HIKING

HIKE OF THE MONTH WILD HORSE CANYON IN THE RINCON MOUNTAINS

Wild Horse Canyon is a great breakfast hike. The canyon descends the northwest flank of the Rincon Mountains about 2.5 miles from the trailhead, just enough distance to make for a brisk appetite-building walk. You meet your friends at dawn on a crisp spring morning at the Douglas Spring Trailhead where East Speedway in Tucson deadends. In your day pack, you carry a small backpacker stove, freshly ground coffee, yogurt, fruit, maybe a couple of blueberry muffins. You're hungry already and itching to go. The sooner you move out, the sooner you'll be sitting beside the small pool at trail's end, the blue flame of your stove shining brightly, the aroma of coffee hanging sweetly in the morning air.Walk east about a quartermile on the Douglas Spring Trail to the sign-in station. A few paces beyond it, a small sign directs horseback riders up the Douglas Spring Trail. Another trail that comes infrom the south is your route. Since a web of trails traverses this area, you'll need a map. Even with a map, though, you have to be alert not to miss a turn.

Located in the Rincon Unit of the Saguaro National Monument, Wild Horse Canyon is low-elevation desert hiking at its finest. On the way in, we saw Cooper's paper flower, yellow head, desert dandelion, verbena, Mojave aster, sticky grass, ocotillo, brittle bush, and cholla in bloom. A few giant saguaros were coming into first blossom, and we heard the familiar cooing of a solitary white-winged dove - the first of the season, and a sure sign that spring had arrived in the desert.

The trail wends steadily south, crossing a series of small drainages before passing through a gate in a fence and descending to Wild Horse Canyon. After coming through the gate, look sharp to your right. About 25 yards down the path, you'll see a rare cristate saguaro, a fine specimen. A few more yards along and you come to the stream. From here it's just a short boulder hop up to the pools, shown on the map as Little Wild Horse Tank. If you prefer trail walking, cross the stream and take the path up to the pools.

No water ran in the stream, and it was very low in the pools the morning some friends and I hiked to the canyon early last May. But we could see where water coursing downstream after a spring thaw or a summer thunderstorm had smoothed the shoulders of rocks the size of boxcars, or had grooved channels in the bedrock, cupping out little pools where it had dropped over falls and swirled before rushing downstream. Running water is a rare event in the desert, a treat when it comes. Then pools brim to overflowing and long grasses and cattails surge into photosynthetic high gear to become a lively green.

Water means insects and insects mean birds. Gnats and lacewings swarmed above the pools as we sipped our first cups of coffee. Even a bumbling Arizona mosquito buzzed into our midst. The rising sun was just beginning to light the canyon walls. On the quiet surface of the pool we caught the sepia-chrome reflection of an ash-throated flycatcher as it sallied forth from its perch on a mesquite tree above the rim to snatch breakfast on the wing.

My companions and I smiled at each other and promised to do this again some fine morning.

Hiking Guide: For a detailed guide to hiking in Arizona, we recommend Outdoors in Arizona: A Guide to Hiking and Backpacking, a collection of 48 great hikes through desert, mountain, and canyon environments, including easy-to-get-to trails in urban areas. To order, call toll-free 1 (800) 543-5432. In the Phoenix area, telephone 258-1000.