Madera Canyon/Mt. Wrightson
Leader: Laurie Jacobson
Date: 9/23 & 9/24/00

Length of trip: Friday 9/22 - Sunday 9/24

Cost: $73.00 (for those staying at the Santa Rita Lodge) plus food and gas.

Permits/campsite info: N/A (for those staying at the Santa Rita Lodge); several camped on nearby public lands; Bog Springs Campground is close but no one chose to stay there

No. of participants:  Saturday - 7, Sunday - 5

Activities done on trip:

Friday night - Had munchies and wine. Cooked a spaghetti dinner at the Lodge; there were 5 of us. Good food and lots of good conversation.

Saturday - Hiked Florida Canyon to Mt. Wrightson; 7.9 miles each way; some of us went down the Old Baldy Trail (5.4 miles) and got a ride to the Lodge and went back to the other trailhead to pick up a vehicle and stranded hiker.
Had munchies and margaritas. Went to Green Valley and ate at a great Mexican place. Lots of fun! Two drove back to Phoenix after dinner (hurt person hitched a ride).

Sunday - Hiked a 6-7 mile loop out of Madera Canyon (Bog Springs/Kent Springs.
Stopped briefly at the Mission just south of Tucson - there was a service so we couldn't look around much. Ate lunch (Hunan) in Tucson. Got home around 5:00 p.m.

General comments:  Mt. Wrightson is a very difficult, but beautiful hike – especially from Florida Canyon.  We had perfect weather.  The Santa Rite Lodge was along the creek and had many bird feeders right out the kitchen window  which attracted many birds and other critters.  It was a really neat place, located at about 5500 feet elevation.  I think all of us would highly recommend these hikes again, and staying in Madera Canyon again, and the Santa Rita Lodge.

The above listed trip reports--documenting day hikes, backpacking trips, and car camping trips organized and arranged by the Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, Inc.--are meant to be more of a record of the various events performed by the hiking club and are not meant to be the only guide for anyone else wishing to do the same hike or backpacking trip. Instead, they should only be used as a supplemental to an official guidebook that addresses that specific hike or backpacking trip. Natural changes (floods, fires, windstorms, etc.) can occur and change and alter the landscape. The Forest Service sometimes changes the routing of a trail. Trail junction signs can be removed or altered. For these reasons, the hiking club's trip reports and even the official guidebooks may no longer be totally accurate in describing the trail and its layout. There is always the possibility, however remote, of a hiker sustaining harm or injury while on any hike, no matter how safe it may initially seem. The Arizona Trailblazer's Hiking Club, Inc., as well as any of its officers, directors, representatives, and designated hike leaders, disclaims any liability or responsibility for accidents, injuries, damages, or losses whatsoever that may occur to anyone using the trip reports that are available on our website. The responsibility for good health and safety while hiking, backpacking, or camping, ultimately rests with the individual.