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| Run/Jog | 14.30 Miles |
3,629 AEG |
| | Run/Jog | 14.30 Miles | 5 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.60 mph |
| 3,629 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | After the remains of Mr. Smallwood from Ohio were found in the Santa Ritas, one of my Tucson friends hit me up for a chance to go check out the infamous ridge. I'm a fan of the Santa Ritas first of all, and have already explored two ways up Hopkins (the "main" route up from above Carrie Nation mine, and the old Jeep track from Josephine Canyon). Adding a third sounded fun.
A group of four of us started before 6:30am up Vault Mine trail, with a side excursion to the namesake mine. From the top of Vault Mine, we headed east towards Josephine Saddle, then took the social trail up to Mount Hopkins road. Power hiked the road up to the summit, enjoyed the view, and then headed the quarter mile or so back down to the ridge where the lost hiker's remains were found.
The ridge itself was very pleasant; in terms of vegetation, it was all quite friendly, and there weren't really any serious obstacles. One might be tempted to head down the gully, which is a mistake - stay on the ridge. About half way down, another ridge forks off to the right; this is the one you want. From here, there's actually trail the whole way down to Agua Caliente Saddle. As far as ridges are concerned, this one is actually pretty easy, but bring a topo map just in case.
Our group kind of splintered after this point; I headed over to Josephine Saddle by myself and went about a mile down Temporal trail, with a return via Super Trail. There's no shortage of options in the Madera Canyon area! |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
