Snow in the Catalinas (Tucson)

[nikorock28]

Hello everyone, I am interested in doing hikes in the Catalinas (Finger Rock/Pima Canyon to Mt. Kimball, Ventana Canyon to the Window, Cathedral Rock, Romero Pass, etc.), but am concerned about the presence of ice/snow in the higher elevations. Will there be ice/snow up in those areas right now? If there is too much snow that I am unable to hike in regular hiking boots, then I will just wait until the spring when it melts. Thank you for any information that you can provide!

Nick

[chumley]

Hey Nick-

If you don't get a reply from somebody here who has been up there very recently, the best source for information would be the local ranger.

Santa Catalina Ranger District
Stan Helin, District Ranger
Angela Elam, Deputy District Ranger
5700 N. Sabino Canyon Rd
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 749-8700
(520) 749-7723 FAX

Located on the northeast corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Sabino Canyon Road at Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. Office hours are 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday-Friday and 8:30am to 4:30pm, Saturday-Sunday. The phone numbers above are staffed every day of the year, except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Further contact information is at the Coronado National Forest website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/

[joebartels]

Does Lemmon have a camera and depth gauge?

[nikorock28]

Hey Nick-

If you don't get a reply from somebody here who has been up there very recently, the best source for information would be the local ranger.

Santa Catalina Ranger District
Stan Helin, District Ranger
Angela Elam, Deputy District Ranger
5700 N. Sabino Canyon Rd
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 749-8700
(520) 749-7723 FAX

Located on the northeast corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Sabino Canyon Road at Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. Office hours are 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday-Friday and 8:30am to 4:30pm, Saturday-Sunday. The phone numbers above are staffed every day of the year, except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Further contact information is at the Coronado National Forest website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/

Ahh, great. Thanks for the information.

[SkyIslandHiker]

Nick,

We did a short hike late this afternoon up Ventana Canyon to Maiden Pools. Along the way we ran into several hikers coming down from the Window.
We asked them how much snow up there and they stated a foot.

Bill

[nikorock28]

Nick,

We did a short hike late this afternoon up Ventana Canyon to Maiden Pools. Along the way we ran into sevderal hikers coming down from the Window.
We asked them how much snow up there and they stated a foot.

Bill

Bill, thanks for the information. Now I just wonder how quickly the snow melts

[mromero]

Hey nick,
I went on a backpack up finger rock canyon to the pima canyon junction this past weekend. There was some snow on the finger rock trail but it wasn't an issue at all. There was quite a bit up on mount kimball, but the trail wasn't covered or anything. My group encountered people that went up pima canyon and ventana canyon and they said the trails were almost impassible. There was a group of 6 that said 4 or 5 people turned around on pima canyon because there was a bunch of ice and they were slipping. another group said ventana canyon had a good amount of snow too, a foot deep in some places.

[nikorock28]

Hey nick,
I went on a backpack up finger rock canyon to the pima canyon junction this past weekend. There was some snow on the finger rock trail but it wasn't an issue at all. There was quite a bit up on mount kimball, but the trail wasn't covered or anything. My group encountered people that went up pima canyon and ventana canyon and they said the trails were almost impassible. There was a group of 6 that said 4 or 5 people turned around on pima canyon because there was a bunch of ice and they were slipping. another group said ventana canyon had a good amount of snow too, a foot deep in some places.

Yes, I did see your triplog. Thanks a lot for the additional information. That is strange that the conditions in Pima and Ventana would be so different than in Finger Rock. I also read that the Romero Pass area had a bit of snow as well. I am going to hike Finger Rock to Mt. Kimball either tomorrow or Friday and I'll save the others for another day

[juliachaos]

Nick, I'm hiking Finger Rock > Kimball > Pima Cyn Saturday morning w/ a couple others. Open to anyone who is interested in joining, just shoot me a PM.

[steelcup]

I wouldn't forego hiking plans because of the snow, but hiking boots and knee high gaiters are probably required to avoid wet shoes/socks. It's almost a certainty that there'll be a foot or more of snow in places on each of the front range trails. I've never seen much snow on Ventana proper, but the area around Kimball (on the Pima trail and the Finger Rock trail past the junction) had feet of snow last year in early March. Same on the north facing spots on Esperero above the Esperero/Montrose saddle and ditto for Cathedral Rock.

Really, there's no better time of year though. Last year a friend and I did a Pima to Esperero overnighter and we never carried more than a nalgene of water, due to there being so many spots to refill, and the canyons with all that water are gorgeous. I did wish, pretty much constantly past Pima Springs, that I had brought my gaiters though.

There's a spot or two on each trail that can get sketchy and requires attention. Particularly in my mind the short section of bare rock just above the turnoff to Pima Saddle, and the north facing/notch area above Esperero/Montrose saddle.

[Jeffshadows]

The snow in the Front Range canyon hikes (Finger, Pima, Ventana, Esperero, etc) will be limited to pockets unless you go in the middle of a snowstorm or early in the AM after an evening snowstorm. There is usually a small pack up on Kimball and in isolated areas near the Window and Esperero Saddle.

[Sredfield]

Bumping this to the top, does anyone have current information regarding snow in the Tucson area mountains?

[Jim]

The ski area has a base of 26 to 29 inches and base elevation of 8200'. I would expect snow down to 7,000', and probably down to the high 5,000's in protected and shady areas.