FKT: Marcy Beard - Catalina State Park All Trails (AZ) - 2024-10-08

Athletes
Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Female
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
3h 44m 48s
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I like the "all trails in a park" concept, and this one mapped out well.  It was also a great excuse to explore the back trails I haven't seen before.  The distance made for a solid speed(ish) session this morning.

I almost turned around at the wrong spot on Romero Canyon trail - glad I checked Gaia and saw that the park boundary is higher than is obvious.

Navigation in the northern area turned out a bit more challenging than expected.  Sutherland Trail crosses the corners of Catalina SP/Pusch Ridge Wilderness/Coronado NF in one spot right at a wash.  I briefly started down the wash before realizing I needed to go through the gate to stay on the trail (makes sense in hindsight, of course).  The wash crossing is barely marked with a small cairn.

I was happy to finally reach the doubletrack Link trail, until I discovered all the large rocks littering the road.  Good practice for... something?  Better than some of sand I'd been running it?  In any case, it lasted perhaps a mile and it wasn't awful.

Another boundary and another brief wrong turn.  A trail heads down Sutherland Wash, but it is not the trail you are looking for.  Finally some better footing on the Link trail and up toward the park again.  I enjoyed seeing terrain from a different angle (we've done some off-trail orienteering around these parts) and running across the ridge.

The Bridle trail was longer than I'd remembered, maybe it was getting warm.  Then I was back to the starting point, happy to be done.  Fun morning and good training.