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| | | Kimball - Window Peak Catalina Double, AZ | | | |
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Kimball - Window Peak Catalina Double, AZ
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| Hiking | 23.43 Miles |
9,288 AEG |
| | Hiking | 23.43 Miles | 9 Hrs 36 Mns | | 2.69 mph |
| 9,288 ft AEG | 54 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | I've wanted to do more hiking in the Catalinas, and I recently came across some Joe/JJ triplogs from 10+ years ago where they hiked the Catalina Trifecta (Kimball, Window Peak, Cathedral), and this route combined some old and new parts of the range for me. It was going to be another warm day at ~90° at the lower elevations, so I knew hitting all three might be a long shot but wanted to give it a try.
I started from an empty parking lot at Finger Rock Trailhead a little before sunrise at ~6:20AM and had the trail to myself to start the steep climb...those first few miles don't offer much chance to warm up before getting serious. Very quiet in the canyon, and I had shade for the first few miles as the sun lit up the finger and the west side, but the steep climb made it feel warm even in the shade.
I saw a few deer once I was up above the finger and continued up to Mt. Kimball and took my first break at the peak, a little over two hours in. Then back down to Finger Rock Trail to continue on a segment I hadn't hiked before, heading east toward Window Rock. I lost ~1,200' of the elevation I'd gained on the way to the Finger Rock/Ventana/Esperero intersection. I took a short break there before the next climb to Window Rock. I'd hiked that section 6+ years ago after coming up Ventana Canyon, and it was even steeper than I remembered. [ youtube video ]
After a quick stop at the window, I headed into new territory again, following Esperero southeast of Window Peak to the short off-trail approach. The scramble up to the summit wasn't bad at all...well-placed trees helped a lot, and there wasn't any serious exposure. Didn't find a register up there, but great views from the top, and I started down after another short break [ youtube video ] . Back on Esperero, I continued east again, losing another ~1,300' on the way over to Cathedral Rock. I could tell at that point the trifecta probably wasn't going to happen today, but I figured I'd go as far as I could before I hit my planned turnaround time.
I reached the Cathedral Rock intersection and started up a short distance before turning around, short of the trifecta by a couple miles. Then back the way I came, riding the roller coaster in reverse--a long climb back up toward Window Peak, followed by a long descent and then a long climb up toward Kimball. As a consolation, and in a nod to Joe/JJ's Cathedral Trifecta II route, I made it a Window Peak sandwich and summited Kimball a second time before starting down. I decided to take Pontatoc, the longer, gentler route back to the trailhead to see something different.
I was back at the trailhead ~4PM and hadn't seen anyone all day until I was within a quarter mile of the parking lot. I carried ~7 liters (235oz) of water and ended up drinking most of it by the time I finished. I also packed a purifier but didn't find any water sources other than some small pools in Finger Rock Canyon within a mile of the trailhead. Despite coming up short and completing a mere Catalina Double, it was a fun challenge attempting the trifecta and something I'll try again on a cooler day. Insane amounts of sweating and persistent gnats in the face were annoying, but the route was a good mix of old and new for me, scenery was fantastic, and I had more solitude than expected. As an old boss used to say, "It was a swing and a miss, but it was a beautiful swing!" |
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Finger Rock Canyon |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Dry in the lower part of the canyon near the trailhead, but a few small pools about a mile up the trail, downstream from Finger Rock Spring | | | |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
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Route 
Trickle of water downstream from the spring
. He hung back at the saddle near Linda Vista while the three of us continued on to Kimball. It started to sprinkle as we closed in on the peak, we thought for a few minutes that we might end up caught in a downpour, but Route Scout Radar indicated (correctly) that it might not be so bad after all.
