Mount Wrightson just may be the most-climbed mountain in southern Arizona. It is a very prominent peak with a distinct profile, features an excellent trail network, has good road access and is not too far out of Tucson. And it isn't a quickie stroll either: the standard route gains 4,000 feet to the summit with a minimum of 10 miles round trip required. From the west side, two trails - the Old Baldy and the Super - give access to the summit, both leaving from the Madera Canyon parking area. The Super trail is newer, wider and longer, while the Old Baldy route is steeper, a bit ragged around the edges, and of course, faster. A popular alternative from the east comes in via the Gardner Canyon. However, access to this trailhead requires a good vehicle with 4-wheel drive. For my first ascent, I chose to use the more popular Madera Canyon approach, while on my second trip with my wife, we came up via Gardner Canyon.

First Visit, June 1998: Based on numerous trip reports in various books and from the web, I knew this was a pretty interesting peak, so one day I got the jones in me to go and see for myself. I left home in Chandler at 3 a.m. and made the quick 140-mile drive to the Madera Canyon trailhead, arriving about 5 a.m. I started in at 5:30 a.m. as the sun was rising. I opted to take the Super trail first, catching it at a simple kiosk on the north side of the parking area. This trail, as well as the Old Baldy trail, both stay pretty much on the peak's west face, so I knew the shadows would last longer, to my advantage (i.e. less hot!). The Super trail gains at a very gentle grade for 4 miles where it reaches Josephine Saddle, about a 2,000-foot gain. The Old Baldy trail also meets up here again; the two trails form a rough figure-8 allowing for a little variation on route selection. Josephine Saddle has some campsites and a large stone monument to some Boy Scouts killed here a while back. The two trails coincide for a few hundred yards, then split again directly below the summit massif, still a big 2,000 feet above.

For the final leg of the hike I chose to follow the Old Baldy route, which switchbacks steeply up the west face, whereas the Super meanders some more on the summit's south and southeast faces. The Baldy Route was noticeably less well-maintained. In some places there were downed trees spanning the route. Aside from these obstacles, I made good time and achieved the top of the main spine of the range. From here it was an easy, sometimes moderate, hike to the summit. The trail switchbacks in places and seems to corkscrew to the top. I summitted about 9 a.m. in great weather- a bit warm for 9,400 feet. Hundreds of ladybugs were on every rock on the summit. Some old cement foundations and a nice informative sign mark the top. Views are tremendous. Most noticeable is the odd pillar-shaped Baboquivari Peak to the west. Mt. Lemmon and the Catalina Range is obvious to the north, while the desert valleys shimmer below.

For the hike down I followed the Old Baldy Route all the way down- 5 miles one way. It was steep and very dusty, and as I got closer to the bottom, the weather got quite hot. Even though the trailhead was at 5,400 feet, temps had to be close to 100. I came out to my car at 11:30 a.m. I figured 7 miles in, 5 miles out and an even 4,000 feet of gain with no drops along the way. A great, wonderful hike! I fully understand why it is so popular with the locals, although on this day I only saw one other couple. Perhaps the heat played a role, as once I was down into Tucson and Phoenix, the temperatures were nearing 112 or so. Another fine blowtorch day for us desert denizens.

Second Visit, April 2004: My wife Beth and I decided to tackle this peak, making our first try three weeks earlier. Coming off a dry, warm March, we figured the snow would be melted and the roads passable, but that Friday afternoon (April 2), a front moved in and actually hit Arizona pretty hard. We drove down there anyway, since we had reservations at a hotel in Patagonia and didn't want to stay home. But the rain dropped on us for the whole drive and got particularly nasty south of Tucson and near the town of Sonoita, where we encountered some snow. We arrived in Patagonia about 6 p.m. in a heavy, cold rain and got settled into our room at the Stage Stop Hotel. Things did not look promising, and the next morning, when it was still raining, we decided to cancel the hike and go explore the area, making a day trip to Nogales, Mexico (where I got my boots shined for $2 after being told they look like sh*t by the boot shine guy. Interesting sales tactic), and a fascinating tour of a Titan II missile silo near Sahuarita, the only remaining one of its kind. The clouds lifted that day to reveal a beautiful mantle of new snow everywhere. Wrightson was covered and it was quite pretty... and probably would have made hiking a bear, notwithstanding the fact the road in was probably a muddy, impassable mess. So, we decided to try again in a few weeks.

We came back down to Patagonia three weeks after our first aborted effort, this time arriving in great weather: clear, dry and very pleasant. We stayed at the same hotel- the Stage Stop, which appears to be the main hotel in town. The rooms can only be entered through sliding glass doors. It was built in the early 1970s. Interesting, quirky place. There was a big bicycle race set to go the next day; we saw signs and a ton of cyclists and vehicles with bikes attached, but we didn't know much beyond that like where it was going to happen. There was also horse racing going on in Sonoita. These two towns together normally have maybe 2,000 people total so they were pretty packed with tourists. The girl at the front counter of the hotel knew nothing about either event. All she could do was shrug heavily and give a stupid, vacant look on her face when I asked her about the bike race. It must be nice to live somewhere, probably for your whole life, and know squat about locales, events and the like in your hometown. My main concern was that the bike race would interfere with our hike; i.e. closing off the access road. Turns out everything was cool.

We left the hotel about 7 a.m. and drove to the Gardner Canyon Road (Forest Road 92), which is located about 4 miles north of Sonoita along AZ-83 (and about 20 miles south of Interstate-10). Turning left (west), we drove in along fine wide hard-pack, staying straight for the first four miles, going right at a Y at about 4.2 miles (always following the signs to Gardner Canyon Trailhead), and coming to Cave Creek at 5.7 miles. There was water to ford - maybe 30 feet of it but no more than a few inches deep at the most. We got past this, went up the road and came to a 4-way junction at 6.1 miles. We turned left onto FR-785, again following the sign to Gardner Canyon Trailhead, which it said to be 4 miles ahead. The road doubles back pretty sharply at first but then starts a long gentle bend, putting us westward again. We came to another sign at another junction, with the mileage to Gardner Canyon Trailhead still set at 4 miles. Hmmm... slightly confusing. Anywho, the road got pretty rough from here on out. I put the truck in 4-wheel drive to manage the road, which included six more creek crossings, some very rocky bits where I had to be careful not to ding the side of my truck, some steep bits, and generally very bumpy. But... not impossible. We went slow and arrived at the trailhead after 10.6 miles from the highway, and just a few minutes after 8 a.m. One other truck was there, a man camping with his two kids. We chatted a bit - the kids totally enamored with the nearby Gardner Creek and whatever neat rock/twig/leaf/animal they could find and grab. Beth and I got situated and were on the trail at 8:35.

The trailhead is about 6,100 feet elevation just a few hundred feet east of the wilderness boundary. We walked past the small opening in the fence along a nice trail aside the small creek. We actually crossed the creek about 3 times in the first few hundred feet. Soon, the trail made a swing left and started a long, steady gain up a side canyon. It switchbacked twice and shortly, led to a saddle at about 6,900 feet and 1.2 miles in. This was a trail junction with the Walker Canyon/Basin Trail, which came up from the south. Beth and I rested here to snack. It was actually somewhat warm. The summit was still hidden, behind a shield of trees on a ridge that we next had to hike. After about 15 minutes we got moving again. The next little bit was sort of a grind. Steep, but not too steep, relentless... but short, too. The trail switchbacked westward up this prominent eastern ridge, and only after about 30 minutes we'd gained another 700 feet to come to a flat bit of trail at about 7,600 feet. We took another break here, entertained by Mt. Wrightson's summit, which was now in view.

After our second break we continued up the ridge as the trail continued its steady switchbacks. The generally rockiness of the trail changed to softer dirt and more pine needles, which made for better, softer footing. We were also among bigger firs which offered more shade. The walking went fast and we soon came to the trail junction with the Super Trail, 3.0 miles from our starting point and about 8,300 feet elevation. Again, we took a breather. The next 0.8 mile gained us about 400 feet and took us to Baldy Saddle, elevation about 8,700 feet. We crossed two very small remnant snow patches along this stretch. At the saddle we met up with a few hikers having come up from the west, and decided to take a quickie break before making the final hike to the top.

From the saddle to the summit is 0.9 mile and about 700-odd feet of gain. There are many switchbacks on the trail, most of which is hewn directly into the bare rock. In the old days, from about 1910 to the late 1950s, the Forest Service manned a fire lookout at the summit, hence the need for a decent trail to the top; otherwise the summit would require some technical ability to manage. We made good time and got to the top at 12:30 p.m., a four-hour ascent including nearly one hour of breaks, and just about 3,350 feet of uphill trudging. We immediately took refuge within the old foundations of the lookout, which was dismantled decades ago. The weather was magnificent: crystal clear in every direction (8% humidity will do that), and warm and very moderate. Soon, we were joined by a man celebrating his 78th birthday, making his 35th ascent of the peak. Great guy- we talked for a bit and he even knew some people by name that I knew from the Tucson area. He stuck around for about 15 minutes, then started down to get back to his buddy at the saddle. Beth and I relaxed and even cat-napped; the smooth cement foundation gave me about 7 feet of flatness on which to recline. We snapped photos and pointed out the various peaks, before starting down. In all we were up top for over 45 minutes.

Our hike out went quick. We took another break at the saddle to get some snacks, then a short break at the 7,600-foot flat area, just to gives the dogs a chance to stop barking. I stubbed my tow about 3 times. We finally egressed right about 3:30, changed into drier clothes and drove out the bumpy road and back to our hotel in Patagonia for much deserved showers and relaxation. We celebrated over pizza at the Velvet Elvis, a neat restaurant across the highway decorated with paintings of Indians, Mexican iconography, colorful designs and one enormous Elvis on velvet- the early 1970s Elvis with the long hair, big chops and fat cheeks. A tear rolled down his cheek, suggesting he was really into what he was singing or just coming down off a high. The food was good, though. The next day we took a tour of the San Rafael Valley, which took us down to the Mexican Border nearthe little town of Lochiel. This was some beautiful country; in fact, they filmed much of the movie "Oklahoma!" here.