Tuesday November 7, 37.7km/23.4mi

Lemmon Rock Trail Jct (613.6/7250ft) to Romero Pass (617.5/6050ft) (AZ) + 19.5 AZT Connector to WTH

We left camp at 6:15am, and hiked an hour through the Pusch Ridge Wilderness. We were up at 7,000 ft so the Ponderosa pine forest was back.

The trail was amazing to hike and the ground was not dusty, because of the granite rock type around here.

As we neared Romero Pass, the views started to open up, and we could see down into the Oro Valley.

There’s Tucson way down there somewhere!

We hiked another mile to Romero Pass, and dropped almost a thousand feet in the process.

There were multiple viewpoints along the way, with the valley getting closer each time.

By 9am we had arrived at Romero Pass, and we departed the Arizona Trail. I’ll have to return next year to finish the last 182 miles to the Mexican border.

From Romero Pass, we hiked down Romero Canyon and across the suburbs of Tucson, to connect to the “Winter Thru-Hike” (WTH) route, a creation of Brett “Blisterfree” Tucker.

Halfway down Romero Canyon, we came across a skunk that had met its demise with a predator. Yuck.

As we got lower, the trees disappeared, and the temperature climbed to 90F/32C.

And the Saguaro cacti reappeared!

We exited the canyon and entered Catalina State Park, where we followed a wide dirt track for a mile.

And just like that, we had re-entered civilization.

Since we were so close to an Olive Garden, and it was lunchtime, we decided to eat there. Unlimited salad and breadsticks!

After lunch, we followed the Cañada del Oro bikeway all afternoon.

We hiked 8 miles on the bikeway, to Ina Road, where all the motels and chain restaurants are located.

Just before getting to our motel, we stopped at McDonald’s for some cold drinks. It was hot today! We checked-in to our motel, showered, and passed out by 10pm.