The Hike to Finger Rock Guard

Tuesday morning and a full parking lot at the top of Alvernon Road, including some rock climbers who would take the trail to Pontatoc Ridge and ascend the wall where the abandoned mine is located.  Also there were....

…..the vans from two resorts.  They too would be on the Pontatoc Ridge trail because.....

….the trail to Mount Kimball or to Finger Rock Guard is unrelentingly steep and boulder strewn making the going difficult.  This is one of the iconic destinations in the area with the narrow spire known as Finger Rock visible from all over Tucson.

After a rolling start of 1.2 miles, the trail crosses a ravine and starts steeply up.  The next 1.5 miles gains almost 1500' with an average grade of 19%.  Steep yes but the obstacles add immeasurably to the difficulty.  Many times you pause, grab the end of a boulder and hoist yourself but throughout, great views.

I break the route up into 3 sections.  The first is the end of the 1.5 mile section on which I am slogging now.  Upon reaching a small plateau you leave the Finger Rock Trail which goes on to Mount Kimball, descend into a ravine and climb to that ridge to the right of Finger Rock.  The 3rd section is the climb of the Guard.

There are several sections of slickrock prior to the aforementioned small plateau.  Along the way I almost step on a.....

….Yikes! A medium sized Tarantula.

Once on the plateau and before the trail has the option breaking right to the Linda Vista Saddle, I walk over and look down where I can see an unnamed trail winding up the slope toward the aforementioned ridge.  I drop into.....

…..the ravine where there is a nice flow of water, hop across it and then begin a knee buckling ascent to the ridge.  About .5 miles having an average grade of 31%!!!!

I reach the ridge which provides good views to the northwest that include Table Mountain. Then I turn toward......

…..the Guard.  There are plenty of cairns to assist you but I suggest having a gps route anyway.  This is my 4th visit and I am grateful for the cairns.

Across the way I spot the Finger Rock Trail (I know why name it that if it goes to Mount Kimball rather than Finger Rock) and the Linda Vista Saddle.

Rounding a corner I get a great view of Finger Rock.  Then I turn to my left and.....

…...oh just wow.  I drop my hiking pole as it will not be useful from this point forward.  I carefully scale this wall and.....

….use all my appendages to get through this mess and....

….clamber up this and other steep and narrow obstacles before.....

….reach the top of a small rock spire and take a look at the Finger.  Except, you can really see it since it blends in so well with the rock behind it.  Trust me, it's in there.

The views are.....

….just awesome.  Rain is forecast for later so I pick my way down, get off route once so check gps, get back on the route, descend to the saddle, descend to the ravine, climb out to the plateau and....

….continue the descent as I watch the clouds roll in.  Finished with 8 miles and 4000' of elevation gain.  Needed a day to recover and then, on to another epic hike.