Mica Mountain 8688'

Distance: 19.57 miles

Elevation

Significance: hiking up several biospheres; bragging rights, views

https://www.summitpost.org/mica-mountain/153827

Mica Mountain had always been on my bucket list.  I never did it because it's located within the Saguaro National Park and no dogs are allowed.  However, when hiking club member Jim suggested bagging the peak today, I jumped on the chance, as I am on an abbreviated spring break right now.  It was a good decision.

The hardest part was the early wake-up and meet-up with the group.  We met at 5am at the Pizza Hut Bistro in SV, before sunrise.  We were a group of five: JimA, BillC, RyanD, BarryD and I.  I rode with Jim and Bill in Jim's Tacoma truck.  I dozed off to Jim's classical music playing in the background as the sun rose as we rumbled on the dirt road to the trail head.

I'm glad I carpooled as there is no way my Honda CRV could have made that last mile on a rutted ridge trail.  There was already one truck parked where we stopped to start hiking.  It was 6:40am when we got started, just after sunrise.  Jim took the lead and led us on the unmarked trail at a moderate pace.

The closer we got to the giant mica-studded mountain, the more intimidating it became.  The first two miles were on gentle slopes, past the typical desert flora so common around Tucson: agave, prickly pear, desert bunch grass, emory oaks. The one flora absent here is the saguaro, as our starting elevation of 4600' was too high for the cactus to grow.  We entered the Saguaro National Park just before the two-mile mark.  Another half mile and the trail began its steep switchback up the northern slope.

We hit the snow level at just below 7000'.  First it appeared in shaded north slopes below firs and spruce.  Past Mud Hole Springs and another 1.5 mile past to Deer Head spring, and snow became more prevalent, along with the sweet aroma of pine and pine needles.  Pine needles softened the trail that was not covered in snow.

We took our first short break by Mud hole springs.  Our more significant break was at Man Head overlook, with expansive views to the north.  We were now on the broad plateau of Mica Mountain, traversing a meadow, hiking under various conifers, and resting briefly on top of the viewless peak where once a fire look-out tower lingered.  We had hiked 10.1 miles to this point.

The best spot was yet to come.  After resting on the official summit, we continued on to Spud Rock, a boulder overlook named for the potatoes that once grew here from a long-ago settler.  We could see into Tucson, the Catalinas, and views south as well.  The views made the long hike worth it, but we now had just four hours of daylight left to get back to our cars before dark.

Jim lead us around a big loop atop the peak.  From Spud Rock we continued on to Manning Camp, which once was the summer retreat for politicians and mayors in the area.  No one was at the camp and we didn't stay long.  We had now completed more than half of the loop and needed to get to the trail that took us back to Turkey Creek on the northeast side of the mountain.

  

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