Hike #7: Sierra Vista Mountain Range, Coronado National Forest

I woke up this morning with the intent of heading north to the Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness; however, when I got in my car, I spontaneously decided to spice it up and head south towards Tucson and the Green Mountain Trail (another of the famous 30 Summer Hikes.) I had assumed that the general directions from the magazine would be enough to get me to the trail...so I didn't bother to run back into my apartment to look for detailed directions or a map...BIG MISTAKE!

I had no trouble making it to Tucson (even though the vast majority of downtown Tucson was under construction.) However, when I got closer to Coronado National Forest, I apparently followed the wrong highway (even though I have NO clue how this happened!) Anyway, instead of ending up in the nice hiker-friendly area with lots of trails, I found myself in the white trash region of the forest! Instead of the quiet hikers with their friendly dogs, I was in some type of twilight zone of the forest - everyone was either shooting rifles at the distance cactus...or riding a dirt bike/ATV.

Well, since there weren't any trails along the road I traveled, my trip today was more of a drive rather than a hike. However, the view of the mountain was pretty amazing...and I found the cow crossing signs to be pretty funny. I did try to make the best of a bad situation by making several stops along the dirt road and venturing out among the rocks...following whatever makeshift trail I could create (though I would warn against this due to the sharpness of cactus and most other desert vegetation...plus the numerous broken beer bottles and shotgun shells.)

To see more pictures of the Sierra Vista Mountains, click here.