a network of parks that will encircle the city of Tucson.” Indeed, The Loop now encircles the Old Pueblo giving all users a way to interact with the desert and each other.