Catalinas - Finger Rock Canyon

January 7, 2022 hike: Finger Rock Canyon to Mt Kimball peak.

Back to hiking after the Christmas-New Year break. It was a spectacular day, especially for being so early in January, with sun all day, little wind and temperatures reaching the low 70s in Tucson (although much lower at the top of Mt Kimball).

I hadn't been on the trail for 9 months or so. I knew it would be tough, but time erases how gruelling it is. It really is a stair master to heaven. It is steep (about 800 vertical feet per mile), relentless (almost no flatter parts after the first mile or so) and requires a lot of clambering over rock piles. The only saving grace is that it is short at just over 10 miles for the round trip to the top.

However, the spectacular views make it highly worthwhile and it feels like you've had a great workout at the end.

Photo 1 looks up at Finger Rock in the morning sun from the early part of the first steep section on the east side of the canyon.

Photo 2 looks down the canyon from the top of the first steep section. You can see Tucson beyond the canyon, the Tucson Mountains on the other side of Tucson and the Baboquivari Mountains in the distance behind the Tucson Mountains. The Kitt Peak observatory is at the north (right) end of the Baboquivari Mountains in an extension range called the Quinlan Mountains. The Baboquivari Mountains are about 70 miles southwest from where I took the picture.

Photo 3 is a view from the top of Mt Kimball looking east. The large snow-capped mountain in the left of the picture is Mt Lemmon and I think the tall mountain in the middle is Window Peak. It was quite nice at the peak, but definitely a fair bit cooler due to the altitude, and some light wind gusts were chilly. Still, it was a magnificent place to have lunch.

Photo 4 was also taken from the top of Mt Kimball, this time looking west. The peaks in the middle of the picture are the west side of Pima Canyon, with the highest peak being Table Mountain. You can see Oro Valley beyond the Pima Canyon mountains and the Tortolita Mountains on the center-right edge of the picture.

Photo 5 is a video from the top of Mt Lemmon with pans across the northern Catalinas with snow capped Mt Lemmon, then to the front range of the Catalinas with Window Peak, and on to the snow-capped Rincons in the distance to the east, the eastern side of Tucson and the the upper part of Finger Rock canyon.

Photo 6 looks at the massive rock at the northeast corner of Finger Rock canyon. The photo was taken coming down the eastern flank of Mt Kimball, looking southeast.

Photo 7 looks down Finger Rock canyon from the top of the canyon in the afternoon sun. This location is down the canyon a bit from the massive rock in photo 6.

Photo 8 looks at the east wall of the canyon near the bottom in the late afternoon sun.

All in all, a great day out although a very hard workout to start the year and especially after two weeks off.

Hike stats: 10.2 miles with over 4,100 feet of vertical to a peak of 7,258 feet in 6 hours 45 minutes. You can do this faster, as I took 121 photos and videos on this hike.