Moving at my usual pace, there's an outside chance I might get to visit Tucson, Arizona in the next year or two. (Nothing like advance planning!) Anyway, I panned around the place on Google Earth and on Flickr to see what I could see, and it looks like there's a TON of opportunities for KAP. Saguaro National Forest (with approval, of course), Sabino Canyon, Picacho Peak, Mt. Lemmon (and the whole rest of the Catalinas), not to mention Earth 2, the Spanish mission architecture, and the whole university campus. Has anyone had a chance to do KAP out there?
I can't say this would come any time soon, and right now there are no guarantees at all. But I wouldn't mind trading notes before packing gear and hopping on a plane.... some day.
FWIW, I visited Picacho Peak State Park back in 1988 while I was attending a school in Phoenix. I wasn't doing KAP when I was there, so you might want to contact the park ahead of time to see if KAPing is kosher with them or not. I don't think it would be a problem, but when you're dealing with State Park people, you never can tell.
I found a website for the park:
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/PIPE/index.html
{I can't make the "link" thing work right, so I just typed the url manually.}
If you try to climb the peak, bring plenty of WATER. I climbed it with a friend while we were there. I was about 27 at the time. If I tried to do that now, I'd be buzzard food....
I've passed through quite a few times without KAP gear. There's an old WWII internment camp up the Mt. Lemmon Highway. This is some very photogenic territory. There's a lot of rough terrain in the area in general which should force you to think about your KAP a little differently. Straight down shots are still unique, but a lot of oblique shots might look like they are taken from a (non-existent) peak or canyon wall.
Cemetaries, Ghost towns, and old mining camps, are all over the place. Tombstone could be fun from a tourist perspective. Vertical close-ups of weird plants might be the most fun. White Sands and the Guadalupe Mountains would be awesome and it's not that far away.
If you get KAP envy, you should check out Sierra Vista's aerostat. It's for seeing low flying airplanes on radar.
And make sure to take a lot of ground level pictures. KAPs cool and all, but when you go someplace amazing it's good to get some non-fuzzy well-framed shots in addition to the sometimes unpredictable KAP shots.
---------------------- Actually, let me know when you come. I would like to do some science related photogrammetry in the area and would love to meet up or even get help :)
I am not sure how much this will help but I actually lived in Tucson. Unfortunately before I had any interest in Kap,kites or photography. The thing that sticks out in my mind are the sunsets. I would think it would look wonderful to capture a magnificient sunset from a few hundred feet up possibly with the bottom of your picture being framed by saguaro covered hills. If it is around summer bring water, sunblock and I wear a fishing type shirt and pamts to keep the sun off. Watch where you step as well, cactus and critters. I think the places you listed would be great. San Xavier Mission especially. There is an ostrich farm outside Tucson towards Phoenix. There is also the plane graveyard but I guess that would have to be done with PAP. There is also an artist colony in Tubac which would make a fun day trip, I can not rmember if there is a good place to set up a kite. If I remember correctly there was a housing development on a large hill that was layed ot in a way you capture it all from a little ways up on the way to Tubac. I think I heard Old Tucson burned but not sure if that would be at all worth looking into. On the I-10 there is what was once a water park which has closed or at least partially. I like to photogrph the tubes from the air, though this should be at he bottom of your list. Sabino canyon can be very beuatiful. The times I went they had a tram that could take you up a ways before ou had to start hiking it. I will see if any of my old Tucson friends have any thoughts.
All this sounds great. It seriously sounds like I've got some planning to do. But the time frame for this trip is mid to late 2010 or on into 2011, if it happens at all. So there's plenty of time to get my ducks (and kites!) in a row.
