Lucky for us, we are surrounded by mountains here in Tucson. From our home the Santa Catalina Mountains are to our north, the Tucson Mountains to our west, the Santa Rita Mountains to our south, and the Rincon Mountains to our immediate east/southeast, “immediate” as in, if you jumped in the car you can be at my all-time favorite trailhead in less than 10 minutes. The problem / blessing about the Rincons though compared to the other three ranges is that one has to really work to get to any of it’s three peaks, work from both an elevation gain point of view AND a mileage point of view. No roads go up into the Rincons. And the trails that do exist are pretty sparse, seeing very little foot traffic once you get past the 5 mile mark. This lovely combination has been tantalizing us for years. I can’t even count the times I’ve longingly started up at these three untouchable beauties from our home, or from most places in Tucson if you just look east. Rincon Peak, 15 miles and 5k feet elevation gain if approached from the east. Mica Mountain, 20 miles and 4.6k feet gain if approached from the north. Tanque Verde Peak, 20 miles and 4.3k feet gain if approached from the south.
Well, now that we are an official 20-miler family, we got ‘em all as of today. Rincon we did back in January, Mica two Sundays ago and Tanque Verde Peak today. The Rincon Triple Crown! Complete!
The Rincon Peak hike in January:
Mica Mountain, 2 weeks ago:
Tanque Verde Peak, today:
Mica Mountain (left) and Rincon Peak (right) in the background
It’s winter. Which means it’s gymnastics competition season. This is the time of year that I find myself getting grumpy with all the running around to competitions (which are never in Tucson) and all the sitting inside gyms or sitting in the car driving to and from gyms on perfectly beautiful winter bouldering days. Inside sports should be a summertime activity! Says this Arizona mama, haha. But then I watch the kids do their thing on rings, pommel, floor, vault, parallel bars and the cringe-worthy high bar (high bar scares me) and I’m over it.
Silas crushing the rings. He placed second with this near-flawless routine. I mean, how can this NOT snap a mama out of her funk?
Winter also means it’s Science Fair season. And Ivan has been hard at work with what has become the most wildly successful science fair project of all science fair projects ever attempted in this household. Yes, we’ve had some real doozies over the years. Ivan’s project this year is “Can I design, build and fly a 3D-printed rocket better than the store-bought ones?” The answer is yes. Yes he can.
Design iterations from right to left, culminating in the GFFF (Giant Fun Fin Flyer – the big guy, far left)
Design iteration #2#3#5#6The GFFF. Flight success! Take that Estes!!
Ah our beloved mountain trails, which is another wonderful activity to partake in during the winter months. A trail day is grand when one doesn’t need to wake up at 4am to beat the heat!
Rincon Peak, 15 miles, 5k feet elevation gain. This hike is one we’d wanted to do for years, but didn’t dare take the Prius or Honda Fit down the “4 wheel drive recommended” road to the trailhead, especially when the start of said road is 1.5 hours from our house. Well for Christmas Santa talked us into dumping the Prius and getting a truck. This was the first hike we did in the new year, eager to test out the new truck on some rough terrain. Turns out, the road was all groomed and of ZERO challenge accessing the trailhead! What a letdown. Good thing the gnarly steep trail more than made up for it.
Bear Canyon, 10 miles, 1.2k feet elevation gain. Some mild little 4th class scrambling got us to this lunch spot with a view! Bear Canyon in the background.
Ivan on the way up to Cowhead Saddle, 18 miles, 3.4k feet elevation gain, just the two of us. Crushed it.
How do you make a moody 15 year old happy? Wake him before dawn, shove a banana down his throat, and set off on a 15 mile adventure. Just Silas and me on a thru-hike up Ventana Canyon, past The Window, and then over and down Esperero Canyon, 15.4 miles, 4.8k feet elevation gain. I struggled to keep up.
A 4 mile segment of the Arizona Trail. This was supposed to be a bouldering day at Priest Draw due to the kids having a gymnastics comp in Flagstaff. It snowed though and so the forest roads were a mess. We opted for this short hike instead and a Kilter Board session in the local gym.
Which brings me alas to bouldering. Like many winters of late, we don’t quite get outside on real rock as much as we (read: I) would prefer. But what matters most (and what I keep telling myself when I get grumpy) is this: when the opportunity presents itself, we go! We’re still going people! LET’S GO! 🤪
A v2 on the My Tan Boulder during a free window of a gymnastics comp in Las Vegas. Red Rock Canyon, Nevada
Contorted Lip Traverse, v3 on Hairpin Boulder. Tucson, Arizona
Paul attempting Scream, v11. Hueco Tanks, Texas. And sends Scream Stand, v10 again for good measure
Meanwhile I’m still hoping for a few back-to-back visits to Devil’s Butthole, v6 so I can finally string all these moves together and send! Hueco Tanks, Texas. My trainer on the home wall just isn’t enough! 😤
And that about sums up this year’s adventures thus far!
