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| | Mount Lemmon to Catalina SP, AZ | | | |
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Mount Lemmon to Catalina SP, AZ
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| Hiking | 13.10 Miles |
1,500 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.10 Miles | | | |
| 1,500 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Partners |
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[ show ]
| partners | | Bill and I met up with his friend from out of town (also named Bill) for the long shuttle up the mountain. Unfortunately, his friend had hurt his knee on a previous hike so he was only hiked with us as far as the Meadow Tr. and looped back. We stopped at the Lemmon Rock Lookout and marveled at the spectacular views. I was a little apprehensive about doing such a big hike down the mountain since I hadn't been hiking all that much lately. Good thing for muscle memory, the day was perfect!
We decided to take the Mt. Lemmon trail instead of the Lemmon Rock/Wilderness of Rock and it was fun to take a trail I haven't been on in years. The scenery was fantastic and it was fun to call out landmarks as they appeared. Love the Catalinas!!
Bill has been working on hiking the AZT from the border to Oracle and he was missing the two miles from the Wilderness of Rock junction to Romero Pass. We reached the junction and then took a side trail to an area of giant granite slabs with incredible views of Pusch Ridge and the front range. It was a great spot for a break and hard to leave.
We descended, weaving through the rock formations on the AZT and plotting future hikes. As we neared Romero Pass, we saw a couple coming up the mountain from Catalina SP. Other than a dog-walking couple up top, these were the only four people we saw until we hit Romero Pools. Not bad for a Sunday!
We started looking for bighorns at Romero Pass, sadly we saw none, though we stopped to scan the cliffs regularly. The trail in Romero Canyon was badly damaged from the rains in the switchbacks to the creekbed.
We stopped at the campsite above the waterfall, got to come back here to camp sometime. I went to take a nap on a flat rock and when I brushed some of the pine needles away, realized that it was a grinding station that I hadn't seen before. Sweet!
We were shocked to see the damage in the canyon itself. The entire canyon had been scoured and there was debris 10 feet over Bill's head in places. There were giant trees down and the creek crossings had been blown out by the flood. Also tons of poison ivy to watch out for.
We were fully expecting to be warm on the lower parts of the trail, but we timed it just right. There were little splashes of fall color in the drainage and we scanned again and again for bighorns. One of my favorite floatie spots just above the pools has been filled in with silt from the flood.
Finally we reached the pools and the people. I often forget how rocky and rutted this part of the trail is- it was the worst part of the trail on already tired feet. We got to the parking lot as the light was fading. It was just the hike I needed and a perfect day out on the trail. |
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