Santa Catalinas « cmiles

2007 February 8 • 6:53 am 3

West Fork of Molino – Around Airmen Peak – Down Molino

**Edit 5/2/2008 – When I originally wrote this post I had never heard of a name for the drainage we started in, but In the comments below I was directed towards the now out-of-print Cowgill and Glendening guide book for the Santa Catalina Mountains and their Hollin Basin description! (Thanks!) In their description it seems pretty clear that the drainage we were hiking is called the West Fork of Molino canyon.

Dave B. recently arrived back in Tucson and was free for a day of hiking, so we headed into the Santa Catalina Mountains for a little fun… A few years ago ADT and I did a night hike into the West Fork of Molino Canyon, the first drainage up the road from the Molino Basin Campground (we hiked to the first waterfall) – I remembered that hike being fun, so Dave and I decided that we would hike up that drainage, around Airmen Peak and down Molino canyon back to the parking lot.

The West Fork of Molino had running water along almost all of our hike – a nice surprise that made the falls and formations even more interesting. The hiking included a fair amount of scrambling and bushwhacking – it was more strenuous than hiking up the East Fork of Molino Canyon. Some of this area looks like it escaped the fires several summers ago and was enjoyably green. Once we were north of Airmen Peak we started looking for the best way to head east and into the East Fork – much to our surprise there was reasonably easy walking in and along small drainages for almost the entire hike down into Molino Canyon. Once we reached Molino Canyon we enjoyed the hike down the canyon (we were surprised at how dry the canyon was, none of the water seen here) and back to the Molino Basin Campground. Map.

Filed under: Friends, Hiking, Santa Catalinas, airmen peak, canyon hiking, molino canyon, Santa Catalinas

2007 February 3 • 5:32 am 4

My Friend Chris Hunnicutt

My friend Chris H. died this week ice climbing in Provo Canyon – he was always a great friend and I will miss him. All my memories of Chris were great and I thought I would share a few of our last trip together – and a picture from a few years ago.

Chris was in Tucson and we decided to descend Seven Cataracts from Windy Point and then to hike out to Prison Camp. As always Chris was excited to get out and have a new adventure, we left my car at Prison Camp and Susan gave us a ride up to Windy Point. We geared up and headed down to the North Fin and then into the canyon, talking the whole way – it was fun to see Chris and I was happy that he was doing so well since his move to Salt Lake. The canyon was a little bit wet, but the sun was out and it was a great day. I remember us laughing and being amazed at the green wet walls and slippery shallow pool under the second bolted rap, I remember Chris traversing around the lower pool (after a incredibly slippery rap) and talking himself into jumping into it (after several false starts!) to retrieve one of our hiking poles (and swimming like mad with a look of horror on his face to get out of the cold water). We hiked fast once we got to the bottom of the canyon and I remember how sore my legs were the next day from keeping up with Chris on the uphill to the Prison camp parking lot from the dam…

I will miss Chris – Best wishes to his Family and Friends,
Charles Miles

Filed under: Climbing, Friends, Hiking, Santa Catalinas

2006 October 2 • 4:02 am 0

Around and In Pima Canyon

Years ago, while hiking up Pima Canyon, I remember looking at the canyon bottom and thinking that it looked much more interesting than the trail. This weekend I decided to peek at the canyon bottom by heading up Pima Canyon Trail and back down part of Pima Canyon. As usual, Pima Canyon Trail had quite a few hikers for the first couple of miles, but by the time I hit the first dam I was alone. The first dam has beautiful small pools above and below right now, this is the first time I have seen the pools clear and free of gunk. I headed up from the dam (past the first dam the trail sees much less use – it is overgrown and a little hard to find in places), not long after the second dam the trail begins to get steeper. After a bit of climbing the trail crosses the canyon and I decided to drop into the canyon bottom. Moving down the first section of the canyon required an interesting combination of downclimbing/scrambling/pushing thru brush across small pools and down carved rock – the canyon mellows out quickly and alternates between small scrambles, rocky spillways and brush in a pleasant ramble down to the first dam. I hit the first dam around 2pm and finished the rest of the hike quickly in a futile attempt to escape the hot Tucson sun! Map.

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, canyon hiking, pima canyon, Santa Catalinas, trail hiking

2006 September 26 • 5:58 am 0

A Short Trip Down Molino Canyon

If you park at the Molino Canyon Vista you have quick access to Molino Canyon – the first part of the canyon can be slightly difficult to navigate, but there are several paths around each obstacle. Molino canyon stays quite close to the Highway, but it is very fun hiking – right now the canyon has flowing water, shade and a nice water fall with a great spot for a nap… Map.

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, canyon hiking, molino canyon, Santa Catalinas

2006 August 28 • 5:23 am 0

Bug Spring and a little more

Across from the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area (often known as ‘Prison Camp’) there is a great hike up to Bug Spring. Park in the first available space after you turn into the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area. Walk across the road and then head into the wash! (There is a trail, but I have never taken it – the wash/canyon bottom is reasonably easy walking and is quite beautiful). It is a fairly short hike up to Bug Spring – I have never been sure exactly where the ‘spring’ is, but the small dams and basins certainly mark the area (and seem to be the destination of the pipe that you will occasionally see in/across/beside the canyon). The canyon gets a little steeper and smaller after the springs and it takes more scrambling to continue up the canyon. The effort of continuing past the springs pays off as you get into the green trees growing in the upper part of the canyon, a nice change from the green grass/burnt tree landscape of the lower canyon. I did this as an out and back hike – but I think it might be interesting to bushwhack over to Molino Canyon and head down to Molino Basin. Map.

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, bug spring, canyon hiking, Santa Catalinas

2006 August 7 • 7:02 am 1

Molino Canyon from Molino Basin Campground

Today ADT and I hiked up part of Molino Canyon from the Molino Basin Campground. The canyon was pleasantly wet and the weather was great. The canyon has changed a little from the past few (post-fire) years – more sand lower in the canyon and the flat sand walkway (in the upper section of the canyon) is starting to wash out. It was amazing to see the amount of sand moving – even in the shallow water. Map.

From the parking area cross the road, after a very short distance the trail will split. Take the trail to the left – it will stay to the left of the wash and take you to the top of the first waterfall (the signed Arizona Trail heads right across the canyon). You may have more fun by walking the canyon bottom to the bottom of the falls (from the bottom of the falls the trail can be found up and left, the trail is the easiest way around the falls). After the falls continue up the canyon, hiking and scrambling (the scrambling is fairly easy but beware the wet/slippery rocks) – enjoy!

Filed under: Hiking, Santa Catalinas, canyon hiking, molino canyon

2006 July 31 • 10:58 am 1

Pine Canyon

Aaron, Alison and I decided to enjoy the rainy Tucson weather and do a hike in the Catalinas. There was an amazing amount of water in and around Tucson this weekend – many creeks/falls/drainages were running that are usually dry. We decided to head out to the Falls in Pine Creek – an amazing sight since all of us had been down Pine Creek when the falls were just a trickle. Map.