Finger Rock Trail to Linda Vista Saddle

 

Today I needed a hike with lots of elevation gain that can be done in three hours or less, which means a  fairly short hike, in this case, six miles. I have a substantial and very challenging hike next Monday that I am sort of training for. More at, I am just making sure I can still handle steep and long assents in a reasonable amount of time; not a fan of spending more that 7 or 8 hours on any hike. This hike certainly fits the bill today. Most of its 2,500 feet of elevation gain is crammed into the final two miles, and the trail is quite rocky with a lot of scrambling over boulders. My goal today was to at least match my previous time from December of 2022, and in that, I was successful.

My hiking partner Misty and I are tackling our first 20+ miler of the season in less than a week, and I want to be ready. That hike is a loop starting and ending in Sabino Canyon. It has some impressive stats: 22 miles long, and 5,300 feet of gain, most of which comes in the beginning 6 miles. We will start out on the steep and usually sketchy Esperero Trail, switch to the Cathedral Rock Trail near the ridge around 7,000 feet, then gradually descend on the West Fork and Phoneline trails. This is vaguely similar to a hike we did last year where we hiked from Catalina State Park up and over Romero Pass and back on the same three trails as this one.

Great weather today, albeit much cooler, with 65º temps at the trailhead, and 50s up top. Saw very few other hikers except at the lower reaches.

The Finger this trail refers to, while not a destination itself, 

is a beacon of sorts, and a constant reminder you are on a 

very challenging hike.

.

The Linda Vista Saddle, which resides between whatever that hill on the right is called, and Gorp Peak, out of sight on the left.

A not-so-linda view of Tucson sprawl from the saddle.

Interesting sign found at trail's end.

Gorp Peak, which might well be considered a linda vista.