Another beautiful day. 54 at sunrise and warming quickly as I headed north out of Tucson past Oro Valley towards Santa Catalina State Park for a hike up to Romero Pools.
I arrived at yet another nearly full parking lot (maybe I'm doing all the popular hikes) at around 9:15, strapped on my pack and headed towards Stevenson Gulch which was flowing steadily from recent rains.
I took off my shows and headed across the creek, it was cold but not freezing cold and held a refreshing promise of soaking my feet at the pools.
Looking up towards the Santa Catalinas.
At about a half a mile a sign declares that No Dogs are Allowed due to the fact that the area is a Big Horn Sheep management area. From this point on the trail changes from loose sand to very rocky with spots of big steps.
Looking back down the trail towards Oro Valley. Lots and I mean lots of development here since the last time I was in town 4 years ago or so.
Still climbing with the top in the background to the left of the lower peak.
Along the trail you see lots of green thanks to the recent rains.
Over the top of big climb. Just a couple short ups from here to the pools. That information was courtesy of a nice older park ranger (late 60's or early 70's) who was hiking back and looked like he'd just had his uniform pressed. I on the other hand, was sweating as the temperature had risen to the mid 70's at this point.
I believe that's Cathedral Rock on the left hand side of this picture. Around one more bend then down to the pools.
Some of the lower pools from up on the trail. Harder to get to so just admire them.
The first set of pools that you come to aren't the only ones. Further up are more with better waterfalls and bigger swimming areas. ( I found this out much later.)
This one worked for me. Very cool and refreshing. I hung out for 45 minutes or so getting some sun and resting my tired feet.
Total time walking up. 1:16. Elevation gain around 1100 ft. Not as hard as Wasson Peak but a good hike with lots of company. Around 8 people at the pools while I was there. On the way down I saw 18 or so folks heading up at 11:30 to noon. Very warm by then.
Off to SoCal tomorrow. Some good hikes on this trip.
Hasta Luego.
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