Coronado National Forest - Sabino Canyon #2

Last week I spent much time in Sabino Canyon, likely Tucson's most visited park, part of Coronado National Forest. I did several early morning hikes there attempting to capture some pictures of the moon setting at sunrise. With the moon setting in the southwest and knowing the canyon runs that direction I knew there would be numerous places to enjoy and photograph the moon over the canyon. The water was getting low but still plentiful enough to delight in the sound of it rolling over rocks and take in some pretty reflections of the moon and canyon in the pools. In general, this is a great place for sunrise hiking and you will find many locals out exercising in this spectacular spot. I took several exquisite mornings relishing the canyon's beauty, taking pictures, lying on the rocks relaxing, and enjoying one of my trips with friends. Unfortunately, I am still being plagued by equipment problems, although using a friends Nikon FG, I was able to land a few nice images from the weeks outings. This was a relief after arising at the terrible hour of 4:30 am to be able to do sunrise hikes this time of year. It is the best way to see the desert during the hot months, which have officially begun, when being done with a hike by 9:00 am or so is ideal if you don't want to be miserable from the heat or even risk heat caused illness. It was a wonderful few mornings that I hope to repeat again soon. With it only being about a 7 or so mile roundtrip on a paved trail with only a slight grade it makes for an easy early morning jaunt, assuming I can coax my body out of bed.

• Hey everyone I've just joined Flickr where I am now posting many of my images - so go check them out!

• Many of my images are also available at my Zazzle gallery.

• If you are looking to travel to Tucson, Arizona, or anywhere else, be sure to click over to my travel site.

• For Coronado National Forest visitor information click here. For those looking for a nice ride up the canyon there is an open air tram ride through Sabino Canyon Tours. (You'll thank me later for this link as it seems there are all kinds of websites with wrong links to this company.)