Hill and Dale: Pima Canyon to Mount Kimball and Back on Finger Rock Trail

I don't know what it is about me, or my hiking pals Misty and Jacques (Jack) for that matter: if a trail is designated anything other than hard, difficult, or "A", I will almost never consider it worth my time. Not just because of the challenge—but that's certainly a lot of it—but because it really does keep the crowds away, the hoards of piker hikers bereft of trail etiquette out for a leisurely walk in the desert (not that there's anything wrong with walkers). Silly, really, because many of these hard trails really are hard—on the joints. But I must say, this little 11-mile hike was worth the pain just from the sheer variety and magnificence of the views, not only on the peaks and ridges, but also on the long lumbering lower stretches.

This point-to-point hike combines two of the Santa Catalina's most splendid (and challenging) hikes: The demanding and vertical Finger Rock Trail, and the likewise steep Pima Canyon Trail to Mt. Kimball. It is common to ascend via the Finger Rock Trail, summit Mt. Kimball, and descend through Pima Canyon. However, we started in Pima Canyon, no doubt because Jack had hiked Finger Rock to Mt. Kimball in the fall. Jack and I also hiked up Finger Rock to the Linda Vista Saddle in early December. It proved rather treacherous as recent rains made the steep trail slick, and the fog and low-hanging clouds spoiled the view. This glorious day would be different, especially after the morning wisps of clouds burned off.

Pima Canyon Trailhead (left green dot) and the Finger Rock Trailhead (black dot). For scale, these trailheads are 6.0 miles apart.

Even the mundane sections of Pima Canyon near the trailhead are spectacular.

The hazy clouds would burn off as we neared the summit, with high temps for the day only reaching the high 60s, perhaps high forties, low fifties at the summit of Mt. Kimball, where we did have to add a layer.

Jack leading the way. There is usually no drop off in pace among Jack, Misty and me, regardless of who might be in the lead at any given point. We are a very compatible hiking trio, a rare and lucky happenstance.

All it takes is a microclimate of solar gain and protection from the wind and weather to allow flowers to bloom in one spot where they might wither and die just yards or even feet away.

I'll have to finish reading my copy of Ivo Lucchitta's well-written Hiking Arizona's Geology so I can read the tale of these interesting rocks.

More magnificent striations.

Looking west down the canyon toward Oro Valley.

Misty and Jack.

My usual view as I hike an ankle-twisting trail is downward; I have to tell myself to occasionally look up and around to catch the real views. However, this composition is anything but pedestrian.

Saguaro sentry waving us on.

Grapefruit-size mortars used by ancient Arizonans to grind mesquite and other plants. These people were probably of the Hohokam culture who lived here between 200 and 1,400 ce.

Looking west toward Oro Vally, with the Tucson Mountains in the distance.

I'm not climbing that.

More western views. Finally getting some elevation.

Do not step off this ledge. You'd be in Oro Valley before you could scream aaahhhhh.

Looking south from the Pima Canyon Trail near Mt. Kimball summit, about .03 miles from the intersection with the Finger Rock Trail and our final descent. This view is of the back side of Finger Rock.

Views of the Catalinas from the Summit of Mt. Kimball.

Views of Oro Valley from the Summit of Mt. Kimball.

Summit panorama, with Jack and Misty.

Starting the descent down Finger Rock Trail.

A few tenacious clouds that would soon lose their grip and dissipate.

The view from Linda Vista Saddle which, the last time I was here in December, enshrouded in fog.

A view south, with concrete Tucson spreading out far and wide. These hikes really are a mental respite from the unsustainable, inhuman sprawl that has all but destroyed the desert ecosystem that can rightfully sustain a few disparate, scattered tribes.