Mission Road

January 27, 2023

Finally the weather is heating up again. Before we lose our opportunity, we drive out to San Xavier del Bac Mission for one of my favorite Tucson-based rides: the out and back along Mission Road. I love this ride, which we’ve taken in one way or another at least three times before by now. It’s an easy ten mile drive south, and when we arrive around 11 it’s already in the low fifties on a day that would warm up another ten degrees.

When we drive into the parking lot Rachael deflates my mood just a bit by pointing out that it’s not the day for fry bread - it doesn’t make sense before the ride, and it will be too late afterwards when we have a dinner reservation at Perche No waiting at the end of the day. She’s right, of course.

Mission Road is a wonderful ride starting just south of here, when we almost immediately lose all the traffic and have the road to ourselves. We’re about two miles into it when I look up and see a woodpecker at the top of a post and decide to stop for it. Rachael doesn’t of course, and soon disappears from view.

It’s a quiet, scenic climb for the next ten miles as the road gradually rises to its high point on the shoulder of Helmet Peak. It’s a gentle slope the whole way, except for a short steeper section right at the top. Nothing to get hung about as you bike past classic desert scenes with mountains in the distance in all directions and the colorful scars of the mines above Sahuarita in the foreground.

The view to the southwest. This is the same distant formation I puzzled over from Tucson after dropping Susan off at the airport. Now that I’m closer and have a better look, I still can’t figure it out. The Coyote Mountains?

The dominant view to the east is of the formations of what is now the Asarco Mission Complex, a consolidation of several former open pit mines above Sahuarita.

Cactus wren. I’ve gotten much better at spotting these now that I recognize their unmistakeable call, likened to the sound of a car trying to start its engine. In the right habitat they’re more common than I’d realized.

Looking across the mines to Mount Lemmon.

Helmet Peak, from the north. High point of the ride.

Over the top, the ride and views are even better as it rolls along for another ten miles before dropping down to the junction with Duvall Mine Road. I keep a good pace when I’m biking, but I find enough reasons to stop along the way that I fall well behind Rachael. She’s been to the end of the road and is nearly two miles back again when I see her coming.

A yucca view of the mine waste. Soaptree?

The eroded mine waste provides a colorful if ghastly background for much of the ride.

Mission Road ends in about two miles from here, just uphill from Green Valley. Rachael made it to the end of the road, and then some - just enough to round up her mileage.

There are few signs of civilization out here, if you don’t count turnoffs to the still active open pit mine operations. We won’t be finding a nice picnic bench in the shade out here with a nearby loo, so we do the best we can with what’s available with a turnout to a private road and a short walk into the creosote and cacti for a little bit of privacy that isn’t needed anyway - no one passes us the entire time we’re sitting here.

For the next several miles we bike steadily north toward Helmet Peak and the high point of the climb. There’s a bit of a headwind going this way - more than a bit actually, and in spite of the warm day it’s just a little chilly, almost enough to make us wonder if we should be stopping to put coats on before the long descent ahead.

As we near the summit Rachael instructs me to stay ahead for a change so I can star in the day’s video. I agree, but then stop almost immediately for an unusual sight - two large buteos, perched right next to each other at the top of a tall pole. How often do you see that? They’re almost invariably single birds, even when there’s a second one soaring above that they’re looking up and chatting with. Actually I can only think of one time recently when I’ve seen two hawks perched together - last winter, when I saw a magnificent pair of ferruginous hawks - America’s largest buteo, larger than a red-trail - perched side by side high atop a transmission line standard along Rillito Wash.

Maybe these are ferruginous hawks too then, and maybe even the same pair, which mate for life? They’re too far off for a really good shot, but from the look they easily could be. With more time and no one to be held up humoring me, I’d walk into the scrub for a closer look and maybe to stir them to flight so I could confirm they’re not light morphed red-tailed hawks. It’s not the day for that though.

So, an ethical dilemma. Without a better birder along to corroborate my suspicions, I can’t really be sure. What to do? It’s my quest, so I decide to adjust the rules to include questionable sightings like this, to be identified by a question mark in the ledger. It’s the second of these really, because I’m not sure about that Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s hawk I saw back at Sweetwater a few weeks back either.

For comparison, here are the two ferruginous hawks I saw last winter pole-sitting along Rillito Wash. same species? Same couple even?

The rest of the ride north is a steady, swift downhill that leaves us both with cramped and numb hands from gripping the bars and clutching the brakes for most of the last hour. There’s more traffic than we saw on the way out - maybe twenty cars and pickups, some in a hurry, making me think we’re seeing the end of a workshift at the mine. It’s not bad, but it makes us appreciate our Varias flashing behind and giving us warnings as we race downhill. We’re back at the mission well before four, and with a last wistful look at the frybread stands we’re back in the car driving home.

Video sound track: A Horse With No Name, by America

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Ride stats today: 42 miles, 2,100’; for the tour: 1,327 miles, 46,300’

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2023 Bird List

57. Ferruginous hawk (?)

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,285 miles (2,068 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	10
Comment on this entry	Comment	6

Steve Miller/GrampiesIf unconfirmed by photo sightings might be permitted we may have two or three we could add to our total (which we will only have time to organize when we get home).
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesYour quest, your rules.
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1 year ago

Janice BranhamWe haven't done this ride before, looks like a great one to add to the list.
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Janice BranhamIt is, especially if you start at the mission. I really don’t care for the two miles north of it to Valencia Road. Too busy, no shoulder.
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1 year ago

Rich FrasierIt's great that you can get out to such a remote road so quickly and easily. Looks like a lovely ride.
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierNot bad, alright. A reasonable substitute if you can’t be in southern Spain.
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1 year ago