I'm taking a group of beginning backpackers along the Derrick Trail/Horton Creek loop in October. We have hiked the Horton Creek Trail but not Derrick. Any suggestions for places to camp along Derrick before we reach the springs? Also, I noticed the parking lot is often full. If so, can we park over...

The route we're looking at is no. 8 from Mount Lemmon to Catalina State Park via Romero Pass. Thanks!

My husband and I share an 800-square-foot adobe with three large cats. Fortunately we have a pickup that doubles as an outbuilding. We keep all our gear in covered plastic bins in the bed of the truck just under the sleeping platform: one box for cooking gear, one for tools, one for tents and sleepi...

DT, I'll PM you separately but just wanted to say that I also have a cross Catalinas fantasy. When we hiked to Pima Saddle recently, it looked like you could come down off Mount Lemmon and trot along on exposed (but unburned) rock all the way to Romero Pass and down to Catalina State Park. Has anybo...

We are stop-and-smell-the-roses day hikers, mountain bikers and backpackers who are looking for playmates in the Tucson area. NOT swingers -- just other folks of any age, sex or marital status who appreciate the desert and good conversation. We're in our mid-50s, and all our friends are couch potato...

We went, but we did not complete the loop! See http://www.desertlavender.com/chiricahuas/greenhouse_trail.asp . The trail is very steep and in pretty bad shape (burnt timber and waist-high burning nettle). Views are so-so until you get past the waterfall (which is lovely). We backtracked in the morn...

Wow, thanks for the great recent info on water, etc.! I'm very surprised about the number of campers at Anita Park since last time we only saw five other hikers in three days. Were they all with a group?

Dennis and I are planning our more-or-less annual backpacking trip to the Chiricahua Mountains September 23-25. Because of the extreme isolation, it's safer and lots more fun to make this trip with a group. We're planning on leaving Tucson early Saturday morning and doing a 15-mile loop in three day...

Shocking but true. We spend a lot of time in the border regions, and the coyotes are armed to the teeth.

We did this loop Nov. 26-28 and did not see another soul for more than 24 hours. Terrapin Trail sees so little traffic now that some sections are totally overgrown with holly.