Ventana Canyon

November 25, 2022 hike: Ventana canyon to the Saddle (the Saddle is the ridge at the top of the canyon where a hiker can see the canyon on one side and whatever is on the other side - the northern Catalinas and Oro Valley in this case).

This was a much better hike than my hike at nearby Pima Canyon hike, two weeks ago. The trail was a lot easier to follow and I'm probably in much better "mountain hiking" condition now.

The weather was beautiful with copious sun, temps in the low-60s at the base and very light winds - excellent hiking conditions. Hiker traffic was quite heavy in the lower canyon, possibly due to it being Black Friday (lots of tourists in town), but I didn't encountered any hikers after Maiden Pools at the mid-point of the trail. There is usually very light hiker traffic in the upper parts of the Catalinas trails due to distance and increased trail difficulty.

The trail was fairly easy to follow, although I had to reference my trail app 4-5 times when I became slightly off-track. The trail was rocky as usual and there were more scratchy plants than usual, especially cat claw acacias. I wore a running outfit, augmented by gaiters to fend off the plants. This outfit was fine, even at the top, thanks to the comfortable temperatures, hot sun and light wind. Also as usual for this time of year, bugs were not an issue.

Photo 1 shows some of the spectacular reddish rock cliffs just inside the canyon, along with the numerous saguaros and other low desert vegetation.

Photos 2 and 3 show the amazing rock structures of the lower canyon. Photo 2 looks down the lower canyon from the top of the steep wall near the mid-section of the canyon. Hikers climb the wall along zig zag trails. It is a good workout, as the wall climbs about 200 feet in 500-600 feet of distance. Photo 3 provides a detailed view of some or the stunning rock structures in the lower canyon.

Photo 4 shows the huge back country beyond the lower canyon. It starts with grass and scrub and transitions to oak and Ponderosa pine forests in the higher elevations.

Photos 5 and 6 provide several shots of the top of the canyon. Photo 5 looks at the northeast canyon rim, showing the numberous hoodoos on that rim. Photo 6 shows the large rock sturcture at the top of the canyon. Hikers emerge onto a long Saddle trail just to the east of that rock.

Photo 7 is a video panning north to east. The video starts looking north at the high Catalinas. The two large mountains toward the end of the video are Cathedral Rock and Window Peak, the highest two peaks on the front Catalinas facing Tucson.

Photo 8 looks south down the canyon from the Saddle. The views are immense up there - check out some of the photos on the map near the top of the trail.

Photos 9 and 10 are my two favorite hoodoos on the trail. Photo 9, which is near the top of the canyon, looks like an Easter Island stone carving and photo 10, which is near the bottom of the long mid-canyon east wall, looks like a Tudor nobleman to me.

Photo 11, which was taken just down from the top, looks south down the canyon. I like the way the canyon walls frame the grey Santa Rita mountains in the far distance. The Santa Ritas are about 40 miles south. The high grey peak is Mt Wrightson, the tallest mountain in the Tucson area at 9,456 feet.

Photos 12 and 13 provide setting-sun shots of the bottom of the canyon.

All-in-all, it was a great hike!

Hike stats: 11.6 miles and 3,691 feet of vertical to a peak of 6,650 feet (3,747 feet of total vertical climbed) in 6 hours, 59 minutes. The hike time included 1 hour 15 minutes for lunch and mainly copious photo and video time.