Happy back-on-track week. The week after a holiday is always the longest. Even my office computer decided it didn’t want to work, so I have a feeling this one will be especially long.
I hope all of your Thanksgivings were as great as mine one. There were two big turkeys (one that we deep-fat fried for the first time ever!), my momma bear’s famous salad and copious amounts of wine, carbs, gluten free desserts—apple, pumpkin and chocolate cream pie, sugar cookie cutouts, pumpkin roll, pumpkin bread, applesauce and chocolate chip pancakes, the list goes on. We played Just Dance, danced in the kitchen, colored pictures, played in the snow, had family 7-Minute Workouts in the living room, made a gingerbread village per tradition and watched a lot of football. It was fantastic.
But now that I’m passed this sugar-filled weekend it’s time to get back on track and what better way to do that then by looking at pictures from a past hiking adventure, amiright?
Seriously though, I hiked Bear Canyon in Tucson with a couple of friends a few weeks ago when I had a day off and it was awesome. The hike is fairly long, but you can take a tram up to the official trailhead to cut about 3 miles out of what would be an 8 mile hike. We choose this option due to a time constraint, and honestly that first 1.5 mile of trail is more like a road without much to see, so I would say it was worth the $4ish we paid (don’t quote me on that exact amount).
This was my first trip to Tucson and I have to say, it didn’t disappoint. There is so much more I want to see and do there, but driving by the Catalinas, seeing Mount Lemmon and doing this hike through Bear Canyon was great. You start at the Sabino Canyon Visitors center where you can park and then walk or take the tram to the trailhead. The trail winds up through the canyon and crosses over the river about four times, so there is quite a bit of boulder-hopping. We struggled with this a bit, as well as following the trail at one point, but luckily we met a nice, experienced man Jeff who became our unofficial tour guide.
The trail ends at a very rewarding waterfall and wading pool, well seven waterfalls to be exact. The river comes down into the canyon from the top of the mountain at this point called “Seven Falls.” It couldn’t be a more accurate name, there are seven waterfalls, each one landing in a shallow pool perfect for swimming. This would be a great spot in the summer time (just be wary of the heat in the canyon) as many people come here to splash in the water, lounge on the rock beach and climb up then slide down the rocks.
After our hike ate a well-deserved Mexican meal at one of El Charro Cafe’s locations just down the road from the visitors center. The restaurant claims to be the U.S.’s first Mexican restaurant. I don’t know if it’s true, but I do know that the food was amazing and the happy hour prices were just as great. I had three tacos (mix and match even) for $5.
Like I said, perfect first trip to Tucson.
