Ice on the Range
Mount Wrightson is the talles peak in the area, 9200 ft.
The snow sprawled down the side of the mountain. I stood at the base looking at the peak. That’s not where I would be going today. I would be going midway up to saddle back and then back down. Mount Wrightson is the tallest peak in the Santa Rita Mountain Range.
A portion of the range that captures their beauty.
Wrightson is 44 miles from Tucson and 88.6 kilometers (55 miles) from Nogales Arizona, as Google puts it. Interstate 19 boast the only signs that are in kilometers. Recently these signs were in jeopardy of being changed. For now, they remain one of the man made sight on the drive down to the Santa Rita Mountains.
On my many drives down to Nogales from Tucson, I’ve pulled my eyes off the straight stretched out I19 to look at the Santa Rita Mountains. This mountain range provides some of the most beautiful sights along the route from Tucson to Nogales. I had to take an opportunity to hike the super trail. I looked at the snow on the side of the mountain and knew I would hike through some of it.
At the start of the trail, I saw a marker for group of Boy Scouts who lost their lives on the mountain. That got me thinking of the two immigrants that I interviewedin Mexico. They had tried to cross the mountains in Sasabe, Arizona. I would be hiking this mountain as a healthy alternative to the gym while they had been trying to cross a mountain range to get home to their families. My healthy alternative could have been their death.
source Google Maps.
source Google Maps.
The Pozo Verde Mountains, near Sasabe, only get up to about 4000 ft. while I would be hiking above 6000 ft and Mount Wrightson peaks at 9200ft. But, I hiked with life and death in mind. When I reach the saddle back and saw the memorial to the Boy Scouts, I thought about what they must have endured, and then I thought about what it must be like to cross the desert without the appropriate gear. There are a group of people who put there health on the line to find a better life.
