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…
Category: Activities
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….
Secret Canyon
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…
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…