A New to Us Hike

Today has been amazingly windy, so we hiked.  We found a new to us trail in the Tucson Mountains.  We parked at the very end of Sarasota and walked toward this sign.

Instead of turning right to go to the access point to the wash that goes in to the bowl, go up the hill.  You're on the correct trail if it goes up immediately.  Turn left at the cairn.

Eventually, you'll find yourself walking along a wash.  The trail will cross the wash.  There will appear to be a 4 way intersection, but you want to go right, back toward the wash you were just walking next to.  The wide thing that looks like a trail is a water course.

Big boulders on the hill side.

There are mountain bikers out there.  It's a trail where Jim and I could ride short sections, but there would be a lot or walking.

This is what that guy just rode down.  No way, no how.  I am too old for that.

Eventually the trail takes you around this large rock structure.  If you make it a loop, you'll end up in the wash that goes to the other parking lot on Sarasota.  Take the first right out of the wash, and it will return you to the cairn in the second picture.  I think it's about three miles.

It's the Tucson Mountain park, so there will be unpleasant stretches of loose rocks that roll and slide.  Over all it's not a terrible hike.  I think it's on par with Rock Wren and better than Hidden and Bowen.  The other benefit is that we have not done it twelve thousand times.

Hopefully the climate will settle down tomorrow and we can ride our bikes.  Yesterday's ride had an unpleasant return back to the bus due to the giant head wind.  There was a lot of whining.