Part 25 - Quilter Trail.
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| Mini Bic with a mini barrel. |
The Quilter Trail is located in Saguaro National Park East. The entire trail is a small part of a small section of the Arizona National Scenic Trail. It begins on what appears to be an old mining road, but wastes no time climbing into the Rincon foothills.
The closest access is the Loma Alta Trail Head in Vail, Arizona. Hope Camp Rd is the name of the old mining road that runs through here, and the remains of several camps can be seen just off the road.
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| A windmill marking one of many mining camps in the Rincon foothills. |
Following Hope Camp Road will take you over rolling hills of old growth, giant saguaro. We decided to make Scott stand in front of this one to get a perspective on its size.
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| Blend in with your surroundings. |
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| Beginning the ascent up Quilter Trail. |
This section of trail is named after John J Quilter III, who was a park volunteer that helped on trail construction. He collapsed and died on the job at the age of 26 while on a trail rehabilitation mission. The trail was named after him and there is a plaque commemorating him at the Southern terminus of the trail.
We had been to this trail on several occasions and had really grown to love one of the drainages that produced several nice pools and small waterfalls.
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| Upstream |
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| Downstream |
After this basin, the trail begins to climb up steeply into the foothills. Water will be scarce along the trail from this point.
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| The trail skirts along the top of several canyons before leveling off a bit. |
We stopped for lunch at a ledge overlooking the valley to the South. You could see the X-9 ranch below, and the views from here were amazing.
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| Mini Bic with a mini barrel. |
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| View from our lunch spot. |
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| Jenny couldn't leave without getting a picture of this little tree. |
Just like every adventure we go on, we didn't finish until dusk. The old mining road from Hope Camp was an easy hike out in the dark. Quilter trail itself is a strenuous hike, best done from late Fall to early Spring.
Reminder: If you plan on an overnight hike to Manning Camp, you need to obtain a permit from the National Park. I don't care if you do or don't...just giving you a heads up. Have fun out there.
Stay tuned for our next entry of Tucson hikes.
Until then, here is a link to our last episode:
Part 24 - Douglas Springs...Again.
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