FKT: Brian Janezic - Tucson [?] - 2024-02-24

After spending about a year plotting this route, logistics were put in place to establish the only known time for the Tucson [?] February 2024. My plan was to have friends help shuttle me on the first two days, then take advantage of the unique Tucson school holiday, “Rodeo Break”, and have my wife, daughter and dog crew me along the route for the final three days ending in Patagonia, AZ where we could enjoy the final day of the holiday in Southern AZ. 

Below is a day by day breakdown but the TL;DR version is: As a life long Tucson resident I found this route incredibly satisfying to complete. I spent most of the five days reflecting and remembering other adventures I have had around this basin and really enjoying the company of friends that met me along the route. The Tucson [?] is a fantastic route where you can choose to push your limits, probably shaving days off my time, but it is also just a great way to truly get to know the ranges around Tucson. Connecting these mountain ranges on foot cemented in my mind the challenges faced by wildlife moving between them and planning the route highlighted the land management and access issues surrounding Tucson. I was lucky to have Logan Foll (https://follexposures.com/) crewing me and documenting the trip, all photos here are from him. 

Tuesday 2/20/24 

Miles: 34.19

Vert: 4,157 ft

After a normal start to the day, I grabbed a handbottle and jogged to the street car stop at Olive and 2nd, taking advantage of the free fare I rode it to the start point at the Mercado Annex. At 9:32 am I officially started the route, leaving the Annex towards A mountain. After a short climb to the top and around the “A” I dropped over the saddle to Starr Pass Rd heading towards 36th Street trail head. Friends Logan and Candice were graciously crewing while documenting the route, letting me run these road sections in a light fashion. At the trail head I swapped for a running pack and sun hat then began the Tucson Mountain traverse. I made an out and back detour from the route to access crew at the Yetman trailhead where we had a nice chat with a couple visiting in a van from California. 

Returning to the route I went through the groups of winter visitors at Gilbert Ray Campground, connecting trails before hitting Kinney Road near the Desert Museum. This short section on Kinney was pretty sketchy with cars flying by, a connecting trail would be pretty welcome here. 

From Kings Canyon the Saguaro National Park trails were in great shape, another quick out and back detour at Camino Del Cerro TH to access crew before leaving the trails at the Abington TH. Here I switched to road mode again, running the neighborhood streets before crossing into the Pima County flood easement along the Santa Cruz. Here I had a bit of difficulty accessing the Santa Cruz river path due to apartment construction. Once on the path I ran by the massive Amazon facility, really feeling the sense of scale by traversing its length on foot. One final path detour for construction before hitting the days endpoint at Twin Peaks and I-10. Great start to the adventure, we drove home that evening for some rest and recovery. 

Wednesday 2/21/24

Miles: 35.00

Vert: 3,291 ft

Taking another leisurely start to the day, Logan and Candice gave me a ride back to our ending point from Tuesday where I started the approximately 13 mile road run to Wild Burro TH. I had been dreading running through all the new development in this area, but actually found the run quite pleasant and was able to get into a nice rhythm for the steady climb up Twin Peaks and Dove Mountain Blvd. At Wild Burro TH, I switched to a running pack, sun hat and trail shoes before Logan and I started our traverse of the Tortolitas. 

Great running and excellent views through this range, especially on the Ridgeline trail. Here we had a great view of the snow capped Catalinas foreshadowing Thursday’s adventure. Candice met us at Crow Windmill where I refueled before taking the Honeybee trail system to Big Wash TH. At Big Wash I swapped into road mode for the final time and connected the path system and biological corridor to Oro Valley Marketplace. I refueled at In N Out before walking into our camp site at Catalina State Park where we van camped for the evening. Great shower facilities are available at this campground. 

Thursday 2/22/24

Miles: 57.85

Vert: 12,510 ft

Originally I had not planned to make this day so long, but after a scouting trip to Redington Pass in January the road conditions dictated that we instead push through to Pistol Hill road instead of subjecting the crew to gnarly bone chattering roads. At 4:29 am myself and Peter Davidson started from our campsite, we picked up David Byrnes at the Romero Pass TH and started the steady ascent up to Romero Pass. We hit the pass right around sunrise and took a few moments to admire the inner basin of the Catalinas under the morning light before starting a steady trot down the West Fork trail. In contrast to the prior two days, this day we only accessed crew at two locations, Gordon Hirabayashi CG and Molino Basin TH where they had Eegees (is there a more appropriate Tucson aid food?) and snacks waiting for us. At Molino we were joined by CJ Agbannawag and his infant, they accompanied us to saddle before Peter, David and I continued along the AZT towards the Rincons. 

The rolling jeep roads towards Chiva Falls took us close to the Saguaro National Park boundary where we were able to traverse over to Douglas Springs CG. This off trail section was pretty straight forward with no major obstacles. Once on the national park trails we had a brief moment to contemplate how nice it might be to just head out to the east end of Speedway and get some BBQ before making the ultimately correct decision and heading up and over Cow Head Saddle.  A long steady descent to Rincon Creek followed by smooth trails led us to camp on Pistol Hill Rd. Hot meals, friends and a small birthday celebration were enjoyed before Peter and David caught rides home and I passed out to a lullaby of compression boots.

Friday 2/23/24

Miles: 39

Vert: 5699 ft

I got on trail a couple minutes before 8 am for some flowy miles along the AZT. Shortly after Colossal Cave Mountain Park I was joined by Gerry Bach, he was celebrating his 75th birthday early with some solid trail miles. At Sahuarita Rd Gerry finished his run and I was once again joined by Logan for some quality trail time until we accessed our crew again at Two Tanks. A nice refuel here before I continued on through some sections of the AZT that were new to me along the shoulder of Mt Fagan and foothills of the Santa Ritas. Lots of cattle grazing in this area, during this time I finished off listening to “Material World” by Ed Conway which seemed appropriate given this area’s mining history and probable mining future. 

At Helvicia Rd I had crew and a couple good friends waiting, I spent a bit of time visiting before grabbing a headlamp in case the final leg went into dark. More rolling grassland before I hit Box Canyon Road, here I took a short detour from the route to access our camp about 1/2 mile up Box Canyon Road.

Saturday 2/24/24

Miles: 33.42

Vert: 4,124 ft

I started predawn on the final day knowing that I had a warm shower and hot meal waiting for me at Terra Sol in Patagonia. Under the full moon a headlamp wasn’t necessary for the short road walk up Box Canyon Rd before accessing the AZT and continuing south bound. Here I found gorgeous grassland running on a crisp morning. I spent some time talking with a few runners previewing the Old Pueblo 50 course before meeting CJ about a mile outside of Kentucky Camp. Friends Jim and Jane were staying at Kentucky Camp, they loaded me up with home made cookies and words of encouragement. A few miles south of Kentucky Camp CJ returned to his car while I kept moving along the trail. At Gardner Canyon I accessed the newer AZT section. This smooth very mountain bike friendly trail seemed to wind on forever before I eventually reached the end at Casa Blanca TH at 2:59 pm.  The finish at Casa Blanca TH was low key, sharing some snacks and beverages with family and friends before we moseyed into Patagonia for the evening for more food and beverages.