Hike to Josephine Saddle

Tucson/Lazydays KOA
Tucson, AZ
March 23, 2016

Yesterday, Joe and I headed south of Tucson to Madera Canyon for a hike to Josephine Saddle in the Santa Rita Mountains.  Two trails take you to the saddle, the steeper 2.2 mile route up the Old Baldy Trail or the longer, less steep 4 mile route up the Super Trail.  Either way, it is a cool mountain hike and well worth the effort.

Madera Canyon Road.  

Both trailheads are located at the end of Madera Canyon Trail.  





After climbing the hill from the parking lot, Old Baldy tucks into the hilly forest.

Joe and I find it is much easier on our knees going up steep climbs than down them so we started on Old Baldy.  Yes, it is steep, rocky and strenuous...a 2080 gain in elevation.








Most of Old Baldy is well maintained, but there are areas " just a few hard rocks away from mountain climbing".  

Sometimes the trail looked like this...

sometimes it looked like this...

and sometimes we climbed rocks like this.

As we climbed, scrub bushes changed to ponderosas, oaks and sycamore trees.  Beautiful giant trees protecting the forest floor...

On occasion, these giants opened up to share views as far as the eyes could see.  

Looking out...

and up.

At the top of Josephine Saddle is a memorial that marks the place where three young Boy Scouts died during a sudden snowstorm in 1958. 





Here, we connected to the Super Trail for our route back to Madera Canyon.









Even though Super Trail is longer, it is much easier with wonderful vistas and a few surprises.  

I think this is a yellow lupine.

Our trail...

This manzanita has already flowered making these red berries.

The first of two spiny lizards we saw.  

We saw lots of Indian Paint Brush blooming.

A few spots of snow left...

The second spiny lizard...what a beauty.

A tiny waterfall...we followed this creek the last 2 miles.

Either direction, Joe and I would recommend this 6.7 mile hike if you are near Tucson.  It's a great way to spend the day !  Until next time...

happy trails!

Blackett's Trail Ridge

Tucson/Lazydays KOA
Tucson, AZ
March 14, 2016

One of our favorite hiking spots in Tucson is Sabino Canyon Recreation Area.  So yesterday we headed that way full of excitement and energy to hike up to Blackett's Ridge. The nice volunteer who gave us our map said we could see the peak we planned to hike from the center.  Joe very calmly said "We are going there !" to which I quickly replied,  "Sure, it's not that bad." We actually did this hike 2 years ago and all I honestly remembered about it were the most amazing views.  

The first 0.4 mile of this 6.2 mile (round trip) trek was fairly level on the wide path that leads to and from the parking lot.  

From there we connected with the Phoneline Trail and hiked 1 mile which has a slight elevation gain of about 350 feet.   

  

Then we made a right turn onto Blackett's Ridge Trail.   This part of the trail packs a great punch ! 1.7 miles with nearly 1,700 vertical feet of climbing.  


The terrain is rocky and rugged...a full-on cardio workout !

Going up...

We saw buds...lots of buds !  

And a few blooms too... 

and with all the buds on the saguaro they will be flowering soon.  In fact, it looks like a white bloom on the back of this one, but it was too far away to go see.

 Yippee!  I can hardly wait to see these beautiful blossoms.

We love the colors in the desert this time of year.  I only included a sampling of the wildflowers we saw.  

(Note how short Joe's trekking poles are)

Stopping to take it all in slowed us down a little bit.  But we were in no hurry.  

Bear Canyon

Sabino Canyon

Tucson

The last little bit of trail as you walk out to the point is amazing.  The terrain and vegetation is so different.  I enjoyed the golden desert grasses.

End of trail...

 This trail is an in and out...sooooo, what goes up must go down !

Joe was very happy that on our last hike with John & Pam (ohtheplacestheygo.wordpress.com) Pam reminded him to lengthen his trek poles when going down.  For some reason, he had strayed from the proper length setting on them from last year and Pam's reminder got him back on track (ha! ha!) just before we started the down hill trek.  A huge thanks to Pam ! It made a big difference.... no more leaning over when taking the big steps down !











It's always fun to run into locals.

And another sign that spring is just around the corner...

 Until next time, take care and...

 HAPPY TRAILS !