RV Trip Day 2- AZ
My Valentine’s Day hike with my valentine - Cousin Amy!
South East of Tucson, AZ is Mount Wrightson Wilderness. We arrived after dark to a welcoming “Active Bear Area” sign posted on the information board. JOY. Here we are in a vehicle full of food, and can only picture the bears at the Mount Witney trailhead that break INTO cars with any trace of food/scent. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep too well that night.
Plan to start semi-early if you don’t want to hike back in the dark. Lots of food and water as usual, along with the other 10 essentials.
We hiked a good deal through snow, so our micro spikes were pretty handy near the top where it became slippery. Although I saw a few people without them, I wouldn’t recommend it. The trees were frozen in the morning, looking almost furry - SO gorgeous for photos. Of course I didn’t bring any camera but my phone this time (argh). It was melting by the time we headed back and relatively warm, so naturally, having many layers was necessary.
HIKE STATS
Drinks: 1 can of Rosé
Length: 11.6 miles (my watch died about 1 mile before the end)
Time: ~8.5 hours
9,361 ft
Elevation Gain: 4,002 ft per AllTrails, but we tracked 4360 ft
Trail followed: Mount Wrightson via Mount Baldy Trail https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/arizona/mt-wrightson-via-old-baldy-trail
HIKE TIPS
Pay to park at trailhead using envelopes - $8 per day or $10 per week.
Some people came at dark to see the city lights / view
Be Bear Aware!
GEAR:
