I was so worried about catching Kevin's cold earlier this week. I managed to fight off the bug and led a hike in my beloved Tortolitas again, my fourth hike with a group. We hiked 14 miles through this saguaro-studded low range, using a network of trails for this big loop.
Eight people showed up. That's pretty impressive considering the distance and strenuous conditions: SteveA, SteveS, RodC, Doug, BarryD, JimA, Carol from Tucson and I with Zeke. Weather was forecasted to be mostly sunny with temperatures in the 60s. It was 32F when we started and 64F when we finished.
There were quite a few dogs at the trailhead parking lot, including a group of Pima County animal shelter volunteers out walking nervous dogs. Once we got on the rugged Alamo Springs trail and its many ups and downs via stone steps, we were more remote and I took Zeke offleash. He never ran off from me. This trail is a tough one for me. I feel like I'm on a Stairmaster for two hours.
Everyone was on the lookout for crested saguaros. The last time I did this hike, three years ago with SteveA and PatS, we counted three of them and all of them were on the northern part of this range, along the Ridgeline trail. This time we only saw two of them on this trail. Rod spotted a third one off Wild burro trail on a hillside, and JimA spotted one near the Javelina trail. But what happened to that third crested saguaro on the Ridgeline trail? I had spent time today while hiking that section looking for it.
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What we saw instead was the first round of wildflowers, starting with the bright yellow brittlebrush blooms and then later the golden mallow, desert marigold and a few lupines. The brittlebrush is a low-lying shrub and the first to flower in the desert. Its yellow-on-yellow flowers grow from long stalks. Higher on the Alamos Springs trail we saw other annuals: several poppies were already showing, and then more purple flowers hiding in crevices. We didn't see carpets of any one flower, though, but what we did see was an earlier-than-normal display.
We came across several other groups of hikers on this trail, but none of them continued on the Ridgeline trail. Here is where I came back to life. The Stairmaster exercise was now over and we were switchbacking up the trail, up to the pass that offers a breathtaking view of Tuscon and the Santa Rita mountains. For most people on this hike, this was their first view from this vantage point. It's a view worth stopping for. I had a few tangerines and Zeke had some water.
We spotted our first crested saguaro, perched high off a cliff but visible right off the trail. Some of the speed demons like SteveS and Jim didn't even notice it. The second one, right off the trail, was harder to ignore as we all stopped to photograph it. This is one that I remember from my first time on this trail.
I like the Ridgeline trail as it's all downhill from here. The trail is the northern section of the park, with views back into the valley where once mines dug up the earth. The old water tanks and horse corrals are still here, but we didn't stop. The group slowly spread out, with the speed demons up front and the slower ones and me toward the rear. These long hikes are slowly getting to be too taxing for me.
Jim radioed Rick to tell him he spotted a crested saguaro off the southern hillside in that last mile. Sure enough, with binoculars it was visible. Why hadn't I seen it before? And here I always thought the crested saguaros were only on the north end.
We had a post-hike meal again in Marana, in the same Mexican restaurant as before, Nana's Kitchen. This time we didn't have to deal with loud mariachi music and were able to enjoy a group meal in peace.
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