Climbing Wasson Peak

Sunday
Wasson Peak is the highest point in the western Tucson Mountain region of the Park, and there are several way to climb it. We chose the route via the Sendero Esperanza and Hugh Norris Trails, which gave us a total of just under 10 miles, with about 1700 feet elevation gain. The Sendero Esperanza Trail begins on a sandy, brush-lined path, formerly an old mining road.The saguaros were relatively sparse in this area, with diverse chollas and large barrel cacti predominating. After a mile or so, the trail begins to ascend via a series of switchbacks to Wasson Peak's west ridge and the Hugh Norris Trail which follows the ridge line. From this point on, the views were absolutely amazing - my pictures don’t really do it justice. At this level, yucca, jojoba, Ocotillo, prickly pear, mesquite, and various cholla also thrive in these high, open spaces. After about 3.5 miles the trail scales another set of switchbacks to the junction with the King Canyon Trail which comes up the other side, and appeared quite a bit steeper than our ascent. The last section ascends moderately to the summit at 4,687 ft. We spent a while at the top, taking in the views, and having a snack. We also got talking to a young Indian guy who we had seen on a previous day at another trail, and we recognized each other. He had originally come over to the States to attend university in Indiana, the adjacent state to Ohio where we live. He is currently working from “home”, but with home being where his computer is, he is using the opportunity to do some traveling at the same time! We set off down at about the same time, but he was gently jogging down, so we soon lost sight of him! Funnily enough, it seemed quite a bit quicker going down!
I hadn’t been sure whether I would make it to the top, so I felt quite proud of myself. In general I am better going uphill than down, depending on the surface of the trail - if it’s a lot of loose stones, I get really nervous about slipping. However we were very impressed with this trail, it was well laid out and relatively moderate, and much of it was fairly smooth, with just a couple of stony, rocky stretches.
The little creature in my thumbnail is, I believe a Harris’s antelope squirrel, which we saw when we were having our snack at the summit. They are similar to a chipmunk, but with white stripes along the flanks of its grey body, and white encircling their eyes. Their diet includes the fruit and seeds of local cactus plants, as well as beans of the mesquite plant, but they will also eat insects, small rodents and carrion. In order to protect themselves from the hot desert sun, they carry their tails over their bodies to provide shade. As we rejoined the tarmac road from the dirt road which led to the trailhead, Jen noticed across the road a rather confused saguaro cactus (centre) coming into bloom - I say “confused” because they don’t usually flower before May! All in all, a terrific day!
In the evening, after our exertions, we treated ourselves to dinner out at a Mexican restaurant!

Step count for today: 23,382!