Arizona Trail – Passage 11a – Part 2

• Distance – 3.94 miles / 6.33 kilometers
• Elevation Gain – 669 feet / 204 meters
• Elevation Loss – 1214 feet / 370 meters
• Average Temperature – 84.7° F / 29.3° C
• Total Mileage – 98.92 miles / 159.16 kilometers

Yes, it was short!  But there was a reason – I am the founding member of the Old Pueblo Chapter of American Pilgrims on the Camino and I was chairing the monthly meeting in the early afternoon.

The hike was lovely, again the vistas were incredible.  Passage 11a traverses the backside (or so it is called) of the Santa Catalina Mountains.  Lova and I met up on the mountain at 6:30, we left my car at the San Pedro Vista parking lot and her truck at the Bigelow trailhead.  We climbed for a short distance up to the AZT trail marker and then hiked downhill.  It is so lovely to be outdoors and to be on such a uncrowded trail.  Later in the day these trails are quite well used.At several points we found ourselves having to search for trail markers.  Unfortunately, so far the sections of the AZT we have hiked are not well-marked at all.  We almost always get off course every hike.  It should be noted if not for Garmin’s new fenix 3, we still may be lost on the trail.After searching around for the trail, we finally got back on course.  Thank you Garmin!Yikes we found ourselves off course again, we turned around and thankfully Lova sighted another trail marker off the path, and we were headed back on course once again.It is so beautiful up on the mountain, here is a 360° view of a portion of the  trail.  Please bear with the shakiness of the camera, I was on a rocky ledge and was unsure of my footing.  You will also notice remaining evidence of the Aspen Fire.

We marveled at the steepness of the descent as well as the ingenious use of mother nature in creating these trails.Finally we came to the end of our hike at the San Pedro Vista and decided to drive up to the Saw Mill Run for another breakfast.