Sabino Canyon and the 4 mile paved road that winds into the canyon and the destination of hundreds each day who come to walk and run but..... ....higher up via the dirt trail, far fewer venture. Today's hike was a combination of on trail via the Phoneline Trail and then off trail to a saddle between two prominent features. Along the way, I passed... ....a guy wearing a "Trek" hat so have to strike a conversation. Turns out he is professional mtb and cyclecross racer Brian Matter. I looked up his bio and pretty impressive, including a road win at the Tour of Gila. Great guy enjoying the off season but getting ready for his first event, the Whiskey 50. My destination is hidden behind the hill in the foreground a saddle to the right of the background ridge. How about that? A road runner pauses long enough for me to snap the pic. There is the saddle and the way up is steep. Note I chose this day to hike because the temperature was unusually cool at 65 but up here probably not above 60 so I figured the rattlers were not very active and probably doing nothing but sunning themselves. Actually, with the cloud cover, there wasn't much sun. I head up and the trail falls well below. The ground is covered with grass and small bushes so I walk very, very carefully with a pole poking forward where I can not see. If it was hot, it would be foolish to be here cause the snakes love to hide in the grass and under bushes. While only about a 1/2 mile climb, it took me a long time but at last, there is the saddle. Awesome. The rock in the distance is Blackett's Ridge, a popular destination coming from the other direction but a dead end once you reach that point. A large cluster of I think Dollar Cactus. Impressive size. Thimble Peak in the distance. I could have climbed to the top of the ridge in the foreground and then hike its distance to a nice view of Thimble but it began to rain lightly, clouds were gathering so I headed back. Finished with 7 miles.
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