Santa Catalinas « cmiles

2007 December 18 • 2:14 am 2

Soldier Canyon – Prison Camp to Hairpin Turn

After quite a few days of rain this weekend finally brought drier weather, it seemed like an interesting chance to see Soldier Canyon full of water – so we set out on a hike from Prison Camp to Hairpin Turn via Soldier Canyon. If you stay in the water course there are a number of possible rappels – but this is also very fun canyon to do without technical gear and it is possible to see practically all of the canyon without any rappelling. The weather was cold and the canyon full of water so we bypassed optional rappels 1-3. Here is a quick comparison of the water flow between January of 2006 and December 2007:

This hike requires a car shuttle – the lower car should be parked in the pull-out along the right side of the road just before the first hairpin turn heading up the mountain (before the road crosses Soldier canyon). Climbers will know this as the parking area for the Hairpin Turn and Rivendale areas. After dropping off the car head for the the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area (often called ‘Prison Camp’) where, just as in past hikes to this area (same hike Jan. 2006, partial version of this hike 2007), we parked in one of the pull outs along the loop at the end of the road.

Start on Soldier Trail which will quickly take you to Soldier Canyon – leave Soldier Trail as it heads up and left and follow the canyon. Bypass the first drops and falls on a climber’s trail on the right side of the canyon and continue hiking and scrambling into and down the canyon. The scrambling in this section is generally easy, but it is also easy to escape the canyon bottom to bypass any difficulties.

Eventually the canyon flattens out as you hike thru the area where Soldier Trail crosses the canyon several times. Soldier Trail leaves the canyon for the last time and climbs up to the cliffs on the left side of the canyon just before the canyon begins to narrow into another beautiful – and possibly technical – section.

As you work down the narrowing canyon bottom you will come to a short drop, optional rappel 1 (depending on water flow stronger climbers may bypass this rappel). Shortly down canyon you will come to optional rappel 2 – this is more easily down climbed than the previous drop but flowing water could make the climbing quite slick. Work past another short drop on the left side of the canyon and down to optional rappel 3 which takes you around a huge boulder that creates one of the most beautiful spots in the canyon. It is awkward – but possible – to bypass optional rappel 3 by working up onto the cliffs on the left side of the canyon. All of the optional rappels can be easily avoided by hiking along the cliffs above the canyon and thrashing back down into the canyon bottom.

After the giant boulder there is one more set of cliffs down canyon that form optional rappel 4 – when the cliffs are dry this could be a down climb for confident climbers (there are also options to escape and reenter to the canyon). Past these cliffs the canyon is a beautiful hike down to Hairpin Turn with a number of small scrambles and occasional route finding puzzles. Map.

Enjoy!
CM

Filed under: Canyoneering, Hiking, Santa Catalinas, Tucson, Canyoneering, Hiking, santa catalina mountains, soldier canyon, Tucson

2007 October 17 • 8:27 am 4

Agua Caliente Canyon Loop Hike

Agua Caliente and Milagrosa canyons are beautiful destinations at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains on the east side of Tucson. Interesting sections of both canyons can be enjoyed as loop hikes starting from the end of Suzenu Road – this weekend we decided to visit Agua Caliente Canyon. Map.

To get to the trail follow Snyder east – after Synder divides look for a left turn onto Suzenu Road. Park on the right side of the road before the T intersection. Start the hike by taking a right – thru the gate – and to the end of the road. At the end of the road continue past a gate (several ‘No Parking’ signs) and across a wash via an old road – after a few minutes (and heading downhill) look for the trail on your left (if you start to cross the wash you have gone too far).

The trail has great views of the Santa Catalinas and the Agua Caliente Hill area – the trail also has very little shade and can be quite hot (be prepared!). It is fairly easy to follow the trail into the bottom of Agua Caliente canyon. The canyon bottom is unremarkable for the first minutes, but keep hiking and you will arrive at a rocky section with falls/drops/pools. There are several obstacles to bypass down canyon – these will likely require bushwhacking, scrambling and/or following faint trails on the loose/sandy/exposed/bushy side of the canyon (be very careful!). The canyon gradually mellows as you head towards the junction with Milagrosa canyon – we spotted an impressive beehive high on the cliffs during our hike. When you reach the junction work your way back up onto the trail and head back to the parking area.

Update! 2007-10-28 – For another description of Agua Caliente Canyon (and Milagrosa) see Arizona Technical Canyoneering.

Enjoy!
CM

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, agua caliente canyon, canyon hiking, Santa Catalinas

2007 October 8 • 4:23 pm 0

Montrose Canyon

The Romero Canyon Trail in Santa Catalina State park can be a busy location – on a hot day you will undoubtedly pass groups of hikers focused on getting to the Romero Pools and enjoying the cool water. For much of the hike to the Romero Pools you can look down into Montrose Canyon. On Sunday we hiked up the Romero Canyon Trail until the last prominent saddle before the pools and bushwhacked/boulder hopped down the steep hillside into Montrose Canyon. Getting off the trail quickly separated us from the crowds and we took advantage of the quiet to have a nice nap in the shade beside the water. From where we entered the canyon traveling down is mostly easy hiking and scrambling – but we did come to several places where we had to exit the canyon to bypass obstacles. Eventually we ended up back at the Overlook to the Montrose Pools and returned to the car via the Romero Canyon Trail.

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, canyon hiking, montrose canyon, romero canyon trail, Santa Catalinas, trail hiking

2007 May 30 • 3:25 pm 1

Palisade Canyon to Spencer Canyon

Adam and Amy joined us for one last adventure before heading to Zion – down Palisade Canyon to the intersection with Spencer Canyon and back up to the Spencer Campground. I did this hike (in the other direction) in August of 2004 (pictures here), both canyons are drier than they were then (summer rains?).

The start and end of this hike are far enough apart that a shuttle between the two trailheads is prudent – a car shuttle would work, but for this adventure we left a bike at the Spencer campground and the car at the Palisade trailhead.

We started on the Palisade Trail and took it to an obvious side trail on the right that leads into the bottom of the canyon. The canyon is beautiful and fairly mellow for a few miles – there is water in the canyon and plenty of wildlife (my favorites were the Painted Redstart and Caddisfly Larvae). Palisade Canyon has only one serious obstacle – just before the junction with Spencer Canyon there is a set of falls. The first falls present the biggest obstacle – with very careful scrambling you can work around the exposed left side (this scramble recieves very little traffic so there is plenty of loose mossy rock and unstable dirt – be careful!). The first falls could be rappelled easily with natural anchors. After the first falls the remaining obstacles can be bypassed by looking for solutions in and around bottom of the canyon.

The junction with the rockier and narrower Spencer Canyon would be hard to miss. Not too far up canyon from the junction there is a beautiful spillover with a pool above – the water is cool and this is a great spot to stop and relax. Above the pools the scrambling continues – most obstacles can be bypassed on the sides of the canyon if needed. After bypassing a section of canyon on the right we decided to exit the canyon and head up a steep ridge to the Spencer Campground to end our adventure. Map.

Update! 2007-10-28 – This hike explores the upper section of Palisades Canyon – for good information and great pictures of the lower section of Palisades canyon take a look in Arizona Technical Canyoneering.

Enjoy!
CM

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, canyon hiking, Hiking, palisades canyon, Santa Catalinas, spencer canyon

2007 May 24 • 6:36 am 1

Seven Cataracts (Willow Canyon)

Updated October 2011! I adjusted some of the descriptions below based on a trip taken in October 2011 to try to reflect a few small details that have changed – and I also added a few more pictures and links at the bottom of the post.

Seven Cataracts is a classic adventure in the Santa Catalina mountains. It requires technical canyoneering skills to stay in the canyon and takes you thru some amazing terrain. There are several possible places to start and end this adventure, but my favorite is to go from Windy Point to Prison Camp. Map.

Start at the Windy Point Parking lot. Walk down to Nancy’s Thumb on North Fin (both prominent landmarks for any local climbers – if you do not know these formations there is a good chance anyone with a rope in the parking lot can point you in the right direction). Head around North Fin on the right side and look for a faint trail leading off to the right, down the hillside and into the canyon. There are a few cairns and sections of ‘trail’ to help guide you down, it is fairly easy to work your way around any obstacles and it would be hard (impossible?) to miss the canyon if you keep working downhill. It does not take too long to reach the canyon bottom – once there take a left and head down canyon! (Note: If you feel like exploring there is a good chance that your drop in point from North Fin puts you under 15 minutes down canyon from a beautiful section of Willow Canyon – consider hiking up canyon to this beautiful spot before heading down to the first rappel).

Like most Santa Catalina canyons it is possible to skirt around many of the cliffs and obstacles by exiting and reentering the canyon. These directions assume that – for the most part – you are interested in staying in the bottom of the canyon.

**Alternate Start – In May of 2008 we did an alternate start that was great fun and I think worth mentioning. The starting point for this hike is just up the highway from Lizard rock. Parking: once you pass Lizard Rock you are looking for a parking pull out on the east side of the highway (climbers may recognize this as the parking for the Matterhorn climbing area) that is just past a road with a locked gate on the west side of the highway. After parking walk past the locked gate jump in the canyon that runs under Lizard rock on the west side – at the point the canyon is very small but easy to find. This canyon is not named on the map and is at times a little bushy, but it gets more and more beautiful and you get closer to the first rappel. I thought this was a great addition to this adventure.

Rappel 1 – Rappel from either a two bolt anchor (installed in the 2nd half of 2008 – still present and looking good October 2011) or from the tree about 6-8 feet above the bolted anchor – continue the rappel across the pool and down another small drop to a large boulder blocking the canyon. There is usually a pool below the first part of this rappel – I have not been in the canyon when this pool was more than chest deep – but it is always chilly! Alternate approach: Rappel into the pool and end your rappel there – then scramble down the right side of the canyon (easy but might not be the best for someone without much experience) – then make an easy scramble on the right side of the canyon down to the area above the boulder blocking the canyon (the next rappel).

Rappel 2 – If this drop was 100% dry it might be an easy down climb – but I have never seen it dry and the continual flow of water makes it incredibly slippery, think twice about down climbing (see the link at the bottom of this post to a video that shows how slippery this usually is…). There are several possible anchors for this rappel:
Anchor 1 – There is a pinch between the large boulder blocking the canyon and another rock coming out of the sand in the bottom of the canyon, this should be visible from the landing point of the first rappel. This anchor is usually easy to get to but it can be it quite hard to pull the rope unless care is taken to extend the anchor and/or keep the rope out of the crack on the left (inspect this anchor carefully before using!). Awkward start.
Anchor 2 – I have only seen this used recently (December 2008 – webbing there also in October 2011) but may be a good option depending on water flow, sling the pinch created by the large boulder where it presses against the right side (looking down canyon) of the canyon.
Anchor 3 – Scramble up/right/around the boulder blocking the canyon, then scoot down to a small ledge. Under the large boulder there is a pinch that can be used for an anchor. If the canyon is flowing and/or this scramble is wet use caution! This anchor has a hassle free rope pull (contrast with Anchor 1 which has a tricky pull) but requires a small amount of scrambling that could be tricky if there is alot of water in the canyon and can be slightly intimidating.

Rappel 3 – This is a very beautiful area of the canyon. There is a two bolt anchor located near the edge of the cliff on the right side. This anchor is in a great position for rappelling but can be awkward to get to. I think that traversing along the top of the waterfall is sketchy in this area so approaching the anchor from the right is likely the best idea – but getting to this station from the right is awkward. For those without long legs and non-climbers help from a friend both above and below can be very useful for getting everyone safely to the rappel station, this would be an easy place to twist an ankle. At times a pool forms under this rappel that makes the ending of this rappel even more beautiful (and slippery and cold)!

Rappel 4 – After rappel three walk down canyon looking for a two bolt anchor on the left near a nice sunny ledge. This rappel is more than 100′ if you try to go directly to the ground – if you rappel with on single 200′ rope head for a ledge with a large block and green plants instead of the ground. From the ledge/block you can walk right and scramble to the canyon floor. (The ledge is less appealing when the canyon is flowing in this area – on the past three trips we have carried a pull cord so we could rappel to the ground and found that, for us, that is more fun). This rappel can be bypassed by strong scramblers on the right side – although this bypass looks like it would be pretty slippery when there is enough water in the canyon to be flowing thru the right side…

Rappel 5 – Another beautiful rappel that seems to have a small flow of water all year. There are several possible anchors here – in late 2008 a bolted rappel station was added (present and in good condition in October 2011), for an alternative natural anchor use a long piece of webbing to sling the large boulder on the ledge above the drop. To be safe bring a 35′ section of webbing if you want to sling the boulder (I usually have a 30′ piece and that works but 1″ webbing is rarely measured with extreme accuracy when sold so it might be best to be cautious and get a slightly longer length) – I highly recommend grey webbing and rap rings that have a matte finish to minimize the visual impact of the anchor (the pool below is a hiking destination with low but regular traffic). Using this anchor the rappel is about 105′-110′, make sure that you are ready to deal with the length of this rappel – a single 60m rope may leave you in a very uncomfortable position from either the bolts or the boulder! There is a very nice pool below this drop that can be avoided by traversing just above the pool.

At and after Rappel 5 it is slightly more likely you will see hikers who have hiked up from Bear Canyon.

Exit possibility: It is possible to avoid any more rappels and exit the canyon at this point to a car parked at Green Slabs/the area where the highway crosses Bear Canyon. This exit is shorter than exiting to Prison camp and takes you thru a really beautiful section of Bear Canyon. Look for a small trail that leaves from the left side of the canyon very close to the pool (the trail starts with a small rock step that can make it hard to see) – the trail leaves the canyon before the drop described below as optional Rappel 6. This trail will take you into Bear Canyon just above the waterfall. Continue hiking up canyon and exit to the highway near where it crosses Bear Canyon. This exit is not ideal if you want to continue down Bear Canyon (exiting to Prison Camp for example) because it deposits you above a slightly tricky scramble down a waterfall.

Rappel 6 (Optional) – It is easy to walk around this drop just down canyon from the deep pool, but for fun and to stay in the bottom of the canyon rappel from one of the large trees on the left side of the canyon.

Rappel 7 (Optional) – Scrambling down the canyon will take you very close to the exit into Bear Canyon. Just before Bear Canyon there is a another drop that can be rappelled if you want to stay in the canyon. One possible anchor is slinging a crack twenty+ feet up canyon from the final drop – be careful using this anchor, the length of the rappel may leave you with an awkward/slippery down climb if you use a 200′ rope. There are a number of natural anchor options, but be sure to carefully evaluate anything you use.

This is the end of the technical obstacles – from here some folks leave a car at the Seven Cataracts pull-out and hike back to that. The Seven Cataracts pull-out is likely the quickest way to end this hike but involves an unpleasant hike up the side of Bear Canyon (much more grueling than scenic).

Another longer and more beautiful option is to continue down Bear Canyon to Sycamore Reservoir and then take the Sycamore Reservoir trail up to prison camp to finish a great adventure.

Update! 2007-10-29 – There is another description of this hike in Arizona Technical Canyoneering (this book was published recently and looks very interesting!). This route is #41 – Willow Canyon/Bear Canyon Loop – (Seven Cataracts is a section of Willow Canyon), here are a few notes comparing the description above with the description in Arizona Technical Canyoneering (referred to here as AZTC):

The starting point in the AZTC book is different from both of the starting points described in this post.

The rappel 1 area for AZTC is the same area as Rappel 1 and Rappel 2 described above.

AZTC rappel 2 is Rappel 3 above – There is a fairly recent 2 bolt anchor on the right side of the canyon (just before you would climb under the boulder described in AZTC) that, in my opinion, makes for a much nicer rappel than using the tree described in AZTC. (This picture shows the 2 bolt anchor)

Rappel 4 above is bypassed on the right in the AZTC desciption.

Rappel 5 Is the final rappel described in AZTC – I have not done the rappel on the left mentioned in AZTC.

Rappels 6 and 7 that are marked optional above are not mentioned in AZTC – which also correctly mentions scrambling/downclimbing on left side/(ridge) of the canyon into get to Bear Canyon.

AZTC gives a better description of exiting to a car at the Seven Cataracts Vista and a good description of exiting up Bear Canyon.

A nice blog post and map from the founder of the Summit Hut – Dave Baker – (with one of the current owners – Dana Davis – in the pictures) -

Below is a list of links to several Flickr sets with Seven Cataracts photos:
2011 October
2009 June
2008 December
2008 May
2008 April
2007 May And 2007 May
2005 November

The video below is not a tutorial on technique or a guide to the canyon – but it does nicely show some parts of the canyon and some of the challenges…

Enjoy!
CM

Filed under: Canyoneering, Hiking, Santa Catalinas, bear canyon, Canyoneering, Santa Catalinas, seven cataracts, willow canyon

2007 May 17 • 3:49 pm 1

Red Ridge Trail – Top Section

The Red Ridge trail makes a steep descent down the north side of the Santa Catalina mountains. The trailhead is a small parking area/pull thru on the right hand side of the road just after Red Ridge Road (private), a large Forest Service sign describing the trail is visible from the road if you look carefully. After a very short hike up and out of the parking area the trail wanders thru a landscape of large burned trees, some standing – some fallen, that are an impressive reminder of the fire that burned thru this area several years ago. In many burned sections there is beautiful new growth, including wildflowers, and incredible views. Most of the trail is easy to follow – but some spots require a bit of searching where the trail is overgrown (pants may be a good idea to protect your legs from some of the more vicious undergrowth). As you wind your way towards the East Fork and the junction with several other trails you will see fewer burned areas – we were delighted to see Doubting Mariposa Lilies, a Black Rattlesnake and a number of different birds and lizards. For this hike we stopped at the East Fork to enjoy the flowing water and watch the spiders hunting above the water and on the rocks. From the trail junction there are a number of possibilities for longer adventures, but we were looking for some steep hiking and 2000+ feet of elevation gain to get in shape for an upcoming trip – so we headed back up Red Ridge. Map.

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, red ridge, Santa Catalinas, trail hiking

2007 May 7 • 4:23 pm 0

Pontatoc Ridge Trail

After two weeks of hiking up the Finger Rock trail to Linda Vista we needed a change of scenery, so we headed to the Pontatoc Ridge trail. The trail starts from the same parking lot as the Finger Rock Trail – a prominent sign will get you onto the Pontatoc trail and hiking towards the prominent cliffs below the Pontatoc Ridge. The trail crosses Pontatoc canyon and then begins to climb, part of the way up the climb there is a well signed trail junction: take the right hand path for the ridge – the left for the canyon. The trail keeps climbing with good views of Tucson, eventually you will reach a small saddle (very nice place to rest) with good views. As you leave the saddle the trail begins to climb again and you will quickly come to another (unsigned) junction. The main trail continues to the left to an area where you can see some of the old mining activity – the trail to the right climbs to the top of Pontatoc Ridge! Map.

Enjoy!
CM

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, pontatoc ridge, Santa Catalinas, trail hiking

2007 April 30 • 8:00 am 1

Finger Rock Trail to Linda Vista

ADT and I have been doing some hiking on the popular Finger Rock trail to get in shape for a Zion trip at the end of May – the Finger Rock trail is perfect: steep, rocky and plenty of hot sun. A great destination on the Finger Rock trail is Linda Vista – an interesting view from the Santa Catalina mountains back into Tucson. The trail continues up into the Mount Kimball area – but 7 miles and 2500′ of elevation gain with canyon gear is enough for me at this point… Map.

[We are thinking about heading into the canyon bottom and taking it down (instead of the trail) - anyone know if this is a fun section of canyon?]

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, finger rock trail, Santa Catalinas, trail hiking

2007 March 27 • 6:59 am 2

Upper Soldier Canyon to Soldier Trail Loop

On Sunday Alison and I headed to the Prison Camp area (officially the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area; once a nice free developed camping area – now $10 per vehicle to camp (parking for hiking/climbing is still free)). After following Alison up a few climbs we headed down Soldier Canyon – below the climbing area the carved granite, shallow sandy pools and nice views make for enjoyable hiking. For a long day of fun you can hike Soldier Canyon all the way down to Hairpin Turn (the first tight turn heading up the Catalina Highway) – for a much more mellow adventure keep your eye out for the cairns marking the first intersection of the Canyon and Soldier Trail. Soldier Trail will take you back to the parking area. Map.

Enjoy!
CM

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, Santa Catalinas, soldier canyon

2007 February 24 • 7:13 am 4

Romero Pools – Romero Canyon Loop

This week Dave B. and I headed out to do a loop several of my friends have mentioned – Romero Canyon Trail to Romero Pools and then down Romero Canyon. After paying to get into Catalina State Park and making the climb up to Romero Pools (this is a popular trail with signed trail junctions) we headed down the canyon. The (cold, cold) water was the highlight of this hike – we could have stayed dry longer but having some fun in the water was just too tempting on a warm day… Some scrambling is required to keep moving down canyon – eventually you will catch a good trail that parallels the canyon and takes you back to the parking lot. Map.