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| Hiking | 20.29 Miles |
4,945 AEG |
| | Hiking | 20.29 Miles | 8 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.39 mph |
| 4,945 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | We joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club on a great adventure this weekend that included the annual SAHC Winter Picnic.
We started this morning at 5:30 in the dark. With just the light of a crescent moon and the stars, we walked up the road to the trail at the end. We could hear the creek and an owl in the background as we walked. It's nice to let your ears take over when walking in the dark.
As we were hiking along the switchbacks up to the junction with the Phoneline trail the day was beginning to brighten. There were some nice views of the sunrise light hitting Rattlesnake and Cathedral Peak. We even saw some verbena growing in a couple spots along the trail.
We flew past Hutch's Pool, we had been there about a month ago and figured not much had changed. We did stop for a bite after we had risen up out of the creek bed above the Pool.
Soon, we were hiking in one of my favorite areas of the Catalina's, a oak forest that becomes is mixed with some juniper, pine, and the tall Arizona Cypress as you climb. This was the third time I've been to that area and each time I love it even more. I say that I'm going to camp at the junction of the West Fork and the Cathedral Rock Trail someday (hopefully soon!). There are some really nice campsites in that area that would make for a great weekend backpack. The creek looks dry there but we have in the past found water up the creek a bit flowing in a pool from a nice terraced small waterfall.
From this point until Romero Pools I was on new-to-me trail. We switchbacked up through an old burn area that was being taken over by oak and manzanita. There were a couple spots where the manzanita were flowering. We got to Romero Pass where we were greeted with views of Rincon Peak, Mica Mountain, Helen's Dome, along with the West fork of Sabino Canyon on one side and Romero Canyon on the other. We had a lunch break at the pass while enjoying the view.
From the top of the Pass down about a quarter of a mile we encountered a bit of old snow that had crusted over and was a bit icy. The steepness combined with the snow made for an interesting descent. Soon the snow was good and I noticed that the top part of Romero Canyon was nicely wooded. We discovered several nice campsites along the way. There is water in the Canyon right now. I find it wonderful that we had one good storm over NY and it has feed the creeks for a month without petering out.
When we had about 5 miles left we left the nice wooded surrounding and were plunged back into desert. Shortly after that you could hear water rushing over some falls, in the distance, in the canyon bottom. Soon, we got to the higher pools and we started to see people. By the time we hit Romero Pools there were people everywhere. It was a shock to the system after having gone about 17 miles without having to deal with a lot of people.
I battled my way around the hordes and was relieved at the end to be done (and not because of the distance)! We made it to the group picnic area just at the start of the picnic. What a great way to end a long distance hike. The food and company was wonderful.
We bummed a ride back to Sabino and then rushed home to get ready for a Wine Tasting Party. Hmm, less than 7 miles to hit 100 miles for January. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I am nuts! |
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