The hiker is a sixty-something snowbird. I try to get out for a hike in the Catalinas once a week while I am resident in Tucson from early November to late April. I summer in the northeast and try to stay fit by running, although the first hikes of the season are invariably a challenge.
I first started hiking in Tucson about 15 to 20 years ago, as the tourist booklets highlighted it as feature activity of the city. I've always liked physical exercise, so I thought why not give it a try. I started in the Tucson Mountains and found the sun, warmth, stunning desert flora, fauna and views were amazing and the workout was very satisfying. I gradually moved up to the longer, more challenging Catalina and Rincon trails and these are my sweet spot: six to eight hours of vigorous physical activity, a peacefulness that nature can bring and beautiful sometimes awe-inspiring scenery.
The photos were taken on my ancient iPhone 6 until the end of April 2021. I upgraded to an iPhone 13 Pro for the start of the 2021-2022 season to take advantage of the much-improved cameras on the new phones.
This is my first website and I am a self-taught coder. The site was developed using the usual web languages, HTML, CSS and Javascript along with mapping and photo tools from Google and other tools to incorporate individual pictures. The site was almost entirely programmed using the Textastic development app on an iPad Pro initially. However, development was moved to a Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with XAMPP and Visual Studio Code to facilitate the development of commenting (which requires PHP and SQL database software that is not really supported by Textastic on an iPad). The website has been tested using Safari on the iPad and Chrome on a Windows laptop. I would recommend using the website on large-screen devices such as a tablet or PC.
I hope many of you will get the chance to hike these trails. They are often breathtaking both physically and figuratively. Happy hiking!
Catalina Mountains, shot from Rincon Mountains