Wild Burro, Wild Mustang, and Upper Javalina Loop

Once again warmer than normal temps (a high of 77º today) and lots of plants flowering like it's spring. This winter's weather is a warning shot for anyone not a climate-denier like old Presidementia Been-a-Dick Arnold. The Klutzy Klepto Klansman is trying to open up to oil drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home of over 200 endangered species, just so he can reward his billionaire pals pawning off the previous century's energy to further destabilize our climate. What a dangerous moron. But I digress. 

This solo hike (my hiking partner is out for a couple-three weeks maybe) sends me to the Tortolita's, which is about as safe an area to hike as there is around Tucson (it's relatively well-trafficked), if one wants anything other than a bunny hill to climb. 

This is the first time I've hiked this particular route. I have certainly hike parts of this loop on my previous hikes, most of which were longer by 5-8 miles, including the Tortolita Superloop—one of my favorites—which I hiked in December (also solo). Misty and I also participated in the M.O.V.E. trail event in 2024, an annual event that benefits the parks and rec. departments of Marana and Oro Valley, two Tucson burbs. That hike included 13 miles in the Tortolitas followed by 7 miles in Catalina State Park. A worthwhile event, but probably a one-off for me; not a big fan of crowds while I hike and bike. I no longer ride RAGBRAI either.

Saw a few other hikers, mostly close to the trailheads, and three mountain bikes coming off the Alamo Spring trail. Pretty calm and mostly clear. This loop starts off with a rocky 1,500 foot climb up the Upper Javalina and Wild Mustang trails, then settles in to a smoother ridge hike before descending back down the Wild Burro Trail to the trailhead. I was actually surprised by my pace considering I am still a little overly cautious on the rocky downhills. I hiked the loop clockwise and would do so again.

This ain't bloomin normal. Yikes; it's only just February.

This view shows how the trail flattens out a bit after the initial steep climb.

The Wild Burro Trail includes a lot of the actual wash which it criss-crosses.

The remains of an old well/water tank.

Pumphouse or other structure adjacent to the water tank.

Cañada del Oro Trail to Santa Cruz River Park

We traded in our hiking kit today for bikes as Misty was really jonesin' for a ride. I am still working my way up to longer rides after the RTSA (reverse total shoulder arthroplasty) surgery in May. I have done many short rides without much discomfort, but leaning on handlebars, even for a short ride like today, can cause some achy discomfort. My previous ride here, a mere 18 miles, caused some minor discomfort, and this short 20 miler had about the same level of achiness. So my plan is to increase the distance on these rides perhaps 5 miles each time just to test the limits, if there are any, of what I can do. I need to get back to riding my and my friend Carl's birthday (he's 8 years older than I am so we ride his birthday) since I had to scotch it last November. We shall see.

Beautiful day, a little on the warm side at 77º, but Misty said it's so much cooler on a bike than hiking down here, because it's so dry. And it wasn't bad. 

Saw a few riders, macho gear mashers on their corporate lunch breaks at the beginning, during lunch hour, and way fewer on the way back. All-in-all, a nice outing. Thanks for the suggestion, Misty.

Yes, one hand on the bars, one on the camera so I could shoot these pics. Dumb.

The original loop trail around Tucson, with later auxiliary routes out to the burbs, all now part of The Loop.

Ram's Canyon Oro Valley to Walter's Cascade

One way to make hikes a little more exciting is to introduce some uncertainty or even a little danger to sharpen the senses and the mind. Not like the scariest hike I've been on, the infamous 24-mile hike from 2019 that we finished six hours and six miles over budget, but more like today...by simply going off route for a few miles, without a proper map. But it wasn't all that bad, and actually felt more like an accomplishment than a stupid stunt. 

Today, I struck out on the Ram's Canyon Trail in Oro Valley, as opposed to the one in Catalina State Park, that is really the same canyon and same trail, but not fully marked as such. I simply extended my hike a few miles past the water tanks I hiked to last time, and continued on to the Walter's Cascade Trail which I hiked to a couple of weeks ago starting in Catalina State Park. This extension made for a nice little 6.5 miler, with modest elevation gain, and a water feature as a destination. This is a hike well worth repeating, with the added bonus that it's close to the house.

Saw three people on the trail, a solo hiker on her way to Walter's Cascade, from Catalina SP, and a young couple just starting out from Oro Valley as I was finishing up. Temps we unseasonably warm, topping out at 78º with no wind and clear skies. I waqs a little perturbed to see poppies in bloom as well as ocotillo.

The trail starts out on an abandoned road next to a housing development, but quickly drops down into a wash and on up into the hills.

The gap in the fence demarcating the border between Oro Valley public land and national park service public land. It is through here one can access Catalina State Park.

The water tank I noticed on my first two hikes up here from both directions.

Bloomin' occatillo!

WTF!?

Walter's Cascade

The Tortolita's in the distance.