Baby Jesus Loop - 5/11/2014

2014 May 50 Year Trail Dusty Conditions: By the end of the day the air was clearer but when we started it was amazing to see the mountains obscured. Charles Miles. 5/11/2014.

The windy/dusty - slightly cooler - day pulled us out to the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains for the Baby Jesus Trail Loop.

Golder Ranch Road Parking Area - 50 Year trail (a counterclockwise loop today), the single track of ends too soon... Dirt roads and gunfire as the background... Trail Link - Sutherland Trail, I barely paused at the junction with the Baby Jesus Trail, the thin track thru the desert was marked but seemed too small, thankfully Alison corrected our path.

The Baby Jesus Trail seems to get surprisingly little use near the junction with the Sutherland Trail - cows - the Wooden Trough Spring Tank has clear flowing water, a great surprise!

2014 May Wooden Trough Spring Tank: The tank had quite a bit of clear water with good flow into it - a bit of a surprise... Charles Miles. 5/11/2014.

The cows have taken over trail building in this area and at times following the trail is a bit of a guessing game, today we are glad that the last hiker on this trail seemed to know it rather well and left us beautiful foot prints to follow.

The lower stretches of the Baby Jesus Trail are especially beautiful as it follows a ridge and canyon past beautiful rock formations - easy to see why the lower portion of the trail receives more use.