Saguaro National Park West

Beautiful view of mist in the mountains 

Our hike this week took us to beautiful Saguaro National Park West in the Tucson Mountains.  Ten enthusiastic, overly bundled hikers (our temperatures here in Tucson had been below normal for 4 days and we had no idea what to expect up on the trails) met at the community center and started out at 8:30.  The weather was a little chilly, but beautiful Arizona sun did not let us down.  The morning was gorgeous. 

We got off to what we thought was a good start when JoAnn realized she had not placed her park pass on her windshield for the park rangers.  Not a huge problem because we had good old Jim to run - and I do mean run - back to the parking lot to put it in place. 

Run Jim, Run

We began our morning at the King Canyon Trailhead heading for the Gould Mine.  The Gould Mine was one of four mines of some consequence in the Tucson Mountains: Old Yuma, Gila Monster, Mile Wide, and Gould mines.  Sometime around 1906 S.H. Gould filed on nineteen claims for the Gould Copper Mining Company. As was the case with other mining companies, Gould encountered financial problems with the onset of the 1907 depression, but he succeeded in obtaining operating funds by taking a mortgage with the Pioneer Smelting Company from nearby Sasco. A thirty-five foot wide vein of copper was found at the 100 foot level. At the 200 foot level that vein broadened to a width of sixty feet. Unfortunately, an assay reported only three to four percent copper content in each ton of ore. Financial difficulty beset the Gould Company by the end of 1908 and it managed to survive only for a few more years by shipping excavated ore which had been stockpiled at the mine. It probably ceased operations sometime in 1911. In early 1915 the company was forced into bankruptcy and its claims were sold at a sheriff's auction. They were purchased by Douglas Gary of Tombstone who made no immediate attempt to operate the mine. For all the effort and investment only 45,000 pounds of copper with a value of $9,000 had been taken from the mine.

Copper mine desperadoes - LaNeta, Connie, Gina & me

We were able to see what was left of some of the buildings used for storage and shelter.  

JoAnn & Jim surveying the mine entrance

So how much barbed wire is needed?

There were barbed wire fences surrounding dangerous areas, such as the actual mine entrance, but of course that was meant for everyone except our adventurous Jim who spotted ringtail raccoons down in the shaft.

It took quite a hike to get to the mine and I was wondering if the men had to hike up to the mine every day or if they camped at the mine.  I found one picture online which showed the mining camp and it seemed to be at the base, not near the mine. 

Oh well, on with the hike….

Hi Ho Hi Ho it's on the trail we go....

I sometimes get caught up in the historic significance of the area, and fail to mention the beauty of what we see as we are hiking through the park.  The saguaro cactus that sometimes tower above us so high I can’t even figure out how to get the whole thing in the photos.  My good friend George told me last week, that I need a bigger camera.  L  Along trail we saw many different types of cactus, and we noticed a family of javelina on a lower trail from us.  Thank goodness, they were also downwind. 

Gordy measuring up to a saguaro - he lost

We proceeded from the mine past the Mam-A-Gah picnic area to the Sendero Esperanza Trail and from there to the Hugh Norris Trail.  The maps our leader JoAnn gets from the National Park Service are usually pretty accurate as far as the mileage of the trails and the elevation gain on each hike, but we had varying opinions on the distance of this one.  We all felt the total hike was more like 5 ½ or 6 miles rather than the 4+ miles the map was telling us.  Several of the group actually stayed behind when we stopped to take water and rest a little.  Being the novice hiker, I always push myself to keep up, so I made it to the saddle we were aiming for as a turn-around point.  I tell you, I was very glad that the trip back would be mainly downhill though.  OUCH!  My legs…. Anyway, enough with the whining! What are we hikers or cry-babies?  We made it to the saddle, and then doubled back, picked up the couple of people that had waited at the bottom, and trekked back to the Mam-A-Gah picnic area for MY favorite part of the hike….lunch.   

If you look real closely...saguaro are the supports 

After lunch, JoAnn located a shortcut that took us past a huge wash that probably looks more like a lake during monsoon season.  We didn't go into the wash, but those in the group that had been on this particular hike previously mentioned that there are petroglyphs on rocks along the wash.  It is just amazing that when you least expected - a petroglyph pops up.  Kind of like when my kids were young and their friends always seemed to show up right at dinner time.... Well, this hike was fantastic.  Wonderful weather, no mishaps, a lot of history and great fellowship.  

We retraced our steps past Gould Mine and took the loop trail back to the parking lot.  The total mileage again in question.  Boy, that hot tub is going to look good this evening.

Judy and Barb doing a few wardrobe adjustments?

See you on the trails!


Sweetwater Trail in Saguaro National Park



Me and cactus flower

Well, I’ve been off the trail for several weeks because of personal obligations.  Translation: I had family visiting for a week, I had jury duty the following week, and the third week I was a no account slacker.  That being said, our hikes are dwindling down to a precious few now.  The main group disbanded last week because the temperatures reached way up in the 80s and several people showed signs of heat exhaustion.  We are now operating with a much smaller group and we are abbreviating the length and difficulty of the hikes because of the heat. 

  

We have decided to gather an hour earlier figuring we can get started earlier and end the hikes before the heat gets dangerous.Whereas our normal hiking group ran between 12 and 18 members per hike, we only had four in our abbreviated group Wednesday.


We left the community center bright and early at 7:30 a.m., which means I was up at 6:00 a.m. so I could walk my dog before starting out. Needless to say….I was not bright eyed or bushy tailed in the least!   

BrickleBush

This week we hiked the Sweetwater Trail in Saguaro National Park in the Tucson Mountains.  We were aiming for the 3.4 mile mark as our turnaround spot.  This point is called Sweetwater Saddle and is the point where the trails from the west side of the park meet the Sweetwater Trail and from here all the trails share the same route to Wasson Peak, the highest point in the Tucson Mountains.   

Jumping Cholla Cactus

We had agreed at onset to hike 1 ½ hours one way, stop for a brief lunch and head back.  We had plenty of breaks to drink water and take pictures.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! 

The most notable thing of this hike was the flowers.   The desert was definitely in bloom and we had a wonderful time just trying to identify all of the flowers, cactus, plants and birds along the trail.  There were blossoms of every size and color.   We even took picture of this one cactus flower that looked as if it were coming out of a rock.   

Jorge snapping pics of flowers

This was a most enjoyable hike.  We didn’t quite make it to Sweetwater Saddle before we stopped and turned around, but that’s okay.   We were close enough and we didn’t have any problems – heat or otherwise. 





Me, Connie, Stan and SAGUARO

Hike Statistics (We only did 3 hours, with a break in the middle so we didn’t make the total mileage )

Distance Round Trip 7.36 mile

Trailhead Elevation 2,543 feet
Elevation Gain 412 feet
Accumulated Gain 536 feet
Average Time Round Trip 3.5 hours

Romero Pools - Catalina State Park

On Wednesday, Feb. 29th we hiked in beautiful Catalina State Park in the Santa Catalina Mountains.  Our fearless leader Joanne gave us a choice between two trails. The reason for this was because of the difference in the difficulties of the trails.

Hike A was an easy hike of a total of a little more than three miles.  The Canyon Loop Trail was 2.3 miles with an elevation gain of 100ft.  This was combined with the Ruins Interpretive Trail of 3/4 of a mile.

 Hike B was The Romero Pools Trail. This hike is considered a moderate plus trail.   It is a total of five miles long – 2.5 miles up with an elevation gain of 1000 feet and then 2.5 miles back down.  WHEW!

Of the two choices and I had decided waaaayyyy last week that I felt more comfortable following the first hike, the easier hike.  After all, I am still a novice at this.  This would just be my 5^th hike.

Don't let this innocent smile fool you

The blog title indicates trails and trials….well, I think you know where I’m going with this one, and this one was a bit of a trial.  As we gathered in the parking lot of the community center, I allowed one of the seasoned hikers, Ernie a seemingly nice guy with an honest enough face to talk me into Hike B.  He told me he was SURE I could do it.  And yes, you guessed it, I fell for it. 

Our group of 13 hikers headed off to Catalina State Park at 8:30 a.m. with confidence high and arrived approximately 30 minutes later. Today, as in previous hikes – the weather was gorgeous.

Peeling off layers as the sun warms

This trail is very popular because of the beautiful scenery, it’s not too hard, and leads to the natural waterpark of Romero Pools.

                                                                            

The first 15 or 20 minutes of the trail is over the desert floor, but then it gets very rocky and starts climbing steeply up the north side of Montrose Canyon. About 45 minutes in from the trailhead you get to the top of the ridge between Romero and Montrose canyons, and then head up canyon near the top of the ridge. This area on the top of the ridge is very beautiful, since it has rock formations, great views, and it takes some work to get up there.

 The trail winds through the rocks at the top of the ridge for about 20 minutes, generally climbing, but with some short descents, until you drop down to the stream crossing at Romero Pools. There are pools and waterfalls up and down the stream from this point. To return, you just retrace your route back to the trailhead.

The Fork

Both trailheads started at the same place and our group divided in two.  One group of 5 took the trail to the nature trail to the left and the other group of 8 took the fork to Romero Pools.  This would be my last chance to change my mind and go on the easier hike….I didn’t.  I believed in my ability (and Ernie) and I wanted to try it. 

The wildflowers were spectacular! We saw poppies, foxgloves, brittle bush (I have since purchased several of these for my yard), fairy dusters, daisies, and more.  I am sorry I could not take photos of these beauties, because if just wasn’t that type of hike.  I had to keep my eyes on the trail and on my feet and the person ahead of me.  I just was too whimpy to try to take pictures while I hiked. 

The pictures I was able to snap of scenery were mostly when we stopped for a quick drink or at our lunch break. 

One of the things that kept me going and from complaining too much was a young man on the trail with his four, yes I said four children.  One was in a child carrier on his back and the others were probably ages 4, 7 and 10.  These ages are approximations but the skill of these kids was amazing.  I refused to be beaten by this group of super-humans! 

Reaching the pools

 I have to say once we got back down and were walking back to the parking lot, I felt a great sense of accomplishment.  I am glad I took the high road. 

People dive off the rocks into this pool-CRAZY!

Heading back down

Until next time…keep tumbling along like tumbling tumbleweed.

Madera Canyon

This week our hike took us to beautiful Madera Canyon. Madera Canyon is located in the Coronado National Forest on the northwest side of the magnificent Santa Rita Mountains under the towering Mount Wrightson (elevation 9453 feet) the third tallest peak in Arizona and the tallest in the Santa Rita Range. We hiked the Madera Creek Trail which was only about six miles round trip, but filled with plenty of hiking challenges.  Our adventure began at the Whitehouse Picnic area and we followed along the creek on the Nature Trail.  I have probably said this every week so far (in my four weeks as a hiker) but I have to say it again.  This had to be one of the most stunning settings in the world for a hike to date. 

The trail head is at an elevation of about 4500 feet and we gained about 600 ft. elevation on the nature trail.  There were spots in the trail where you hardly caught your breath from one pretty steep little junction before another was upon you.  Experienced climbers probably call this hike easy, but you notice my blog is titled the “novice hiker”…thus my whining at some of the challenging spots.  I will admit I got pretty winded a couple of times before we stopped for our lunch break, but I am quick to add that I’m getting a little better every week.  At least I’m not reaching for Aleve or Advil as soon as I come in the door like I did after my first hike. 

   
The trail was clearly marked and actually had identifiers on trees and other native plants which made the hike so much more educational for those of us new to the Tucson area and still learning the plant life (other than cacti).  We have a fellow hiker that is very well informed on all the flora and fauna and helps fill us in on all the plants we have questions about, but he deserted us this time for some golfing event that was going on in town....the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship or some such nonsense. 

Maybe the draw of big names like Tiger Woods, Bobby Jones, Luke Donald, Rory Mcllroy, Bubba Watson and others was enough to spirit away our resident botanist George, and a few others, but we had a relatively large group of 13 on the trail not giving a thought to the hundreds of people on the links. We were in our element.  

After our lunch break at the halfway mark on the trail we followed the road down to the Santa Rita Lodge where they have a large enclosure where they feed the birds.  There were several large wild turkeys while we were there today and we were able to identify quite a few other birds feeding in the area – Mexican Jays, Red-breasted Nuthatches, sparrows, finches, and many more. 

We continued down the road on our way back down to the parking area and stopped in at several bed & breakfast establishments for information.  There were bed & breakfast, lodges, cabins, casitas…WHO KNEW!!??  Anyway, I picked up information brochures on accommodations at several of these hidden jewels for future possibilities…

  

Another perfect hike under our fanny packs!

 Many thanks to the Friends of Madera Canyon for the brochures on hiking in Madera Canyon and Birds of Madera Canyon.