The Wilderness of rocks is a high elevation (7000 foot) area south of Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson.

My son Alex and I decided that we were in the mood for an overnight backpack trip. We left the house in Tucson about 10:45 AM and were probably on the trail by 1PM. We parked on top of Mount Lemmon, and hiked east out to the end of Radio Ridge and then dropped down to Marshall Saddle. We found decent water in Lemmon Creek (near the "L" in "Catalina" on the 7.5 minute map. We found a great camp spot beyond the second crossing of Lemmon Creek. This is no great trick since there are plenty of good campsites. This is especially true if you are willing to carry water and make a dry camp, as we always are, we prefer a good view and some isolation above all else. We had plenty of time to relax, scramble up on some rocks, and to enjoy the views and sunset.

In the morning we hiked up the Wilderness Boundary Trail (Trail #5). We met a couple of guys from the Phoenix area who were doing hikes in preparation for hiking the John Muir Trail in July or August. We were back at the truck by 11:20 AM and headed back to town. This was a 10 mile loop with 2000 feet of elevation gain (and loss). Weather was perfect, with gentle breezes, bright sun, and blue skies.

One lesson is that even though I am doing 3-4 mile trail runs (that take 45-minutes to an hour) once or twice each week to "stay in shape", this in no way compares to hour after hour of tromping on a trail. The only way to get in shape for long days of hiking is to spend long days hiking!

Water is always an uncertain thing, but after this hike I have concluded that there is always water in Lemmon Creek. I carried two full two liter bottles and a water filter. I never used the filter and dumped one liter once I discovered I could fill my bottles. The next day I gave a liter of water to the two guys we met (but later wished I had kept maybe half of it for the hike up). Of course, the next time when I go light and count on water there won't be any. Either that or someone reading this will do so, and write me a nasty email and quote my comment that there is always water in Lemmon Creek.

This was another ultralight trip (so to speak). So you have to suffer (or skip) the following analysis of what I carried.

My pack starting out was 24 pounds. 9 pounds of this was water, my base weight was about 10 pounds. I carried a 1.5 pound can of Dinty Moore Stew along with 2.5 pounds of additional food (2 pounds of which I carried out with me). So, I could have left that 2 pounds of food and 1 liter of water behind and dropped my pack weight to 20 pounds. All of this was carried in my MLD exodus pack.

My sleeping kit was my Exped Down Mat, my Mountain Hardware Bivy, and my Big Agnes Horse Thief down bag (for a total of 6 pounds!). I carried, wore, and appreciated medium weight capilene. There was a gentle breeze early in the night, and the bivy made me quite cozy rather than marginal. It may seem surprising that I need all this to stay warm on a June night at 7300 feet in Arizona, but I do.

I ate the can of stew cold. (I wanted to keep my water boiling pot clean for morning coffee). I found it perfectly fine and satisfying to eat the stew cold, but your mileage might differ. I carried the caldera cone alcohol stove system (for morning coffee and oatmeal). I was tempted to carry my Bushbuddy wood burning stove, but did not because of the usual extreme fire danger in June.

I should have brought a plastic bowl for the oatmeal. I also should have brought sunscreen, and I would have appreciated a better pillow. I have a Mont-bell inflatable pillow, but I really need to buy a full size pillow, chop it in half, and sew up a half size pillow for trips like this.