Group Cycling and Hiking

Slotted in with the Cyclefit group, 15 of us for a 35 mile ride around Oro Valley and one stop to fix a flat.  The quality of the pavement in OV and the adjoining Marana is great.  Finished with a 17.6 average.  And then.....

....hooked up with Amy and hiking friends Katheryn and Brenda to do a 6.5 mile loop hike on the east side of Tucson.

Our route would take us up the left side of the canyon in the foreground via the La Milagrosa Trail, cut into a canyon, climb out of it and return via the canyon in the background.

It's a pretty good climb before a descent into the above canyon that still held some water in spots.  Interesting rock formations.

At about the 2.5 mile point, I located the above cairn that indicated where we depart the trail and get on an unnamed social trail where we had good views of....

....Aqua Caliente Hill or maybe that is the false summit and the real one is just beyond.  Tough hike either way.  We continue to descend and soon....

....have a good view of a canyon bottom that is covered in monsoon inspired growth.  There has been enough traffic that the trail was not difficult to follow.  We hiked down canyon for a little while before ascending....

.... the trail and having good views to the southwest.  Simply amazing growth of grass and other vegetation.  

We begin our final descent and pass a water tank made for wild life although there is not much water collected.

A long dead saguaro is tilted toward us and allowed a good look inside.

The gang continues downward and soon finishes our loop hike.  Next week I'm guiding a group to Superstition Peak, a truly epic hike but traditionally it is an out/back route kind of shaped like the number 7 except if it was reversed.  I've read about a route that essentially finds the missing side of the triangle so I can turn the route into a loop.  I'm going to check that out tomorrow!