Rogers Rock (Mount Wrightson Wilderness) 18-Feb-2020

Heidi and Bob live pretty close to Madera Canyon in Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains. So after saying good-bye to them, we headed back up into the canyon to do a loop to Josephine Saddle, passing Rogers Rock along the way. I’d learned about the Rock from an AllTrails post and making a detour to it sounded like a nice way to add a viewpoint to our loop.

We went up the Super Trail #134 to Josephine Saddle, diverting to the Rock along the way. This feature is a massive boulder (or rock ledge) that protrudes out into the unnamed canyon just east of the trailhead. It’s big enough to stand-out on satellite imagery and made a great place to stop for a snack. 🙂 After reaching the Boy Scout Memorial at the saddle, we returned to the Mount Wrightson Trailhead on the Old Baldy #372 Trail. It was a perfect winter-in-the-desert day for a hike – clear, cool, bug-free, and sunny. Some snow still lingered higher up on Mount Wrightson but there were only short patches of it on the trails. We’d hoped to spot a trogon along the trail but had to settle for a colorful Pyrrhuloxia (a type of desert cardinal) instead.

After finishing the loop, we headed to the north side of Tucson to do some hikes there and also climb Picacho Peak.

Leaving the trailhead on the #134 under a canopy of oak trees
Up the #134
Entering the wilderness
A view northwest from the #134 of the active copper mine (arrow) near Green Valley, Arizona
Seasonal water along the spur trail to Rogers Rock
Rogers Rock looms out of the forest
The view from Rogers Rock
Higher on the #134 with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (arrow) just visible on Mount Hopkins
Sprung Spring
A little snow on the #134
Josephine Saddle and the Boy Scout Memorial
Memorial for the 1958 tragedy
Mount Wrightson from the Old Baldy Trail
Almost done with the Old Baldy
Our loop hike to Josephine Saddle
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