This weekend: an out-and-back from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, down the North Kaibab trail to the Manzanita Rest Area. 11.5 miles total and 3641 feet elevation loss / gain. While there’s nothing at all special about the Manzanita Rest Area, the North Kaibab is my favorite trail of all time, and in the top 3 for Paul. We were SO eager and excited to show it off to the kids. Giddiness was as high as it gets as we all quite literally bounded down the trail in the early wee hours of the morning. My memory did not disappoint, the terrain was as beautiful and wild as I remembered it.
And the kids…LOVED it. ❤️
After our morning hike we checked into a sweet little campsite at the North Rim Campground. We spent the rest of the day chillaxing, then decided to walk the rim over to the lodge for a cocktail, bringing our total daily mileage up to 15.5 miles. One would think the boys would be beat by then and ready to hit the sleeping bags early. Um, nope. Not these boys:
I scoured Tucson area trail maps Friday evening, looking for the next big banger. After summiting the Santa Ritas (south of Tucson), and then the Catalinas (north of Tucson), I sooo wanted to get to the top of something in the Rincons (east of Tucson). While the mileage and vertical gain stats of Rincon Peak looked very tempting, the trail is on the wrong side of the mountain for a summer time hike – the eastern slope. Douglas Springs is another option, a favorite we run often, but to summit any of Rincon’s three peaks from “Dougie” is waaay too much mileage to crank out and back in a morning before the heat. Dang.
Close the Rincons map, open the Catalinas map…. Eh. We’ve done all these trails!
Close the Catalinas map, open the Santa Ritas map… Hmmm. We’ve summited Mt. Wrightson a few times now, but via the same trail – the trail that EVERYBODY summits with, Old Baldy. Looking at the map though, there’s all kinds of stuff! I find a nice looking line up Florida Canyon (pronounced Flo ree’ da), with the option to connect to Baldy Saddle, and on up to Wrightson if one is feeling extra wild.
Florida Canyon it is! Not quite all the way to Baldy Saddle but good ‘nuff: 12.5 miles, 5k elevation gain and the entire trail all to our ourselves. With the overgrowth, single track, and pristine grassy and flowery saddles, it’s obvious that this is a trail less, if ever, traveled.
Just a wee bit overgrown. I will NOT be wearing a skirt to work anytime in the near future.
Today was a Mt. Lemmon day. We decided on a trail up high, on account of all this wonderful rain we got in the last 48 hours thanks to a very generous tropical storm in Mexico. Sure enough, all the canyons were gushing and water was coming out of everywhere on our drive up the mountain. We parked at the tippy top, hucked on our hydration packs, and scurried passed all the day-trippers. We headed west, down the ridge. Following the Mt. Lemmon trail we hooked south and started descending down toward the Wilderness of Rocks.
Oh the clouds! Remnants of the prior days’ storm, clouds and mist whisked passed us and over us. What would typically have been a very sunny, and thus very hot trail (too much rock for trees to grow in the Wilderness of Rocks!), was moist and shady and lovely. Today was the perfect day for this adventure.
And an adventure it was. Headed back east now on the Wilderness of Rocks Trail we crossed water maybe a dozen? Two dozen times? It was hard to keep track. Once we even had to wade, as there were no rocks to hop on. And another time we crossed a dead tree that was suspended a little to high for comfort over the water. The trail was overgrown and at times hard to follow with all the water. Our feet got soaked, our legs got ripped to shreds, and we lost the trail many times. It was a fantastic 10 mile day.
Summited Mt. Wrightson today, 11 miles and 4000 feet elevation gain. The monsoon rains have been good to us this summer in Arizona. And as a result, Wrightson was bursting with greenery, wildflowers and the most diverse display of mushrooms I have ever seen in my life! I got pictures of most, but not all. We saw a black mushroom only once and I neglected to snap a photo.
We did a little jaunt with Joe and Holly yesterday: a loop up and around Grandeur Peak above Salt Lake City. Only about 10 miles and 4000+ feet elevation gain. 😉
Paul and I snuck in a Valentines run up Agua Caliente trail before dark while the kids were in gymnastics. Looking forward to longer days so we can maybe do this some more!
This stop was a spontaneous decision. We were driving right past it anyway and the kids and I had never been. And the last time Paul was here was 23 years ago! We loved it so much we stayed two nights.
Cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde – the Square Tower House
A good sign for a rock climbing family
Ivan and Silas with Cliff Palace in the backdrop
Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America
The 32 foot ladders one needs to climb to get a tour of Balcony House, the “Most Adventurous” tour at Mesa Verde according to the nice docent behind the ticket counter
The view from Balcony House looking down at the approach ladders
Inside Balcony House
Exiting Balcony House…
…first by crawling through a tunnel…
…and then by ascending the ancient “staircase.” (Which I was disappointed to learn from our guide that the carved steps we had ascended are today much larger than the hand-and-foothold trail that was originally carved by the ancient ones so long ago. The steps were enlarged for tourists)
Back at camp and getting ready for bed. Should we wash these things or just tuck them away in the bottom of a sleeping bag?
Watching the sun set over camp
While Paul caves in to the urge to go run up the mesa that we’re staring at
A view from the trail, back down at the campground. Good night Mesa Verde
