Guidani Trail hike...Kartchner

Today we planned on hiking the Guidani Trail around and over a nearby foothill behind the park. It was a little cool this morning so we weren't in a hurry to get up and on the trail. We took our time getting breakfast and ready for the hike. About 12 noon we headed out with the wind at our back and sun shining brightly. We knew it was going to warm up during our hike as the afternoon came and we hiked UP the foothill.

Beginning of the trail

That's where we're going

 

The trail starts out with a slight incline and then continues to elevate as you go up. IF you enlarge the second photo you can see the switchbacks going up. We took breaks as we climbed and enjoyed the view as we caught our breath,

 

Half way up the front side 

Still more climbing

Different view

San Pedro Valley

 

We continued to climb up and around the side of the foothill toward the back side. We made it to the saddle where the trail started back down on the back side. We stopped and had an orange and a Cliff Bar for some nourishment. The trail was scenic and as we descended we met another hiker that had come from the opposite direction since the trail is a loop. We were going clockwise. He told us that the trail would follow a stream as we got to the bottom.

 

Along the way we took some additional photos of the surrounding foothills and valley. In some places the trail was very rocky but we took our time.

 

Panoramic view...check it out

 

 

Getting to the bottom on the back side

 

 

We reached the bottom of the foothill and started hearing the faint sound of flowing water. It wasn't a rush of water just a nice flow. The trail crossed the stream several times as we continued on the trail.

 

 

I took some video but can't get it to play correctly so I deleted it...sorry. We continued on the trail as it left the canyon and the stream. It took us a little over 3 hours to complete the 4 mile hike including our breaks, some nourishment and photo taking. We started out with layers of clothing and took them off and put them on as we hiked due to wind, sun and exertion. It was a great time and would certainly do it again from the opposite direction next time just for a change of scenery and different perspective.