25.03 Picacho Peak between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona...a local icon.
It's special to begin a Monday morning on this peak...any peak. On a brisk winter morning, the sun was prominent on the mountain walls. Jenni returned to the trails after an illness, making one boy very happy and a girl quite tired. We had a quick three hikes following the tough Finger Canyon Trail. Tucson is a rugged hiking town when one follows the trails to their termination points. There are sections of the city which are also very rough…people-wise. We completed Romero Pools which was moderate of 7 miles with a cumulative gain of 1,200 feet; Ventana Canyon of over 9 miles and 3,000 feet upwards had testing aspects. The difficulty of the latter hike was that for part of it we climbed and crawled up a goat path, thirty or so minutes of testing situations—‘our guide’ seemed to lose his way…what’s new? Suppose it takes a bit of an effort to reach special places. Out in the beautiful deserts, slightly haunting sunset. For a little perspective, a p...