Jeff Love Nine SaddleBrooke Hiking Club members left their clubs at home and spent a quiet morning on the links at the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve. The nine-some included Donna Civitella, Julie Davis, Claire Guidas, Bruce Landeck, Dale Leman, Inge McDermaid, Pat Riehle, Janet Springer, and hiking guide Jeff Love. This Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course…
Ruth Caldwell On Feb. 24 the annual MOVE Across 2 Ranges hike was held. This is a fundraiser for the Parks & Recreation of Oro Valley and Marana. The hike has four length options (8-mile, 10-mile, 16-mile, and 20-mile) with part of each hiked in the Tortolita Mountains, then a drive across to Catalina State…
Deanna Hyland Poppies! Thousands and thousands of poppies, interspersed with majestic saguaro, and a picturesque backdrop of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The yellows and oranges blanketed the ground for as far as we could see, the colors exploding in front of our eyes. On March 28, 10 members of the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club were fortunate…
Diana Smith Elisabeth Wheeler is a “giver.” She has given love, devotion, and patience to her own children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She has given her professional expertise and empathy to the countless children she has interacted with over her long career as a school counselor. She has given her support and compassion to the many…
Ruth Caldwell If you are new to hiking in Arizona or have not hiked recently, you may want to learn about hiking in the Sonoran Desert from experienced SaddleBrooke Hiking Club guides. If so, you are invited to attend a Hiking Orientation presentation on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the…
Bruce Landeck On a beautiful, late-October morning, seven members of the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club traded their hiking gear for jeans, boots, and western clothing and went horseback riding in Saguaro National Park East and Tanque Verde Wash. They met at Houston’s Horseback Riding Stables, located on Tucson’s northeast side and nestled next to the Rincon…
Jeff Love Have you ever driven past the Texas Canyon Rest Area along I-10 between Benson and Wilcox and wondered what it would be like to hike through the interesting rock formations? Last April, the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club was invited to explore the newly developed hiking trails at the Amerind Museum. This location is roughly…
Seth Basker On May 11 five hikers undertook the climb from the top of the Madera Canyon road to Josephine Saddle, a climb of over 1,600 feet at a relatively high altitude of 5,450 feet. Seth Basker led the group up Old Baldy Trail to the saddle where they rested before descending the Super Trail.…
Ruth Caldwell Eight SaddleBrooke Hiking Club members headed up to Mount Lemmon on May 3 to seek the crisp, clear air. What came as a big surprise to most hikers was the number of downed trees across the trail on the Marshall Gulch/Aspen Loop. The heavy snowfall this past winter, coupled with the 2020 damage…
Diana Smith Rob Simms grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich., in a self-described “blue-collar” family. He received his undergraduate degree in accounting and an MBA from Michigan State University and served four years in the United States Air Force. He has been married to Myrna, whom he met while working at MSU, for 35 years.…