King Canyon Trail

The King Canyon Trail is in the Tucson Mountain District of the Saguaro National Park. The park is divided into two units separated by 30 miles and the city of Tucson. The trail was a strenuous trek with the trailhead just across the road from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where we went yesterday. 

We are learning quite a bit about the saguaro. One does not refer to the limbs as branches, but as arms. Saguaros grow slowly, taking about 15 years to reach 1ft in height, 50 years to reach 7ft and almost a century before they begin to grow their arms, if they grow them at all; some specimens never grow arms. No one really knows how long saguaros live, but the supposition is that the oldest are well over 200-years-old.

The hike today was through a more desert-like environment than our previous ones.

Lovely blooming barrel cactus along the side of the trail.

Our lunch spot on top of Wasson Peak at the end of the King Canyon Trail.

Other hikers enjoying the 360 degree view from on top of Wasson Peak.

That's Tucson in the center of the picture (be sure to click to enlarge).

If you enlarge this picture you can clearly see the trail that we climbed to the top of the peak.

As we began to descend, another hiker arrived at the Wasson Peak register. She took this white dress from her backpack, and put it on over her hiking clothes and the long white gloves. I asked if she wanted us to take her picture, and she said, "yes". She said that she and some of her friends climb mountains and then take their picture in a dress - just something they do. She had climbed Picacho Peak earlier this week using the cables, ladders and catwalk. We told her we do something similar with Mr. Spock.

Descending from the peak.

Looking back up at Wasson Peak.

Today's hike:

Length - 7.2 miles

Duration - 4 hours, 25 minutes (including lunch)

Elevation gain - exactly 2,000 feet (213 floors on the Fitbit)