The trail less traveled
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.
posted by ARR
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on Sunday, August 28th, 2022 at 8:31 pm and is filed under Hiking, Running.
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