Elevation: 4201'- 4948'
Elevation gain: 1198'
Significance: a gentle section of the Arizona Trail in a wide basin surrounded by craggy rocks
Time: 5 hours
This hike starts on the west side of the Hirabayashi Recreation area, just past MM7 on the Catalina Hwy north of Tucson and connects to the Molino Basin trail at the west end parking lot. Go over the hill and continue west down the creek area, then fork right by the oak tree and resume the hike to the Shreve Saddle. The Sycamore Reservoir trail officially begins at this saddle (and the Molino Basin trail ends). The reservoir is another mile downhill where the sycamores are, which are visible from the saddle. The leaves are past their autumn and are brown.
This is a very popular hike and Steve agreed to start this one early. This parking lot is known to fill up fast on the weekend with hikers and mountain bikers. This means we have to leave Sierra Vista even earlier. I wanted to pick him up at 6am and got there 20 minutes late because I dozed through the 5am alarm. It was cold out when I left, with a thin layer of frost on the windshield. The sun didn't rise until we were on I-10 driving west toward Tucson. We got to the trailhead by 8:15am and were on the trail by 8:29am. Five cars were in the parking lot when we first got there; three more cars came when we were getting ready to hike. One of those cars was a large pick-up with five hunting dogs that took off just before we did. (There were 20 cars in the lot when we got back).
The first mile to Shreve Saddle is now known to us. The trail meanders along a level creek bed as it slowly climbs to the saddle. Grass heads were covered in frost until the sun could peek over the mountains. Ice glistened in the sun until it melted and dripped off. Small puddles were in the creekbed from Friday's rain. I was chilled and kept my quilt jacket on until we got to the reservoir. We took a good day to hike this trail: cool weather with most of the wet passages dried up. Weather was ideal once the sun was high enough. It was in the low 60s with windswept clouds above.
The couple with the five hunting dogs stayed ahead of us until we met them at the saddle, where they then got ahead of us. They, too, were heading to the reservoir. We lost sight of them once they got to the reservoir.
The reservoir trail going down to the riparian area hugs the rocky mountain side, proving for early morning shade. We saw remnants of pillars in the basin, and a few more along the hillside. We both wondered what was once here, besides a working water reservoir that supplied the prison camp two miles east and uphill. The old road to the reservoir was on the other side of the basin. We took this road back uphill for most of the way on the return hike.
The last quarter mile down to the reservoir is perhaps the best part of this hike. We could see Thimble Peak pointing up behind the craggy rocks of the canyon, and the lush riparian area was a delight for the dogs and me, as I like the smell of autumn leaves. We stayed here for a bit to let the dogs romp around in the water. Zeke drank from the stinky water (one reviewer described this as smelling like sewage water; it smells like rusty pipes to me) while Trace not only drank the water and splashed around, he also did a few acrobatics on the stone wall of the reservoir.
I can see why this makes a lovely summer hike destination. Water spills over the wall 100' below, and a small trail leads down to the lower part of the creek. Steve wanted no part of that trail, and I saved exploring that part of the creek for another time. The people with the dogs seemed to have gone up the creek here as we never saw them again. After a short rest, we resumed our hike going northwest along the Arizona Trail, heading toward Bear Canyon for another gentle mile along the creek bed. We were now in an open, wide basin and could see the Catalina Highway far to the east. Parked cars in the overlook shimmered in the sun.
By 10am we were getting passed by other hikers, including a power hiker heading into Bear Canyon on the East Fork. We saw him skirmage up a rocky hillside and disappear over the saddle. That is a loop hike I want to do someday. Dogs are not allowed in Sabino Canyon on the south side, but I'm unsure if they are allowed on the north end off the Arizona Trail on the East Fork trail.
We turned around at the intersection with the East Fork Trail and hiked back the way we came. The trail was, as expected, much more crowded with families, dogs, runners. We took the lesser-used mining road going back, but switched back to the trail 50' above where we rested in the shade. This was a steep alternative route, but also a very rocky route. Trace got to play with a 4-month-old Malinois puppy named Zoro as we reached the saddle. Zoro belonged to a young man who was hiking in a large group.
The hike took us five hours. It was mid afternoon and we had daylight for the drive home! But first we ate a lunch at the Bear Canyon Pizza, right off Tanque Verde and Catalina Hwy. It's a sports bar with 32 craft beers on tap. The Canyon Combo slice which we shared had spicy sausage, pepperoni, green pepper, mushrooms, onions and a gluten-free crust. It was quite tasty! We also each had two beers. So much for having lunch at Chuy's, a Mexican chain restaurant that Steve said is from Austin. We had been talking about eating there. (I've been there several times; the food is quite good and it's very reasonably priced.) There is a large Chuy's off Houghton but it's recessed and not easily seen off the main road.
I was back home by 5pm. Kevin was back from his Phoenix trip and gave me all the details. The son of his friends' older son Jason turned 21 on Friday and the entire gang celebrated with (too many) drinks at the famed "Yard House" in Glendale. It's a beer bar with 100 taps, with a Classic Rock theme. I've never been to this place, but drinking beer while listening to the Eagles, Bad Company, Journey, Styx, or Kansas can't be too bad in my book. A shame there aren't any hiking trails near Glendale. He got so drunk, he admitted, that he had to sleep off his hangover yesterday, when he had planned on being home. "You know I can't stop drinking" he said.
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