Tucson Mtns - Sweetwater

December 2, 2022 hike: Sweetwater trail to Wasson Peak.

Sweetwater is the eastern trail to Wasson Peak. Wasson Peak provides stunning views of Tucson and all the ranges around the city. I found the trail relatively easy (rated Hard by AllTrails, but this seems overdone). It is very easy to follow and it has a moderately good surface. I was able to trail-run a lot of it. The top mile or so is steeper, although again the trail surface was very decent. The trail provides solid distance (a total of 9.3 miles on an out and back trail) and moderate vertical climbing (about 2,100 feet). It can be hiked quite quickly; I took under 4 hours, including lunch and lots of photo taking time, and just over 3 hours of actual hiking time. Note that there is very little shade until late in the afternoon.

The weather was beautiful for the hike with full sun, temperatures around 70 and very light breeze.

Photo 1 was taken a short way up the hike. The photo looks up one of the lower canyons, showing farily typical low desert flora including many saguaros.

Photos 2 and 3 show opposing views from near the King Canyon-Sweetwater Saddle. The Saddle is about 3/4 of the way up the Sweetwater trail. Photo 2 looks east, showing Tucson and the Catalina moutains in the left distance and the Rincon Mountains in the right distance. Photo 3 looks west down King Canyon, with the fairly large Avra valley beyond the foot of the canyon and the Baboquivari and Quinlan mountains in the center-left distance. The trail is steepest from the Saddle to Wasson Peak, but the effort is worth it!

Photo 4 is a video from the top of Wasson Peak which pans from northwest to south. It first shows a small but sharp mini-range below and northwest of Wasson Peak. It pans toward the east, next showing a built up area of the town of Marana near the mountains, a large treed area further north and the relatively low Tortolita range. Panning further east, it shows the large plain between the Tortolitas and the much larger and taller Catalina range. The town of Oro Valley and several satellite communities are situated in this plain. The video then shows the large Catalina range; at about 45 seconds into the video, the tall mountain in the backgound is Mt Lemmon, the tallest mountain in the Catalinas at 9,171 feet, and the large canyon in the middle of the picture is Pima Canyon. From this point forward, the large city in the middle of the video is Tucson. Around 50 seconds into the video, the Catalinas recede and the Rincon mountains, which bound Tucson on the east, come into view in the distance. At about 1 minute 15 seconds into the video, the Tucson mountains come into view in the foreground and the Santa Rita mountains come into view in the distance. At the end of the video, you see Mt Wrightson, the tallest mountain in the Tucson region at 9.456 feet, in the distance.

Photo 5 looks south down the Tucson mountains from the top of Wasson Peak, with the Tucson just beyond and the Santa Rita mountain foothills in the distance. The Tucson mountains have been worn down a fair bit, but harder rock outcroppings create dramatic ridges.

Photos 6 and 7 look west from the King Canyon-Sweetwater Saddle, showing the Baboquivari mountain in photo 6 and the Quinlan mountains in photo 7. The two ranges are joined together, with the Baboquivaris in the south and the Quinlans in the north. Photo 6 shows the distinct dome of Baboquivari Peak in the left of the picture, while photo 7 shows the Kitt Peak observatory in the left of that picture.

Photo 8 looks northwest at Pima Canyon in the afternoon sun from fairly far down the trail on the return trip. You can see the enormous breadth and very high canyon walls of the canyon. The tall mountain on the left is Mt Lemmon. The green mountain just above the left side of Pima Canyon is Mt Kimball, the highest peak in the western Catalinas at 7,258 feet, and the taller rocky peak to the right of Mt Kimball is Cathedral Rock, the highest peak on the front side of the Catalinas facing Tucson. Cathedral Rock is 7.952 feet.

All in all, it was an enjoyable hike with spectacular views from Wasson Peak.

Hike stats: 9.3 miles with 2,090 feet of vertical to a peak of 4,688 feet in 3 hours 51 minutes (3 hours 4 minutes excluding lunch and photo/video taking time).