Madera Canyon is a desert canyon in the mountains about an hour south of Tucson and just 20 miles north of Mexico.  Kim and I stayed a few days in Green Valley, twice making the drive up to the Madera Canyon area to hike.  Our first hike of the season on Tuesday was just a few miles, up to a spring feeding a small grove of Arizona Sycamore trees.

Success on that hike inspired us to aim higher two days later.  Starting at 5250′ elevation, we headed up the Super Trail to Josephine Saddle, where we lunched.  Feeling pretty good, we headed mostly northwest on the Old Mt. Baldy Trail, climbing many short switchbacks to Baldy Saddle at about 8200 feet.  We decided to return via the Super Trail that passes around the north side of Mt. Wrightson.  Missing our connecting trail, we climbed up to 8900′ before making an about face and finding the intended trail.  On this segment, we climbed into the snow while enjoying open, sweeping vistas to the southwest well past Tombstone, Arizona, and to the south 30 or 40 miles into Mexico.  The trail decended gradually for the next couple hours and returned us to the more wooded area around Josephine Saddle, with just two miles remaining on Old Baldy Trail.  Final tally:  about 13 miles with 3800 feet of climbing.  Nothing was too steep, the trails were well maintained, and we had twenty minutes of light to spare.

And… here’s the rest of the gallery.