Mar 14, 2018 — What an awesome loop through the wilderness of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Two gorgeous canyons, a fun Class 3 Cathedral Rock summit, a spot to take a dip, and never-ending and varied forest and desert views. Starting from the Sabino Canyon Trailhead, head up the paved road and turn left onto the Esperero Trail, which leads yp a fairly moderate trail to Bridal Veil Falls, an unimpressive waterfall that marks the start of the steepness. From here, the Esperero Trail leads up a ridge with incredible views down Esperero Canyon before reaching the junction with the Cathedral Rock Trail. Follow the Cathedral Rock Trail with more amazing views and with Chiricahua National Monument looking rock formations along the way. you eventually get to a saddle where you can see Cathedral Rock in the distance to the left. It still looks pretty far from here, but don't be discouraged. It's closer than it looks. Head off the official trail and follow any number of cairned routes, or don't, it's pretty obvious where to go.If you find yourself going downhill, you're headed the wrong way. Keep east, but hug the rock pinnacles as you go and you should find a Class 2 route to just below the biggest pinnacle, the true summit. The route takes you to the west side of this pinnacle where someone kindly left a rope. I scrambled this without the rope, and it was totally doable (maybe Class 4), but with the rope, it's much probably Class 3. After the rope, a short Class 3 move takes you up to the summit block. After taking in the ridiculous views of Mt. Lemmon, Window Peak (you can even see The Window below!), and Mt. Kimball, head back down from Cathedral Rock and to the saddle where you left the trail. Follow the slightly overgrown trail steeply down switchbacks and join the Arizona Trail (West Fork of Sabino Canyon), which progressively gets more and more interesting. Along the way, you pass Hutch's Pool, a great spot to swim after a long day. Don't miss the junction that takes you down Sabino Canyon proper, which leads to the Phoneline Trail, and back to the trailhead. You could potentially knock about 4 miles and 800 feet off this hike if you cheat take the Sabino Canyon shuttle for $10, but the Phoneline Trail is actually really pretty and worth the extra miles if you've got it in you.
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