Arizona: Mt. Wasson, Tucson's highest peak

Arizona — Desert hike, Wasson Peak, 7.8 miles hiked
After having driven north twice to visit Sedona’s Red Rocks and the Grand Canyon, on Friday, feeling refreshed after a night of margaritas and shark tacos to celebrate the Grand Canyon trip, I headed two hours south to hike Wasson Peak, the tallest mountain in the Tucson area at 4,687 feet. It was a 3.9-mile ascent through the desert.


I have to admit that the first mile or so I was a tad apprehensive. That’s what the desert can do to you, especially when you’re alone. I would hear things in the bushes to my right and my left making noises. Tiny lizards darted across the trail. I saw a couple bunnies hopping around.


It just took me a little bit to get used to hiking in the desert and the sounds that come with it.


And how beautiful it was.


I stopped early and often to take in all the plants that skirted each side of the trail. If I had been there two weeks earlier, according to my hiking book, wildflowers would have been everywhere. As it was, there were still plenty of colorful flowers mixed in with the typical desert fauna — yellow, blue and pink flowers created a very interesting dynamic alongside the usual hedgehog, cholla, pincushion, prickly pear and, most imposing, Saguaro cacti.


The entire hike was a gradual climb, and the biggest challenge was staying hydrated in the 85-degree (estimation) heat. Luckily, my Camelback carries 120 ounces of water, and I drank most of it during the 3-hour trek up and down the mountain. The trail circled around the backside of a ridge, which offered unfiltered views toward the mountain ranges that surround the greater Tucson area — the Santa Catalina and Rincon ranges — and became rockier.


It then circled back to the northeast to gain the rocky summit, which offered completely unobstructed perspectives in all directions. I wasn’t too high up, but felt like I was on top of the world. I shared the summit with a group of mining students from Vancouver who were on an academic trip but were taking the day for an adventure. An older couple also shared my company and told me of a must-hike for my next Arizona trip — the technically challenging, spearheaded Picacho Peak.


I cruised downhill on the descent and was back at the car, well hydrated, in just over 3 hours. Like all of my Arizona hikes, it hadn’t been overly challenging but had presented incredible and unique scenery and an experience I’ll never, ever forget.