Ventana Canyon Trail #98 Photoset • BubbaJuice • 2022-10-11 • HikeArizona.COM

Ventana Canyon Trail #98, AZ

	2022-10-11
	33 by BubbaJuice

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Ventana Canyon Trail #98

Tucson, AZ

Ventana Canyon Trail #98

Tucson, AZ

Hiking	5.45 Miles	1,349 AEG

Hiking	5.45 Miles	3 Hrs 8 Mns	1.85 mph
	1,349 ft AEG	11 Mns Break

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First time in the canyon. Started at ~7:50am. Hiked up to Maiden Pools. I saw on All Trails that people were saying the trail was super overgrown. If you're okay with checking a gpx track every time you don't know where the trail goes and small branches getting in your face then this should be fine. Immediately from the trailhead there is a section with dense tree cover and some water in the wash. It was nice. There is a new development planned on the west side of the fence and one of the houses being built was causing a ruckus for about half a mile. Immediately the towering canyon walls were pretty cool. All the rock formations were cool. The ground was surprisingly damp in some places and others were dry as a bone. The further I went into the canyon, the harder it was to find the trail on the other side of the wash. The trail had a few plants bleeding onto the trail at this point. At 1.8 miles it was not clear where the trail went. The cairns did not help because it just showed a mass of green scrub. Checked the gpx eventually and got on the right track, for about for 50 feet. I turned right on a short dead-end trail. Got back on the actual trail after turning around. My advice for this part is to look for and follow the cairns and head towards the prominent rock formation at the east side of the canyon. From here the trail is "overgrown". Branches from the scruby trees around the wash bled onto the trail. The lower shrubs also were bleeding on to the trail. After you leave the canyon, there is a brief period of no vegetation quickly followed by knee-waist high grasses. The grassy part of this hike was really pleasant because of the expansive views down the canyon and unique feeling given by hiking through tall grasses in Tucson. At one point I wasn't sure where the trails went to I walked through the grass to where it showed on my phone. Some 5 big red ants got on my left leg and bit me. Hurt a bit for about 20 minutes. Shortly after that I reached the point where the trail starts going down again. Here there is the best view of the hike. A group of 2 was there and they said that after the pools had become super overgrown and the vegetation has changed a lot. Take what they said with a grain of salt but be prepared if you go past the pools. After a short trip downhill I was at Maiden Pools. There was a trickle of water. Some tadpoles in the water was nice to see. After a break, I continued back to the trailhead. It's easier finding the trail on the way down. I didn't see the view as much on the way down which sucked, in hindsight. The hike back was uneventful, until I saw something moving in the bushes. A white stripe moving across the wash from me. I knew it was a skunk. First one I've ever seen in the wild. Afterwards, I went to Beyond Bread and had a BLT.

This was a successful Tuesday outing.