Tucson’s 2nd Part (01-11-15)

After taking leave of our friends, we headed all the way over to the northern side of Tucson.  We had booked this week at Catalina State Park a long time ago because we knew we’d be in Tucson for doctor appointments. We’ve never stayed here and wanted to check it out.



 
The colors of the sunset lit up the surrounding mountains. And yes, that is snow on the hills.








 

Although there aren't that many hiking trails inside the park, several of the trails were accessible from the campground, which made them very appealing.

Talk about a healthy saguaro cactus!  We've never seen so many with so many arms.

 
Still keeping our focus on hiking, we hiked the Canyon Loop trail twice.  Round trip from the campground it’s a 5 mile hike.

In between all that exhausting hiking, we still managed to find some time to spend with Mike and Julie.  One night they came over for dinner, and another, we met them for drinks at a Tequila bar in the Marriott Resort overlooking the city.

They have a neat tradition, every day at 5:30 they have a toast, and they provide the tequila! 


We also took an afternoon and headed up to……

Biosphere 2

I remember way back when the Biosphere 2 “experiment” originated.  Building of the complex began in 1987 and was finished by 1991. 
Biosphere 2 is modeled after Biosphere 1- the earth.

“Under the Dome” there are 5 miniature ecosystems that mirror ecosystems here on earth.  There is a mini ocean and a mini rainforest, among others.

The biosphere was a fully enclosed and sealed system. The roof has several “lungs”  that regulated air pressure.













In 1991 8 people were sealed inside the Biosphere, with their only access to the outside world being a window with a phone.

For the next two years they ate only the food provided at the start of the experiment (goats, chickens etc) and what they could grow.

  
Each one had their own private space, but they shared one kitchen, where they took turns cooking meals.

There were many challenges along the way. One of the biggest was that although they had enough nutrition from their food, they struggled to consume enough calories, and were hungry all the time.



Also, it took about 2 weeks to grow enough harvest-able coffee beans to make enough coffee for all 8 people, and several participants were frustrated by the lack of caffeine.


Years later the entrepreneur funding the experiments sold out and the biosphere sat idle.  Eventually Columbia University purchased it and used it for experiments, and they eventually sold it to the University of Arizona.



The Biosphere is no longer a closed system but has numerous doors and windows and is open to the outdoors.  Nowadays it is being used by scientists from all over the world to research carbon.

Specifically, they are studying carbon, water and air cycles, how they interact, and what that tells us about climate change.

I enjoyed the tour, but I was hoping to hear more about the original mission of Biosphere 2, and the tour concentrated on the current research being conducted.

And then we moved on to Phoenix………