Esperero Canyon to Cathedral Peak -- April 2010

Photos by Don Wilson

Don Wilson and I did this as a nice overnight backpack on 4/23/2010. We met at the Sabino Parking area at noon on Friday. It is OK to leave cars parked there overnight, so long as you are out on the trails (I think what they would not like is people "partying" in the parking lot). We were having amazing cool weather for late April and hiked up the trail with wind and clouds, which was very nice. We camped at a nice "shoulder" above the trail and east of the peak with a nice view of the Tucson lights. Temperatures dropped to an amazing 25 degrees with the passing storm and clearing skys.

The next day was clear and cold and we took off for the summit. There are a myriad of superfluous ducks and markers along the way, which wanders among cliffs and crags. There would have been another fine campsite higher amidst the rocks, and perhaps it will serve for another time. The actual summit crag requires some rock climbing. I would once have called it class 3, but I now will be more honest and call it class 4. Two ropes were hanging fixed on a crack on the northwest side of the crag. Given that there was ice and snow on the rock, we were grateful for these. The final moves to get on the summit are easy enough, but are done over a 200 foot drop on the east side, and would probably frighten a lot of people. We were on top just before 9:00 AM. This is a truly great summit, absolutely the finest summit in the Catalinas, and one of the best in Southern Arizona.

At the time we did this hike (after a very rainy winter), Bridalviel falls was running nicely and we filled our water bottles there. There was very little water in Esperero Canyon, and I would be skeptical of this spring in mid summer or in a drought year. In 2010, when we did this hike, there were wildflowers everywhere, especially at lower elevations (the first mile of trail past the Sabino road were spectacular!).

We reflected on the fact that the 5000 feet climb, going up and down Cathedral Peak, is somewhat more than the 4500 feet of elevation change when hiking in and out of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim.