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| Hiking | 18.05 Miles |
3,792 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.05 Miles | | | |
| 3,792 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | This lasso loop hike came onto my radar about a year ago. It looked interesting and it was relatively close to Phoenix. The weather looked pleasant for late April and I talked to Kyle and Claire and they were down. Wet met at Ray Rd and the I-10 and the drive down took took a little over an hour.
This hike starts from the Ritz Carlton parking lot. The Trailhead has nice bathrooms and they provide a map with excellent details of the hikes in the area. The trail starts by dropping you into a wash. Soon after we hit a junction and went to the northwest as we started our lasso loop. These trails are in excellent condition and are easy to follow. There were a few people on the early portion around the resort. They didn't wander too far away.
We made steady progress and we took a short break by the windmill at the five mile mark. From there we connected onto the unofficial trail. The route is generally easy to follow but it really helped having a GPS. Mostly for the beginning and a few short stretches as we climbed to the ridgeline and then dropped down the east side where we connected back on official trail.
Once back on trail we made quick time as we headed for the homestead. We passed the grave marker along the way and soon after Claire spotted a bobcat on the trail ahead of us. I caught a quick glimpse of it as it ran away. We continued on and took our lunch at the homestead where there were a couple of tanks for water. It looked green but filterable. The real issue were all the wasps flying around. We didn't explore the homestead much. There is a large rock corral to the northeast. It looks like that is where you want to pick up the trail. Instead we followed a use trail two-tenths of a mile to connect back onto trail.
Next up was the Ridgeline trail and this is the best portion of the hike. The trail is in excellent condition and the views of the Catalinas and Mount Lemmon are breathtaking! We made quick time and connected onto a few different trails. The rest of the hike blurred by and before long we were all done and back to the jeep.
The Tortolitas have some nice hiking. It's a large range with a lot of trails in very good condition. It reminded us a lot of South Mountain without the people. Give this area a try if you're looking for some nice trails that aren't too far from the major cities. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
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