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| Cat Mountain - Starr Pass Loop, AZ | |
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| | Cat Mountain - Starr Pass Loop, AZ | | | |
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Cat Mountain - Starr Pass Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.00 Miles |
250 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.00 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 2.50 mph |
| 250 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Just a quick loop hike in the Tucson Mountains to stretch the legs out and get the dogs some exercise. I started at the Sarasota Trailhead, with only a few cars keeping me company. From the start it's clear that this is a very popular mountain biking route - the whole way is covered with tracks and the narrow side-by-side grooves of bike tires.
Followed the Starr Pass Trail northwestish to the junction with the Yetman Trail. There's a little climb here, but nothing significant. The trails meet up at a little tangle of junctions and spur trails, but as long as you head in the right direction, it seems like they all come back together in the end. Turned right (eastish) onto the Yetman Trail and followed it through the intermediate canyon. This part of the trail is quite wide and easy to follow, and there are some views out to Gates Pass, but otherwise it's a pretty average dry canyon. We made very good time along this stretch, ever so slightly downhill and easy walking the whole way.
A little less than 3/4 of the way to the Starr Pass trail junction, I ran into a group of four young, pretty people. They were lost. The best they could figure was that they had started at 'the golf course' and hoped that this trail might eventually lead them back there. Of course, with all the loops possible in the Tucson Mountains, I suppose they could have made it work. But I think they were too pretty for maps. I got them turned back around then quickly left them behind to puzzle through the hike back on their own. They all had cell phones (they'd used them to take photos of my map).
The only trailsign I saw on the entire trip was at a giant junction between the Yetman Trail and the Starr Pass trail. I actually think that my map shows this spur as 'Saguaro Rib' trail, but it leads to the Starr Pass trail, so I suppose it's good enough. This trail was more interesting than the stretch of the Yetman. Although still an old 2 track, it heads toward the spine of Cat Mountain past a number of interesting hills, abandoned mines and cool rock formations. Starr Pass itself was the highlight of the hike - for a moment I imagined myself to be in the Galiuros or the Santa Theresas, someplace much wilder and further away.
We ran into a couple of hikers and bicyclists on our way back to the car along the Starr Pass trail, but otherwise it was an entirely uneventful trip. The sky was icky, high clouds, no color. The desert was still crispy from the hard freeze a few weeks before, and the spring had not yet taken a grip. Oh well - even a blah day on the trail is better than the most exciting day in front of the computer! |
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Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.- Barack Obama |
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