robsjourney.com: Romero Pass Hike

Instead of biking with the bike club yesterday, I felt the need for a vigorous hike. About an hour north of my home is Catalina State Park; the Park provides several nice trails and provides great access to the Santa Catalina Mountains. I hike a couple of miles up to the Romero Pools, several small pools within Romero Canyon; took about an hour. I continued to hike up to Romero Pass; my starting time was 10am so I'd set 3 hours as my turn around time (these canyons get dark early and this was my first outing on this trail). The map indicates the Pass is about 6.6 miles from the trailhead and I was traveling at a good pace (my "good" pace is about 2.25 mph) so I was really close but decided not to risk it.

Coming from CO, hiking AZ trails is a real pleasure. The Romero Pass trailhead started at 3,000 feet AMSL and the Pass is about 6,000 feet AMSL so it is a gentle climb - less than 500 feet/mile. From my limited AZ hiking experience, gentle climbs seem common - these mountains have had plenty of time to erode. In addition to the gentle grade, the best part about hiking in AZ is the thick air; yesterday's hike to 6,000 feet is the same elevation I lived at in Colorado:) In CO, we typically began hiking at 10 or 11,000 feet and gained 3,000+ feet; not having to gasp for air, makes me feel like Superman:) On the other hand, the gentle grades and low elevation can fool oneself (i.e., me) into thinking they are in shape when they are not:)

The trail starts out wide and is easy to follow to Romero Falls.