Mount Bigelow Via Butterfly Trail

About an hour drive from home are the many trails and peaks of the Santa Catalina Mountains.  Mount Lemmon receives most of the attention but also in the vicinity are other peaks, including Bigelow, at a height of 8500'.  I park at the Butterfly trailhead and begin a 5.9 mile hike to the aforementioned peak.

The trail is paved for a short section, then becomes a wide dirt path which quickly narrows as I begin a long descent.  Nice views to I guess the northwest.  In there some where is an area called "Reef of Rocks", a popular rock climbers destination.  I'll check it out soon.

More grand views as I continue my descent on this north facing slope which.....

….was untouched by the 2003 Aspen Fire.  Steep down there but the trail is well constructed and not too steep as many switchbacks take me past vegetation that is far different from what I see on the mountain's other side.  OK, there are......

….plenty of Columbines which are found elsewhere in seemingly moist surroundings but here there are.....

…..lots of other types as the plants have closed on the trail making it narrow.  I catch a man and two kids and he asked if I had seen an AZ black rattlesnake just a little ways back.  Nope, had walked right by it and it must not have felt threatened as it did not rattle.  I took a few steps forward, now in front and.....

….whoa!  This was enormous, at least 5' long and a gopher snake.  They eat rattlesnakes so we talked about capturing it and taking back up trail to meet the black rattlesnake but of course, we did not.

OK, now I was becoming concerned as I waded through lush vegetation with 2 snake sightings in the first 2 miles.  Some where in here, as I lost visual of my feet (which I hate) I decided I was not going to return this way.  I knew there was an option other than out and back, my original plan.

I had dropped 1000+ feet.  I was also wearing long pants which was a good idea but dang, the heat and unusual humidity would soon have my shirt soaked with perspiration.

So there I was, walking a narrow, overgrown path, looking ahead at a neat rock formation and wondering if that was Bigelow Peak when...….

….the silence is interrupted by the distinctive sound of a rattlesnake's buzzing.  I immediately stop and look around me to first locate the snake (another AZ black rattlesnake) and then decide to faint, continue forward, back (usually the best option) or to one side or the other.  There it is ahead and to my right, at the edge of the trail.  My heart is beating rapidly but I extend my hiking pole, insert it into the brush to try to coax it out so I can get a clear image.  It was having none of that and slithered farther into the brush.  I kept poking it while depressing the branches but the above is the best image I could take.  Holding the camera with one hand while simultaneously pressing the brush with the pole just didn't make for a steady platform.  And yes, there was some hand shake involved too. I continued on now that I was out of strike range.

I reached Bigelow and circled clockwise while stopping to chat with a couple of trail volunteers who admitted some portions of the trail were in need of maintenance.  Here though the trail was wider and I picked up the pace, less worried about reptiles.

How about that!  Raspberries ready for picking.  I continued up and soon....

….saw a building indicating I was almost to the top.  

That is a hard hike folks.  5.9 miles of down and then mostly up with 2700' of elevation gain.  I studied the above map, talked to some mountain bikers and headed.....

down Bigelow Road where I passed many camp sites, full of people who had escaped the valley heat.  Hmmmmm, I hear thunder and my hike is accompanied with.....

…..rain....nice!  I am already soaked from sweat so I didn't notice the rain much.  Although the temperature was now 61 degrees as I continued my march.  I turned down an offer for a ride as I did not want to sit in someone's car in my current state.  I reached.....

….Catalina Highway and was greeted by numerous cyclists riding from Summerhaven in the same conditions as I.  Reached my car at mile 9.8, changed into dry clothes and enjoyed the drive down the mountain.  I'll wait for winter before trying the Butterfly trail again.