The day started with a early morning departure to Colossal Cave Mountain Park for the 8 mile 2012 Fleet Feet Arizona Trail Race – it was cold as we got in the car and hoped that it would be just a little warmer by the time the race started. The start and finish is the…
Category: Activities
Bear Canyon Trail to Seven Falls
Sabino Canyon is a spectacularly beautiful place to hike. Halfway up the side of the canyon, the Phone Line trail contours along length, offering great vistas. Other trails include Blacket’s Ridge. A paved road runs along the bottom, along which runs a tram. Bear Canyon, the next canyon over from Sabino Canyon, while not as…
Section 17 Saguaro Census
On December 8th, a group of four Summit Hut volunteers joined two community volunteers and two Park Services employees on a Saguaro Census. We met at the Saguaro East visitors center and made our way to the Mica View Picnic Area. Our fearless leader, Irene, gave a brief overview of the history of Saguaros in…
Rosewood Point and North Rosewood Point
Driving to the trailhead. Rain and clouds… The perfect day for a hike! To enjoy the somewhat rare grey skies I decided to hike up to Rosewood Point. My reward for braving the weather was getting to watch clouds swirling around Table Mountain and The Cleaver – different from the usual views in Pima Canyon!…
Airmen Peak
Molino Basin is a gateway to a number of truly fantastic areas in the Santa Catalina Mountains. One great off-trail destination is Airmen Peak. Although no official trails exist to the peak there are several ways to the top – this blog post describes hiking to Airmen Peak by of way Molino Canyon to the…
Buster Mountain, Buster Spring, Montrose Canyon
I don’t think I would have picked Buster Mountain out of the Santa Catalina skyline as a hiking destination without the help of “The Santa Catalina Mountains: A Guide to the Trails and Routes” by Pete Cowgill and Eber Glendening (this guide has been out of print for years, but it is a great resource…
Palisade Trailhead to the Sabino Canyon Tram
There are quite a few reasons to like the Palisade Trail – easy access to a great section of Pine Canyon, great views of an outstanding Santa Catalina waterfall, great views of Thimble peak and Tucson… But the best thing about the Palisade Trail is that you can use it to take a journey from…
National Geographic BioBlitz – Saguaro National Park
On October 21st, Saguaro National Park hosted visitors, scientists, researchers, volunteers and students from across the country in an effort to inventory as many species as possible inside the park. I was able to participate in the event as a “Photo Ambassador” – which was fancy BioBlitz-speak for “guy with a camera”. As I made…
Salome Canyon
A few weeks ago, a group of us took a little canyoneering journey up to Salome Canyon. For those of you who may not know, canyoneering is an adventure activity that essentially entails making your way down the bottom of a canyon – by any means necessary. Sometimes that means hiking, sometimes it’s sliding and…
Upper Muley Twist Canyon
Talk to just about anyone who has walked the loop trail in Upper Muley Twist Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park, and they’ll be happy to rant and rave about just how great the hike is. Hard to argue; this is certainly one of the finest and most rewarding hikes I have ever been on….