Thursday November 9, 17.7km/11.0mi

Sweetwater TH (0.0/2800ft) to Wasson Peak Saddle (3.5/3860ft) (AZ) + 7.5 Connector to WTH

After a busy but restful zero day yesterday, we slept in a bit at the motel. I spent most of the morning doing tasks on my phone, eating, and packing up. We checked out at 11am and walked over to the donut shop nearby, which was surprisingly good.

After spending an hour eating and arranging some final plans, we started hiking at 12:30. The first hour was on roads, leaving town.

Pretty soon we were on a dirt road with no traffic, which was nice. It was finally quiet.

The road ended, and we were at the boundary of Saguaro National Park, at the Belmont Trailhead.

We hiked along a series of trails all afternoon, never seeing a single person. We stopped and investigated the only water source for today, which was dry.

Unsurprisingly, there were Saguaro cacti everywhere. This national park is aptly named.

The temperatures were relatively cool, only 77F/25C, and with the slight breeze it was perfect weather.

Eventually we began to climb up to Wasson Peak, gaining a few thousand feet in elevation.

At 5:30pm, we found ourselves at a saddle near the peak, watching the sunset.

After discussing where to camp, we decided to go into State land nearby, as camping isn’t allowed in the National Park. First day on the WTH complete!