Texas Gypsies: Star Pass near Tucson, AZ

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Since taxes are pretty much done and it is a beautiful day we decided to take a recommended drive through Starr Pass in the Tucson Mountain range.
On the way up to the pass, we drove through a neighborhood with some magnificent homes. We took pictures of only three that stood out from the rest.

This house was actually green about the same green as the cactus. It had a low profile which made it interesting to me.

We really like the covered porch that goes around the house. The porch faces East, so it would be shaded in the hot afternoons.

Here is another house with beautiful views. All the houses had a few acres so they were not close together.

Here we are at the first of 2 scenic pullouts on the way through Starr Pass. There were restrooms in the building in the foreground Tic climbed to the little lookout rock hut to look into the valley to the West.

This is the view looking West from the little rock structure.

There were lots of hiking trails around. This fellow was ambitious and was at the top of one of the near by peaks. This is times 10 magnification, so the hiker would be obvious.

Tic went ahead and climbed to the top of another hill. From there he could see this couple just enjoying the wonderful weather and the view. Many fabulous places to go hiking.

There is another rock hut down the hill from where Tic is. Can you see it? It is just left of center. I'm the dark blue dot in the middle of the right side of the picture.

This picture is taken from where Tic was standing which was just below the little rock house to show how high it was from the parking area.

This is a side view of the second rock hut.

Here is the front view.

This is the inside of the above rock hut. So sad that people don't show respect.

This is the view westward from the second scenic pullout. We are through the pass and headed into the valley below.

The mountains in the background are the last of the pass we just drove through.

We decided to turn around here and head to another road we saw that is also in the Tucson Mountain Range.

At the end of the road we took, was the Starr Pass Marriott Hotel and Golf Course. There were houses shortly before we reached the hotel. Of course there was a real estate office located there to sell you what ever you cannot live without. The hotel and grounds were first rate and this looks like a wonderful place to vacation if you don't have a mobile condo.

This is just a small piece of the golf course. Looks like an interesting course through the desert.

This is a view of the pool from the outside. Looks like a lazy river perhaps.

Below are 4 pictures of some of the different cactus near the entrance drive. Springtime is arriving and the plants are beginning to blossom.

This is actually a flowering bush. Not sure what it is.

This is an ocotilla cactus. In the spring it has leaves and will have flowers at the top. See the red tips of the plant. Those are the buds.

We don't have a clue what this plant is but liked the flowers. We could tell it was some kind of succulent.

This little yucca (I think it is a yucca of some sort.) was blooming. Can you tell the weather has been spring like here?

These next four pictures are from the lobby of the hotel. Very Southwest!

From the lobby, one could see this pool. I think it is a second pool.

After we left the hotel, we drove to another road that said it led to the Starr Pass Trail head. See the red "you are here"? Time for another short hike.

This is the view looking Eastward from this trail head. It shows the housing close by and on into Tucson.

The picture below is looking back at the hotel and down on the parking area.