I received a message last week from an old Central Academy colleague I hadn't seen in fifteen years, my friend Tom Forsgren from Ames, Iowa who's lately been living in Mumbai, India where he teaches. Tom was visiting family in Arizona during the holidays, but wanted to get out on a hike, and I was more than willing to oblige. I was a little worried that, having been in the Midwest for awhile on this trip to the States, he might not be acclimated to hiking at elevation. That concern was quickly assuaged when Tom told me his most recent hike was in Kashmir in October! So, no worries. And in fact, Tom is an amazing hiker, and in great shape for someone nearly as old as me.We headed over to Saguaro National Park East as there are a variety of interconnected trails that allow for a customized hike, an à la carte selection of distance and elevation gain. We opted for the Douglas Spring Trail to the Douglas Spring Campground, ordinarily a 13.5 mile hike, but we upped it a mile with a side trip to Bridal Wreath Falls, which was more of a leaky-tap trickle than a falls with the recent droughts. I last hiked this general route in February of 2024 with my hiking partner Misty. On that outing, we added Ernie Falls and another mile to the day, and both falls were gushing because of snow melt.
Perfect weather for hiking—around 55º at the trailhead at 9:30, but rising ten degrees by hike's end. Mostly clear skies after the low-hanging clouds departed. Saw quite a few hikers at the outset, and apparently the campground was fully booked as we overtook a few overnighters slowly wending their way to the campground.
[All photos but two by Tom, as he has a better camera (and longer arms for the selfies).]
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Photo by Tom as my arms aren't long enough for selfies.
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One of my two pics on this outing.
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In fairness to me, although it is 9:30 in the AM, it isn't much later than my normal rising time.
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Still lots of new flowering because of the abnormally-warm weather; and a real boon for my hay fever.
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Almost at the campground.
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Enjoying a snack at Douglas Spring, adjacent to the campground.
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A photo taken through the PeakFinder app.
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