Feb. 15 - Madera Canyon State Park is in the central southern part of Arizona.
We climbed Mt. Wrightson - 22.5 km / 1300m gain / 2860m high / 8 hours MT (a relaxed pace)
We gleaned some info off of a couple at the 1645m high trailhead. They suggested we go to Josephine's Saddle as most people do. So they were surprised to meet us on the ridge. We took the Old Baldy Trail up and the Super trail down.
pic 1) 50% of the trail going up was covered in snow 2) first views of the ridge after the saddle 3) the trail gets steeper 4) the valley below with 2 large water reservoirs 6) the peak
Lovely groves of scrub oak trees.
Colourful rocks on the ridge. The trail had a nice grade with broad switchbacks.
View of the summit from the ridge. Having talked to people passing us on the trail, they said there were a few sketchy icy sections on the final grunt to the top. But it was doable. We'd come so far, it'd be a shame not to continue (again wishing we'd taken our micro-spikes).
Careful steps.
Made it!
6 views from the summit: 1) southeast 2) west 3) east 4) west 5) south - Mexico 6) Not sure how these pines manage to grow on rock.
Starting the descent.
We finished the hike half an hour after sunset. The Super Trail had less snow on it.
I see you.
Feb. 16 - West Saguaro NP - view from the Red Hills Visitor Center. These Saguaro cactus are also named Pipe Organ cactus.
We drove the scenic 8 miles loop just north of the visitor centre, on the one-way Hohokam Rd.
pics 3 & 4) Signal Hill petroglyphs created by the prehistoric Hohokam people.
Then we drove to East Saguaro NP and drove the scenic Cactus Forest Loop road that starts from the Rincon Mt. Visitor Center. We hiked the Cactus Forest Trail to Lime Falls & back (2.6 miles). This trail is within the loop road.
The falls were dry and there was only this small pool of stagnant water. Much of the vegetation gets its water from under the ground.
Then we drove the Catalina Hwy towards Mt. Lemmon. It had just opened for the season but the campsites were still closed.
Sunset from the lower viewpoint on the Catalina Hwy. We parked overnight in a parking lot at an altitude of 8000' .
Mt. Lemmon, at 2791m high is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Feb. 17 - This Mt. Lemmon ski resort was still open and is the most southern ski resort in America.
3 pic slider: By the visitor centre we hiked the Bigelow Trail to 2660m'. It was only 3.7 km / 170m gain because the parking lot was already at 2415m. There are many trails along the Catalina Hwy.
Hoodoos at about the halfway point on the highway. There were many pull-outs where you could stop and look.
Catalina SP evening sun
This was the largest saguaro cactus I'd yet seen. The Romero Ruins .75 mile trail.
Feb. 18: Romero Canyon Trail - 9.6 km / 400m gain
We decided to hike to Romero Pools and back basically doing 1 hike per park. We plan for 2021 to do a full day hike with the group to Romero Pass where it intersects with the Mt. Lemmon Trail.
This was the most lush green hike we'd yet been on (including Palm Springs). Montrose Pools are 1 mile in.
1) Desert Chicory 2) Fairy Duster 3) Poppies 4) Desert Sunflower 5) Hotch-Leaf Phacelia 6) Desert Lotus
Octillo.
The Romero Pools, 3 miles in.
Heading back down.
Case wanted to see the Saguaro cactus. Well now he certainly saw them.
We camped 2 nights at the Lost Dutchman State Park campsite. We did not have reservations but there was lots of room in the overflow and full access to the restrooms & showers.
We climbed the peak in the middle, the Flat Iron. This was our favourite hike. It involved scrambling & a full body workout. Stats: 13 km / 945m gain / 1400m high / 5.5 hours MT
The trail started right from our campsite. It was even greener than the Romero Canyon Trail.
Chuporosa blooming red.
At Siphon Draw. This is where most hikers stop. But having talked to several locals, we opted to keep going on a steep boulder-full less defined trail.
As told, we angled to the right.
At this point we lost the trail. One woman turned back. But two men came up and told us they knew the way. So we followed them up to the ridge.
On the ridge, looking at the Flat Iron.
On the Flat Iron.
Looking down on Lost Dutchman State Park from the top of the Flat Iron
Hikers going down the sketchy section just below the ridge. Case & I hiked a bit higher to explore these pillars of rock.
1) Antelope squirrel.
Down down down we go.
Back at Siphon Draw.
Feb. 20: We drove to Crater Lake. The road is closed beyond the Tortilla campsite due to a fire. Crater Lake was created by the Roosevelt Dam. Its about an hour drive from the Lost Dutchman campsite.
The campsites by Crater Lake were open as were the marina and boat tours were, but not the stores.
Driving back, we checked out the Goldfield Ghost town (opens at 11:00am). In the 1870s Jacob Waltz came to town, claiming to have found gold in the fabled Peralta mine. He was "the Dutchman" but was actually a native of Germany. Although he told his neighbour on his deathbed where the mine was, no one has ever found it. Thus the legend of the "Lost Dutchman".
Close to the ghost town is the visitor centre with a museum. 1) they mined for gold and silver bearing ore 2) speaks for itself 3) a huge amazingly detailed miniature world of the gold mining days 4) the jail house 5) the local saloon 6) the whore house
From the Lost Dutchman SP we drove north towards Flagstaff.
Walnut Canyon SP is a 45 minute loop walk (260 stairs), bringing you back in time to when Hopi clans settled there from 1125 - 1250 AD.
The limestone cliffs provided natural shelter. Most of the rooms were used for storage of food and water. Before the summer months they would climb down the canyon and gather enough water in clay jars to last 100 days.
Feb. 21 - Sunset Crater Volcano SP is an hour's drive east of Walnut Canyon. It erupted in 1085 AD.
We found this nice spot for the night in the bush just outside of the park.
1) there are no trails on Sunset Crater mountain. 2 - 5) coarse hard volcanic rock surrounding the base of Sunset Crater.
The Bonita lava flow covers about 5 square km & is on average about 100' deep. The Sunset Crater eruption covered 800 square miles with cinder & ash. On Sunset mountain itself its 60' deep.
The Glenwater Dam.
We did this 1.6 mile Toadstool hike to stretch our legs, having spent most of the day driving.
Then we crossed the border into Utah and got onto the Cottonwood backcountry road, entering the Grand Staircase-Escalante NM. It's a 46 mile rough dirt road that we drove from south to north.
The badlands were created by eroded siltstones and mudstones.
The central part of the Cottonwood road runs through a riparian corridor, nested against the ridges of the East Kaibab Monocline. The sandstone there is porous and allows water to percolate through its layers.
Desert scrub-land, pinyon-juniper woodland and ponderosa pine span 5 life zones from 4500' to 8300' in elevation.
The Grosvenor Arch is a short drive off of the Cottonwood Rd.
At the end of the Cottonwood road is Kodachrome Basin SP.
We hiked 1 hour on the Sentinel Loop Trail.
The Kodachrome Basin drains into the Paria River and eventually into the Colorado River.
Feb. 22: 1-3) - From the town of Escalante we drove north on Pine Creek Rd up till the junction to Hell's Backbone Rd. There we had to turn back because of the snow.
North-bound on the very scenic Hwy. 12
Hiked Lower Calf Creek Falls trail 1/2 way - 5 km (a must do for next year when the group is with us and more flowers will be blooming). We were still in the Grand Staircase-Escalante NM region.
Back at the parking lot.
Wouldn't want to veer off of the white lines here.
Passing through several small half abandoned towns.
Driving Hwy 12 through Dixie National Forest. The pass was 9600' high!
From Hwy. 12 we continued on Hwy. 24 and then to Hwy. 15 and eventually to the I-5. And there ends my story for this journey.
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