GENE PERRET'S WIT STOP

A 21-miler in the SANTA CATALINA MOUNTAINS Journeys From Towering Trees to Spiny Cacti

MY SISTER AND I HAD PICNICKED, camped and hiked all over the Santa Catalina Mountains just north of Tucson for a couple of decades-even carrying babies in our backpacks for a time. But there's a trek we hadn't experienced, and the idea of traversing the range from top to bottom and west to east in one 21-mile hike intrigued us. So we asked our now college-age daughters to accompany us from the highest point, an elevation of 9,157 feet, to the lowest point in Sabino Canyon at 2,750 feet, following the Mount Lemmon Trail and the West Fork Sabino Trail. The girls quickly accepted the generational challenge. From the trailhead at the summit of Mount Lemmon, the trail descends through forests of Douglas fir, maple and aspen trees. On an early spring morning, snow skirted the trees, ice glazed the mud puddles and a startled doe and her fawn scampered by equally startled hikers. Wishing I could apologize for our intrusion, I was at the same time grateful for a glimpse of the wildlife protected by the Pusch Ridge Wilderness, which encompasses much of the Catalinas.

The Mount Lemmon Trail intersects the Wilderness of Rocks Trail 4 miles below the summit. This is a good turning point for a shorter hike, winding 5 more miles to end at the Marshall Gulch Picnic Area, below the mountaintop village of Summerhaven.

Passing this junction, we hiked along the Romero Pass saddle where the view revealed the scope of our journey. To the west, we looked down into Catalina State Park, marking the end of the range. To the east, we scanned Central Canyon, where we would spend most of our hiking hours, and far away along the skyline, the ridge of the eastern wall of Sabino Canyon marked our destination.

Oak, juniper and maple trees canopied our descent into Central Canyon on the meandering West Fork Sabino Trail. We crunched our way through last fall's leaves, stopping to fling them in the air, like desert folks who rarely get such an opportunity.

Farther down the trail, the woods evanesced into yellow grasslands dotted with flame-tipped ocotillos and then into Mexican blue oaks and Arizona sycamores in the lush drainage of Sabino Basin. There we watched for rock cairns marking paths to Hutch's Pool, a popular year-round swimming hole, hidden 100 yards north of the trail. A cardinal greeted us, flitting along as if in invitation to his sanctuary, and by gift or happenstance, his antics guided us to the oasis. Instantly, boots and socks came off and weary feet luxuriated in the cool water.

The last 6 miles included the easy switch-backs climbing out of Sabino Basin to the abrupt drop into Sabino Canyon and the 3.7 miles of paved road weaving through the cot-tonwood and sycamore trees banking the canyon's perennial stream. At the edge of the road, we hopped aside to give full berth to a Gila monster pausing to show off his brilliant beaded skin, then watched as he wriggled under a boulder, leaving only his tail drifting out of the shadow.

Knowing they'd almost made it to the end of our trek, the girls slung their arms across each other's shoulders and sang a rousing chorus of I am woman, hear me roar. Not to be outdone, my sister and I resurrected all the verses to "Don't Fence Me In" during the final mile to the parking lot.

This is my kind of wilderness, I reflected. We saw forest and deer, desert and a Gila monster and not another soul all day long. But at my sister's house only a half-hour down the road, my daughter would order a large veggie pizza for delivery, just as my sore feet step into the hot tub. A 12-hour hike in pristine terrain just beyond the back yards of the foothills topped off with a steaming hot pizza for supper made a perfect day for city-spoiled girls who love the challenge and solitude of Arizona's wilderness.