Our 12-mile hike in Arizona

     We have hiked many trails on vacations throughout that USA but our longest hike was in the Catalina Mountains in Arizona.  When I say we, I mean Mimi & I and our close friends John & Cindy.  The plan was to hike the Sabino Canyon trail to the 7 falls which was a 8 mile hike but we had hiked that distance before so it should no problem.  We had hiking boots, poles, water and hats so we felt prepared.  We parked our car early in the morning and geared up, then deciding to walk to the trailhead instead of riding the bus (that would be lame).

     The first thing we did was get a map from the tourist office which showed us which way to head but we were not aware the trailhead was a 2 mile walk.  That's ok we're fresh and anxious to get started. Now if you're paying attention the hike has now turned into 12 miles instead of 8.

     Our plans were solid except for food (just a few Powerbars), but since the average walking speed is 3.1 miles per hour and adjusting for rocky terrain we should average 2.5 miles per hour which means we would be back from this 8 mile hike in just over 3 1/2 hours, 4 hours at the outside.  We figured we could have a nice lunch when we got back from the hike.  Our calculations were based on an 8 mile hike not 12 miles plus we slowed down dramatically on the return trip so we were not achieving our 2.5 mile estimate.  The hike took us 7 hours or as Mimi would say "7 freaking hours". 

     The scenery was beautiful on the trip to the falls crossing through clear icy cold streams, picture perfect.  The trail meandered up and down the hills giving us great vantage points for taking a few pictures, "Oh Yea! we forgot the camera, must have left it with the food".  We had the falls in sight so we couldn't turn around now, it was just ahead, but it seemed like it took forever to get there. Mimi and Cindy waited just above the falls while John and I climbed down the rocks to reach the falls.  After spending a short time at the falls we headed back down the trail and I'm sure the scenery was just a beautiful going back to the trailhead as it was going to the falls but we didn't seem to notice it as much.  We were on a mission to get back and the beautiful scenery was not going to slow us down.

     Water had now become an issue because we ran out about after 5 hours on the trail.  Then Mimi wrenched her ankle a bit so we stopped to let her rest, but luckily it was minor and she being a trooper pressed on.  We made it back to the trailhead and got some water and thought about waiting for the bus to take us to the parking lot but we didn't know how long it would be so we hoofed it.

     It was a fun hike but we should have taken the bus to the trailhead and made it an 8 mile hike instead of 12 miles.  I have to give props to Mimi and Cindy for sticking with us on this long hike since this was not their idea.