Trailblazers in the Santa Catalina Mountains. [photo by Li]

Nine trailblazers assembled at the Pima Canyon Trailhead and barely got parking spots due to a Scout activity the same day. We hit the trail at 8am and found it surprisingly chilly, given that temps had been in the 100s just the day before. We leapfrogged with the polite scouts and made our way through the deserty trail, enjoying some lush, but dry riparian zones and climbing toward Mt Kimball in the distance.

Hanging out. [photo by Li

On the march. [photo by Li

At about 3 miles in, we reached the dam and stopped for a snack break. The skies were increasingly dark and ominous with occasional sprinkles. Given that a few of us had optimistically left our rain gear at home, we elected to turn around, rather than going the additional .5-1 mile further that some of us did the last time we were on this trail. Of course, the clouds quickly lifted and the sun came out after a light sprinkling.

Looking up Pima Creek Wash. [photo by Li

Continue up the trail. [photo by Li

We made our way back to the trailhead and reconvened. We then caravaned to Beyond Bread and had a nice lunch of salads, warm and cold drinks and sandwiches. A few lucky folks got some pastry sweets for the road as well. Next time, we will try to do the big U hike from Pima Canyon to Mt Kimball to the Finger Rock Trailhead if we are motivated. It was nice to see our old friend Dan and welcome his wife Meng and our new hiker Neil!

Which way do we go. [photo by Li