Sabino Canyon

Sabino Canyon is a lovely little canyon near Tucson. We drove down on Friday, getting to Tucson about 2:00. By the time we drove around the edge of the city to the canyon, it was 2:30. At the gate entrance, Rob pulled out his wallet (parking is $5), but I pulled out the National Parks Pass (now $80) that we usually buy. Yay! just saved $5! I had noticed the pictures of the pass on the side of the gatehouse, and earlier had tucked the card in my pocket just in case Rob wanted to stop at Casa Grande NM or Tonto NM. Although these National Parks passes are getting pricey, in the past year we have been to Arches ($10), Bryce ($25), Tonto National Monument ($3 each=$21), Walnut Canyon ($5 each/adults=$10), Cabrillo National Monument ($5), the Grand Canyon ($25), and more places I can't recall right now. I guess a Parks Pass would only be a good deal if you travel like we do.

Anyway, the repairs to the landslide damage in the canyon were finished, so the road was open to the end at the Telephone Line Trailhead. We bought tram tickets (eek!) and caught the 3:00 shuttle. The driver warned us that it took most people at least four hours to hike the trail, and we would be hiking in the dark. Rob told him we had flashlights (which we did). After a really cool ride on the tram up the canyon, over the WPA and CCC built roads and bridges, we got off at the end of the line (tram stop #9) and started up the switchbacks. Within a few minutes, I was not enjoying the hike at all. But we finally made it up a mile of switchbacks. Then the trail leveled out and we hiked at a good pace along the canyon. Rob got to carry little miss cutie who weighs about 25 lbs now, and the backpack with all the water & stuff. Our little Pickle (4 years old) was going slow until he was told what a good hiker he was, and then he picked up the pace. He also got to be in front, and that seemed to help.

The teen (13) and the two girls (ages 9 – almost 10, & 8) had their little spats about who got to go first, but they all did great. We hiked at a pretty good pace, reaching the cliff called the Acropolis Wall as the sun was at its most spectacular. The trail was great, and there weren't too many dropoffs as we hiked along about halfway up the Sabino Canyon wall. We should have taken the Sabino Link trail down to the road, but we stayed on the Phoneline trail because it was still light. We reached the road at the end just as it got dark, and ended up hiking the last 0.8 mile in the dark with flashlights. The Pickle hiked the entire 6 miles on his own, with only a few hundred yards of piggy-back rides. Rob got to carry little miss cutie for all but about 1/2 mile, and I carried the backpack for the last bit on the road.

We got back to the car about 6:00, having hiked the 6 miles in 2-1/2 hours, with 5 children. With the exception of the switchbacks at the beginning, it was a great trail with spectacular views. The sun was perfect for pictures (which is why we went later in the afternoon), and I may get around to posting some of the pictures online sometime. Definitely worth the trip.