Santa Ritas - Mt Wrightson Figure 8

April 14, 2023 hike: Mt Wrightson figure 8 loop. Old Baldy trail to the Mt Wrightson peak, then the Mt Wrightson Supertrail to Agua Caliente trail and back to the starting point on Mine Vault trail.

This was another wonderful sky island experience as summer sets in on the desert floor in Tucson. Tucson was in the low 80s, but Madera Canyon, where Mt Wrightson is located, was in the 60s, thanks to the high elevation of the area (the trailhead starts at 5,400 feet and the trail climbs 4,000 feet more). That plus copious sun made for great hiking conditions, although the wind was strong in certain places. I wore light running gear most of the day, but augmented that with a thicker top in the highest elevations.

The trail was a great workout, particularly on the way up. Old Baldy trail ascends with few breaks and it can be very steep with many switchbacks. It is definitely a great cardio exercise as it climbs 4,000 feet in 5 miles. The views in the lower sections are limited as they are heavily forested with oaks and pines - beautiful, but the vistas are limited. The views from the top are spectacular.

The Supertrail goes around the backside (south side) of Mt Wrightson and provides great views of the high Patagonian plain, the wild mountains to the south and the immense forest running up the south valley of the mountain.

Agua Caliente trail provides nice views of the Mt Wrightson ridge to the east, the forested north valley of the mountain and in the north distance, Tucson and the Catalina mountains. Mine Vault trail is an extremely steep trail back to the trailhead (I wouldn't recommend trying to climb this - it was hard enough going down!).

Photo 1 looks up at Mt Wrightson peak from about 20 minutes into the hike. The peak is about 3,700 feet above the trail at that point. You can see the magnificent forests of Madera Canyon and Mr Wrightson's impressive rocky peak.

Photo 2 provides some greater perspective of the Mt Wrightson ridge. Mt Wrightson (9,456 foot elevation) on the left and Josephine Peak (8,478 foot elevation) on the right (south of Mt Wrightson). This picture also shows the dense forests in the region, except on the steep volcanic rock surfaces near the peaks. The shot was taken from the west on Agua Caliente trail.

Photo 3 looks at the Mt Wrightson ridge. Believe it or not, you climb this. It is extremely steep with many, many switchbacks. The reward is you get to Old Baldy Saddle, which provides magnificent views of the high (5,000 foot elevation) Patagonian plateau (great wine country). But, there is another 700-800 feet to Mt Wrightson peak in the ensuing 0.9 miles.

Photo 4 looks east from Mt Wrightson peak across the Patagonian plateau. You can see strange, wave-like, erosion patterns and a few of the numerous small mountain ranges around the region.

Photo 5 looks west from Mt Wrightson peak at the two observatories on Mt Hopkins (elevation of 8,553 feet). They make up the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) system, along with another observatory out of the picture at the bottom. The smaller observatory at the middle left of the picture has a variety of telescopes up to 60 inches that look at the solar system, galaxy and extragalactic objects and exo-planets. The larger observatory at the summit of Mt Hopkins has a 256 inch telescope for similar missions. A quick literature search indicated that there was no road up the mountain, prior to the development of the observatories. The road looks like an engineering marvel in its own right.

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Yes there is still snow in the high mountains, even in mid-April! Photo 6 was taken on a the northeast flank of Mt Wrightson, about 1,000-2,000 feet below the peak.

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Photo 7 is a video taken from the Supertrail on the south side of Mt Wrightson. I sweeps from Josphine Peak in the east, across the heavily forested Josephine Canyon and ends looking west at the telescopes on Mt Hopkins. There was a large fire in this region in 2005. The greenery is obviously back, but I noticed areas where there were few of the very tall pines that are prevalent in the Mt Wrightson region. I suspect the fire is the reason. The smaller ranges to the south of Mt Wrightson are also quite dramatic - often quite steep and jagged as shown in this picture.

Photo 8 shows the lovely forested trails that are common in this area. This picture was taken on Agua Caliente trail, which traverses the north side of Mt Hopkins.

All-in-all, this was a great hike: fabulous views, beautiful sky island forest and a great workout.

Hike stats: 13.3 miles with 4,426 vertical feet to a 9,456 foot peak in 6 hrs 16 minutes (5 hours 28 minutes excluding lunch and photo taking time).