Pointless Waymarks

Ramblings, Questionable Geographics, Photographic Half-truths

Rincon Creek Soundscape - 4/21/2024

Created and Updated by Charles Miles on 4/21/2024.

2024 April Light Etched on Water in Rincon Creek
Light Etched on Water in Rincon Creek. Charles Miles. 4/16/2024.
Water, birds, frogs, insects... Sounds from a sunny late afternoon in Rincon Creek, Vail, AZ.

Rincon Creek flows west out of the the Rincon Mountains below Tanque Verde Ridge. People have lived here for thousands of years in order to take advantage of the water in the creek. These days the flow is seasonal - but both winter and monsoon rains tend to add enough water for it to flow impressively.

Much of Rincon Creek is either surrounded by private land - land divided from the ranches that once claimed the creek - or a long hike from any trailhead. The exception is the Arizona Trail crossing. On the AZT day hikers/bikers can touch the creek from several different trailheads and thru hikers collect near the creek getting water, often spending the night either before or after climbing up and over the Rincon Mountains.

This recording was made on a sunny late afternoon in April - this year the winter storms were impressive and Rincon Creek is stilled filled and flowing nicely with their water. The microphones were clipped to branches just above the water where a few tall green trees grow near the bank.

With some luck this might be what you would hear near the creek - farther from the water you might also hear vehicles on some of the not-too-far away dirt roads, work going on at the houses in the area or other hikers and bikers. In a dry year you might not hear water at all...

I think it is likely residential development will encroach on this soundscape in the next few decades. Saguaro National Park protects some of Rincon Creek, and perhaps a few more parcels will eventually be added to the park - but watching the Rocking K development unfold it seems optimistic to imagine a future where large chunks of the Arizona State Trust Land south of Rincon Creek aren't subdivided into residential lots.

2023 April Hair
Hair. Charles Miles. 4/11/2023.
2023 April Green Patch Beside Rincon Creek
An interesting spot where it looks like rock forces water towards the surface and turns this area green - just a few feet away, across an outcropping of rock, the vegetation above the creek was brown... Charles Miles. 4/11/2023.
2024 April Rincon Creek
Rincon Creek. Charles Miles. 4/16/2024.
2023 April Rincon Creek
Rincon Creek. Charles Miles. 4/11/2023.

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