Final Day in Tucson, Hiking

After returning my wife to the comfort of the hotel's hot tub, after the half marathon, I headed to Saguaro National Park to find the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail, supposedly one of the most difficult in the area.  I took a wrong turn after entering the park and ended up on an 8 mile, one way loop through the park.  Every type of cactus was on display, including some I had not previously seen.

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Finally found the trail head and headed into the wilderness.  Trail is fairly easy to follow except in spots where there is slick rock but even there, "ducks" mark the trail.  After 5.5 miles and 3000' of climbing, I decided not to continue to my goal of a basin camp at mile 6.9.  The solitude and lateness of the day makes things kind of eerie so I turned around. Getting stuck out here after dark would not be fun.

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The view looking westward and....

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...the view looking eastward.  Finished with 11 miles on a rugged trail with lots of rattlesnake ambush sites but heard they are now hibernating so I didn't worry too much.

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