Mission Mt. Wassen

Upon moving out here I was immediatly overwhelmed with the number of gorgeous peaks viewable all around the city of Phoenix. Call me ignorant but most of what I knew about AZ was the Grand Canyon...so I expected most of the elevation changes I'd find out here to be in a downward direction. I know - I know! Ridiculous! But imagine my surprise when I awake in Phoenix my first day with views of mountains every direction I look! So one of the first things I did was I joined a AZ Winter Hiking Challange. One I don't know now that I will have time to complete by the April deadline but it gave me a list of hikes in the area and that was a good enough start for me!

I started with Mt. Wasson in Saguaro NP down by Tucson and my oh my was I happy with my choice! I did the Wasson Peak via King Canyon and Hugh Norris Loop! It was 7.9miles long (longer for me as I like to wander off trail for good photo opportunities) and had an elevation gain of 1,863ft!

I was actually very impressed with myself during the duration of this hike! I hardly needed to stop or catch my breath and on a trail rated as "Hard" that wasnt exactly what I expected from myself. But every twist and turn of the trail included scenic views and with a rather gradual incline the entire time it made the entire journey much more enjoyable! Not to mention the views from the top being worth every moment of the climb!

And while my timeline for this hike was wayyyy behind what I had intended it to be (I was exhausted and did not want to leave my bed). It ended up timing out perfectly to give me not only the entire peak to myself but also allowed me to catch the most gorgeous sunset on my way back down!

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Enjoy the gallery below of some of my other fav shots from this hike! :)