The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection has a $60,000 year-end fundraising goal and has a donor who has pledged a $15,000 matching gift which is currently (11/29/2014) doubling donations. In a recent mailing the Coalition indicated that in the upcoming year donations will support: a campaign to help pass a new Open Space Bond in Pima County, a re-vegetation project adjacent to the Oracle Road Wildlife Crossing and a new Wildlife Crossing Steward Program.
Monsoon-nurtured grasses could fuel winter wildfires – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: I suppose the straight to the point quote in the article is “The potential for winter wildfire on the Coronado National Forest exists” – the article mentions monsoon rains as a factor in the creating the current “abundance of grasses and other fine fuels” but it would be interesting to know how unusual this year is…
Scenic Sabino is the spot for a stroll – Kristen Cook – Arizona Daily Star: Always great to remind people about the great opportunities to explore the outdoors in Sabino Canyon!
OFF-ROAD CYCLISTS Riding trails of advocacy – Nick Meyers – Aztec Press Online: Nice post about TORCA – Tucson Off-Road Cyclists and Activists. An exceprt from TORCA’s About page: “TORCA’s Mission is to take an active and strategic role in the mountain biking community in the maintenance of the resources available to us. We are focused on the All-Mountain and Downhill disciplines of mountain biking with a focus on the Santa Catalina Mountains.”
Headed back into Tucson on the Finger Rock Trail. November 2014.
The weather is finally great for lower elevation hikes! On this hike up Finger Rock I especially enjoyed the section above the turn to Linda Vista where the trail winds in and out of small drainages below big cliffs, the feel of the trail underfoot and plants around you constantly changing.
I had hoped to go a bit further than the junction with the Pima Canyon Trail – but I ran out of time and and it is hard to argue with the junction as a stopping spot with the view below just a minute away… 9.5 miles, 3950′ of elevation gain/loss.
Taken near a campsite off the Finger Rock Trail just after the junction with the Pima Canyon Trail – great views all the way to the top of the mountain! November 2014.
Christmas Cactus – Cylindropuntia leptocaulis – along the Linda Vista Trails. November 2014.
In September I did a run half as long as today’s and posted about how hot it was – Too Hot – Linda Vista Trails – 9/4/2014 – what an exciting time of year when the weather changes and these lower elevation trails become fun and accessible! 3.3 miles, 520′ of elevation gain/loss.
Ryan on the summit of Evans Mountains in the Santa Catalina Mountains. October 2014.
Evans Mountain is an interesting destination – some maps show a trail that takes you to the summit – but I suspect that trail is now (at best) obscure (a summit register entry from 1994 reads “Trail? What Trail?”), Evans Mountain is between the well known Davis Spring Trail and the Brush Corral Trail – both of which have long stretches that are faint or have disappeared back into the landscape and Evans Mountain is only a few miles from the Davis Spring Trailhead – which is marked on some maps but about which there is not exactly an overwhelming amount of information…
Interesting landscape – looking towards the San Pedro on the drive to the Davis Spring Trailhead. October 2014.
*** 8/12/2017 – The 2017 Burro Fire burned over Evans Mountain and down to Edgar Canyon – because many of the hillsides we hiked up to Evans Mountain were covered with brush and grass (no large trees) I don’t think the the the fire will have created any additional obstacles to getting to the top of Evans Mountain, but be aware conditions may have changed in this area! ***
We didn’t bother with an early start – navigating new-to-us dirt roads in the dark didn’t have much appeal – thru Oracle, past San Manuel and just a couple of minutes on Redington Road before turning off onto the road that we hoped would take us up to Davis Mesa and the Davis Spring Trailhead. The first miles ticked by with much better road conditions than expected, but at the junction into the 6 Bar Ranch the road immediately changed – more rocks, more ruts, more sand and much slower progress, a couple of sections demanded the switch to 4wd and our progress slowed – not unexpected, but the smooth first few miles had given us hope for a much shorter than expected drive….
The trail sign at the Davis Spring Trailhead on Davis Mesa. October 2014.
Eventually we arrived at the Davis Spring Trailhead – the drive made made this destination feel remote and the sturdy/clean trail sign seemed almost out of place. Luckily – as promised by the sign – an obvious trail leaves from the trailhead – we hiked past a tank fed by Davis Spring and down to a corral near Edgar Canyon where we found the Evans Mountain Trail #32 trail sign.
The trail sign for the Evans Mountain Trail – near a corral on the banks of Edgar Canyon. October 2014.
We followed the trail, and for a short time felt confident that we had found easy walking on the better-than-expected Evans Mountain Trail – but in retrospect we were probably lured too far east by well worn cow paths to correctly follow the trail’s turn south out of Edgar Canyon – eventually we began to simply pick the most likely route cross-country as worked steadily uphill towards Evans Mountain.
Near Edgar Canyon planning our route as the trail became faint. October 2014.
The ridgeline near Evans Mountain was a nice payoff for our climbing – great views! Soon enough we were at the top – from the register it looks like we are the only visit so far this year…
Taken from a ridge near Evans Mountain – Point 5681 on the left, cliffs to the north of Edgar Canyon and Davis Mesa center and right. If you look carefully you can see the green growth in the small drainage that contains Davis Spring near the center of the picture. October 2014.Ryan at the summit of Evans Mountain. Mount Bigelow is the last peak on the right on the far ridgeline. October 2014.
The trip back down was faster/shorter than the trip up – with no plan to even try to find the trail we simply picked a likely direct route and headed down – eventually following a lovely small canyon that had a small arch and a rather large drop near it’s junction with Edgar Canyon. Back along Edgar Canyon we took the cow paths back to the corral and climbed out of the canyon – what a great day! 8.3 miles round-trip with +/- 2700′ of elevation gain/loss.
Hiking a small canyon on the way down from Evans Mountain. October 2014.
Notes:
Based on the summit register Evans Mountains has at least one, and sometimes several, ascents each year. The summit, trailhead and access roads are easily found on (many) topographic maps of the area. The notes/resources below might provide interesting additional information if you want to visit this area (this list was last update 1/30/2019):
See the Davis Spring Trailhead page on this site for directions, maps and a gpx file to help with getting to the trailhead – a 4wd vehicle is strongly recommended and if you are not familiar with the area I also strongly recommend looking at maps/directions ahead of time, the network of unmarked dirt roads in the area can be confusing especially on your first visit to the area!
I have hiked to the Davis Spring Trailhead from the Ventana Windmill area off Black Hills Mine Road – Black Hills Mine road to the parking above the road down to the Ventana Windmill is a 2wd friendly drive which is attractive vs the 4wd road out to the Davis Spring Trailhead, but ultimately I wrote “our path across Davis Mesa doesn’t seem worth repeating or recommending – a fun adventure and a great day out, but not the alternate Davis Spring Trailhead access I had hoped for!”
During our visit there was a strong flow of water from Davis Spring into several different tanks – but from Davis Spring east sections of Edgar Canyon we saw (maybe .5 miles down canyon from the corral) were dry.
Desert Mountaineer – Evans Mountain – This is a great post about a trip to Evans Mountain and several nearby high points – many thanks to the Desert Mountaineer for responding to our question about the drive to the trailhead!!! Great information and inspiration – a fun site to visit especially if you love off-the-beaten path Arizona adventures!
[GuideYellowBook/] – As with nearly every destination in the Santa Catalina Mountains this guide is worth consulting – there are some details here that are probably useful but in this area (especially post Bullock Fire) it is hard to know how many details are ‘current’ enough to be useful.
Sirena’s Wanderings – Brush Corral Trail and Diary of Scott Morris – Brush Corral Epic – Both of these posts are about the Brush Corral Trail which is on the ‘other side’ of Evans mountain from the Davis Spring Trailhead. The Evans Mountain Trail used to connect the Davis Spring Trail to the Brush Corral Trail. These posts are only vaguely related to the Davis Spring Trailhead and Evans Mountain – they are included since it is worth knowing about this possible alternate approach to Evans Mountain.
The ridge east of the Highway near the Ruins climbing area. October 2014.
We started at the Molino Canyon Overlook and took the un-official climber’s trail (to the Ruins) out of Molino Canyon and up to the ridge. Earlier in the year we turned to the south and visited the Weathertop area – today we turned north and hiked in the sea of grass and shindaggers along the ridge while the sun disappeared in the west.
The day trailing off to the west. October 2014.
We reached Point 5166 in the dark – the rocky high point is south of the Bellota Trail – we watched lights on the highway and Redington Road, City Lights, Clouds and the stars.
On Point 5166 watching cars coming down the highway with the clouds lit by the city lights. October 2014.
On the Bellota Trail we sat and pulled the painful grass seeds out of our shoes while a Mantis used us and our lights to hunt. With the finish on the highway back to the car – 4.5 miles, +/-1250′ of elevation gain/loss.
