Bryon wears soft cotton pants and no shoes, so when he walks behind you–even right behind you–you can’t hear him at all. He knows how to build a fire by rubbing two sticks together. He knows the best wood for making a bow, and the way to prepare cactus to eat so that it doesn’t…
Category: Activities
Samaniego Peak
Residents of Oro Valley and the town of Catalina, north of Tucson, are very familiar with stately Samaniego Ridge, which drops off the top of Mt Lemmon and stretches north in a seemingly straight line for over 8 miles before dying out beyond Charouleau Gap. The highpoint on the ridge is a prominent craggy rock…
Florida Canyon Trail
My favorite Sky Island trails are those that take you from prickly pear to pines. There are quite a few in the Santa Catalinas, Rincons, and Santa Ritas, but my dog likes Florida (flor-EE-dah) Canyon in the northern Santa Ritas. Actually, she has done very little hiking in mountains other than the Santa Ritas. Much…
Peak 5001 and the Saddleback Ridge
The big ridge that separates lower Sabino and Bear Canyons is one of the great ridges of the Santa Catalina Mountains. To the north, this ridge rises out of Sabino Basin and runs southwest all the way to the mouths of the two canyons. Thimble Peak dominates the middle section, while the southern end is…
Banff Film Festival & Summit Hut Grant Recipients
First off, I want to offer a big thank you to everyone who came out to this year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour at the historic Fox Theatre. I hope you all enjoyed the evening and left feeling inspired to get out there and enjoy your own adventure. Sold out crowd of 1150 at…
Babad Do’ag Trail
Located a few miles up the Mount Lemmon Highway, the Babad Do’ag Trail follows an old bulldozer track up MacDougal Ridge on the southern flanks of the Santa Catalina Mountains. This old route had been nearly forgotten until the trail was rebuilt and renamed during the 17 year Mt Lemmon Highway road improvement project which…
King Canyon Trail
The King Canyon Trail is an excellent way to enjoy Saguaro National Park West, which protects a major portion of the Tucson Mountains west of Tucson, Arizona. The Sonoran Desert ecosystem is on full display along the trail, featuring Saguaro cactus groves, Ironwood trees and Jojoba shrubs, to name just a few plant species. Wasson…
Sweetwater Trail
One of the four mountain ranges that cradle the Tucson valley, the Tucson Mountains are home to Saguaro National Park West and the world renowned Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The range is a showpiece for the Sonoran Desert and its exotic ecosystem of desert-adapted plants and animals. Wasson Peak and the Sweetwater Trail The Tucson Mountains…
50 Year Trail
The 50 Year Trail on the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains is a magical place. It’s hard to explain why really; this network of trails does not go up one of the many scenic and rugged canyons, but rather loops around on the shallow ridges and washes below the range. It was cloudy…
Open Climbing Season at Cochise Stronghold
Chris tries to tell me what to expect on the fourth pitch: when my quads will start to burn in the layback, the point where I won’t be able to see my gear placements, and when I’ll be far enough above my last piece that I’ll just have to gun it to better ground. I…