Wilderness of Rocks

Dropped off at Summerhaven. Mt. Lemmon, AZ.

Jake, Corey, and Ryan decided to backpack down Mount Lemmon from Summerhaven to Prison Camp. Our friend John gave us a ride up to Summerhaven on Friday morning. We originally intended to kick off at Lemmon Rock Lookout, but the access road was closed, so we adjusted on the fly and started down Mint Spring instead.

After a week of warm desert weather, the south-facing slopes were mostly clear, but everywhere else still held a few inches of snow until we began the descent toward Romero Pass. The trail wasn't too churned up, even on Mint Spring, which was a pleasant surprise. No real slips and very little ice. Jake and I had packed crampons just in case, though Ryan had decided to leave his behind. Neither Jake nor I ended up wearing them for their intended purpose... but more on that later.

Wilderness of Rocks was absolute magic. We reached Lemmon Pools in time for lunch and kicked around options for where to wrap up the day's trekking. I had originally hoped to set up camp right there in Wilderness of Rocks, but Ryan needed to be close to an exit route come Sunday morning, meaning we had to pitch tents near Sycamore Reservoir by Saturday night. Our buddies Bob and Keith were planning to meet us in that area. Since Sycamore Reservoir was still a solid haul from WoR, we needed to make camp lower down on Friday. We held out hope for water at the Cathedral junction, but a couple of ascending hikers gave us a dry report. Uncertain about any water sources past Lemmon Pools, we opted to tank up completely and haul the extra weight down toward Cathedral junction.

However, Jake and I were carrying absolute monster packs, easily double the weight of Ryan's lightweight setup. Adding several extra liters of water made navigating the rest of Wilderness of Rocks a grueling slog. We crept along at less than a mile an hour with frequent breaks, and by the time we ground our way to Romero Pass, the two of us were completely spent. We called it there, pitched camp, and were rewarded with a stunning sunset, followed by an even more magnificent sunrise the next morning.

Too tired to keep on hiking.

Rested and two meals lighter, along with the reduced water load, we descended into West Fork. We caught the faint sound of trickling water high up in the canyon, but every crossing was bone-dry, and there was nothing usable in West Fork until we reached Hutch's Pool.

Shortly after passing Cathedral junction, Jake called a sudden halt for a gear emergency: half the sole on his left boot had completely detached. Ryan and I pulled out the few wraps of duct tape we had tucked away to slap together a trail repair, but it was obvious it wouldn't hold for long. That's when Ryan had a stroke of makeshift genius, using a pair of crampons off-label to clamp the boot together. So, Jake hiked the remainder of the desert trek wearing full crampons over zero snow or ice. According to him, they provided great traction on dirt, though they were a little dicey on bare rock.

We enjoyed a long, restful lunch at Hutch's Pool, which was completely full, and topped off our reservoirs. West Fork east of the pool had a solid, moderate flow with effortless crossings. East Fork was mostly dry, save for a few deep pools visible down in the canyon that were completely inaccessible from the trail.

After climbing out of East Fork, we paused at the first creek crossing. A few standing pools remained, but the creek line itself was dry. Bob was there waiting for us and delivered the news: no other water was anywhere to be found. Even Sycamore Reservoir was dry, barring a large pool at the bottom that would require a sketchy climb down to reach. Exhausted from hauling our heavy loads, Jake and I briefly considered calling it a day right there at the crossing. Then we spotted fresh mountain lion tracks nearby and decided that sharing the only known water hole in the area with an apex predator wasn't the best tactical move.

We pushed down the Sycamore Reservoir trail to a spacious, established campsite about halfway to the reservoir itself and set up camp. We decided a campfire was worth the effort, even if it meant backtracking to fetch water to douse it later. As it turned out, nature handled that for us; it started pouring at 11:00 PM and didn't let up until 5:30 AM.

When Ryan got up at 7:00 AM to brew coffee, the skies opened up again. He had a hard deadline to leave by 8:30 AM, and with no break in the weather on the horizon, he packed up in the downpour and hiked out solo. His budget rain shell wetted out completely within 30 minutes, and without rain pants, he was drenched by the time he hit his car at Prison Camp. The extra water weight surely added a couple of pounds to his pack, but thankfully his trash-bag pack liners kept his sleep gear bone-dry. He took being soaked in stride, as the air was warm enough that cold wasn't an issue, though he made a mental note to upgrade his rain gear before the next storm.

All in all, it was an epic journey, a true "clouds to cactus" traverse across the Santa Catalinas, complete with snow, heat, improvised gear repairs, and a midnight deluge to keep things interesting.