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| Backpack | 16.00 Miles |
3,300 AEG |
| | Backpack | 16.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 3,300 ft AEG | | 32 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I finally got back into backpacking after taking a long summer/monsoon break. I joined 10 members of the Arizona Backpackers Club on a hike to Hutch’s Pool in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson. This was a nearly 16-mile round trip through a lot of vegetation and a lot of ups and downs. We parked our cars at the Gordon Hirabiyashi Campground and set out for a great day. For a good description of the hike, read Fricknaley’s Hutch's Pool via East Fork Sabino Canyon, AZ description. I thought going downhill for most of the day to the pool would be easy. Not so. It took us 5 hours with lots of breaks to reach our destination for the night. It was hot which made this trek more difficult. Once reaching the pool, many of us just took our packs off and waded right in. The water felt great as it cooled us down from all our exertion. We set up our tents on the beach and along the creek area settling in for a relaxing evening.
Another group of young people hiked through our camp disappointed that we got there before they did, so they camped further down the creek at the end of the pool where the waterfall was. They jumped from edge of the waterfall into the pool all evening long and gathered firewood for the evening although it was a warm night. It was obvious they were in for a party.
I went to bed around 8:30 as I was one tired puppy. It was a warm night and I knew I wasn’t going to sleep too well. When I finally got into a deep REM sleep, I heard what I thought was gun fire. Bang….Bang. I woke up and thought I was dreaming. I looked at my watch and it was 11:30 p.m. Then another …Bang…..Bang. The intoxicated party up the creek shot off a gun of some kind. It made me so upset. Those bullets could have ricocheted off the canyon walls and hit one of us; or worst, they could be walking through the camp shooting at each tent. (I watch too many crazy TV shows, I guess.) You never know what is going on in the minds of drugged out people. It ruined my night. I’ll take the presence of bears any day from the presence of idiot humans!
The next morning, we all got up early to get ahead of the heat as we knew it was going to be a long climb back to the GH trailhead. We were all thankful we survived the gunfire from the night before.
One of our hikers decided he could not make it back up the mountain and decided to take an easier way out by going a shorter trail to Sabino Canyon and taking the Tram. A couple of the Tucson gals took his car keys and drive his car from the GH parking lot and dropped off his car at the Sabino Canyon parking lot. All worked out for him.
I decided to suck it up and go the long way up with the help of the “the sweep” encouraging me all the way. As long as I took a lot of breaks, I was going to make it. Again the trail was a bit overgrown making using your hiking sticks nearly impossible. There were these certain kind of evil weeds that were stronger than Velcro wrapping around your pant legs and socks. They turn to mush if you tried to pull them off. I looked like the “Swamp Lady” covered with sticky weeds when I was done.
This trip just proved to me that you cannot take the summer off from hiking and backpacking. Just because it’s hot, you got to keep your body moving and keep it strong! |
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