Catalina Mountains (Tucson, AZ)

I just left the trails and am now updating in a Tucson Starbucks. Today's ride was possibly the best of the trip, except for maybe Asheville. Anyway, I camped out last night in Coronado Park and woke up this morning to a very pleasant surprise - warmth! Yesterday in Las Cruces I woke to a bunch of frost on everything.





The road through the Catalina Mountains is an almost constant uphill, so I pedaled from the lower trailhead to the upper, probably a total of about five miles on the road. The Bug Spring trailhead climbs to the peak of a ridgeline (which I walked) and then meanders down to the creek and back up again (which I also walked) to another ridgeline. The last three or four miles of trail are mostly downhill. The rocks and loose dirt make keeping traction very entertaining. The sights at all points are breathtaking too.





About one mile from the end of the trail, you can begin to see the road again. The trail switches back and forth a few more times before dumping you back onto the road and into the camping area where I met an excited dog ready to get out and stretch his legs.