Miles Hiked: 30
AZT Progress: 191
Molino Campground to Oracle Ridge mile 191
Passage 11: https://aztrail.org/explore/passages/passage-11-santa-catalina-mountains/
Today felt just as incredibly long as it was. It started with my alarm going off at 4am. I was determined to hike up Mount Lemmon and make it to the general store in the resort village of Summerhaven before it closed at 4pm. 22 miles and 6,000 feet of elevation gain stood between me and my goal. I didn’t want to cut it too close because I definitely didn’t have enough food on me to miss the store hours. Luckily this also meant that my backpack was pretty light for the task. My legs were already pretty sore from the big climb up Mica and before camp last night. I left camp by 4:30am quietly moving along with my red headlamp light through the campground. I turned it on full blast white light after I was out. Nothing to note about the miles in the dark. I made it to the top of a saddle with my first bar of cell service in a day just as the sun rose. I took a quick break and ate breakfast. Continuing on I blasted through Sabino Canyon down to Hutch’s Pool. A spot I’ve really been looking forward to arriving at on this hike. The canyon was so pretty and I walked along and crossed a stream several times. I even saw a few Saguaro Cactuses surprisingly. I didn’t expect to see any after leaving the south side of Saguaro National Park. Those cactuses seem to grow only in very specific places. My head was on a swivel looking for Gila monsters as well. I heard that some people have spotted them while going up Mount Lemmon. Before getting to Hutch’s pool I had to get my feet wet in a water crossing for the first time on trail. A gushing creek went through a large boulder field but none of them were close enough to hop across. At Hutch’s pool I took a long break, making refried beans for breakfast that were really dry except I had a single packet of Taco Bell sauce to spice it up. The pool was a favorite spot of mine with a little waterfall feeding it between two canyon walls.
After Hutch’s Pool the climb up Mount Lemmon really started. Only 5,000ish feet left from there. I was looking forward to getting to Romero Pass around the halfway point. The trail became covered in leaf litter as it followed a flowing creek the rest of the way up the mountain. I got to see a little fox up close which was really cool. Once I got to Romero Pass the trail totally changed. Now it was a climb through a kingdom of boulders with ponderosa pines. It’s so wild how much the trail changes in just a few miles going from the desert floor to the alpine zone. I couldn’t get over how pretty all the rocks were near the top of Mount lemmon. I think they were granite, quartz, limestone, many of them were rose colored and I found even more deposits of Mica than on Mica Mountain. My legs were really feeling the burn here but I was so close to my goal. Eventually the trail flattened out near the top and crossed Lemmon creek several times. It was amazing to see so much water this high up. All the snow I had heard about up here had completely melted. The trail became a bit harder to follow as there were many downed trees and leaf litter from storms. If I had to night hike up here I would be completely lost.
The trail ended at the Marshall Gulch trailhead and then followed the road into Summerhaven for about a mile to the general store. There were so many people all over the place and the road was lined with cars. I was feeling so overwhelmed by all of the people. At the general store I grabbed an Arizona iced tea and a salad as well as some food to resupply me for the next 20 miles into Oracle where I planned to resupply and spend the night. I had successfully beat the storm to the top of Mount Lemmon and I was so happy about it. I chatted with a few other hikers that all hiked the PCT the same year as me including three dinners from Norway and Diva. I never met any of them in 2022 but it was nice to chat with them as we sat outside on the bench while the crowds milled all around the town. Originally I was planning to sleep in the post office, sort of a thru hiker tradition in this town. I decided against it as there was still a bit of daylight in the day and I wanted to be closer to town for tomorrow. I hiked on. The trail changed so dramatically. I figured it would be just like the other side of Mount lemmon with lots of rocks and ponderosa trees to camp under. Leaving Summerhaven the trail went over the top of Oracle Ridge which felt like walking on a little knife in the sky. The wind was absolutely wild and I pushed on more miles than planned into the dark so I could try to drop elevation and get out of it into some tree protection. Sunset was incredible. After an almost 30 mile day I found a decent spot to pitch my tarp and made use to stake it down really good because it was so windy. I only slept about two hours since it was like sleeping under a flapping parachute all night.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
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