Panoramic Image from the Mountain Meadow Below Thimble Peak — Images by kenne
As Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) we spend a lot of time in the Canyon and the Santa Catalina Mountains leading children and adults on outdoor activities. One of the iconic images of the Canyon is Thimble Peak. It can be seen from the Sabino Canyon Recreational Area Center, the tram ride up through the Canyon, Bear Canyon and many of the area’s hiking trails.
One very popular trail is Blackett’s Ridge trail located between Sabino Canyon and Bear Canyon. This difficult hiking trail ends about a mile from Thimble Peak, separated by a deep ravine — “So close, yet so far,” is the thought most people have when reaching the end of the Blackett’s Ridge trail. Serious rock climbers might venture on, but most adventurous hikers look for other options for hiking to this majestic pinnacle.
One option is to hike, or take the tram, up through Sabino Canyon, then taking the Sabino Canyon trail to the East Fork trail, looping around to the Bear Canyon trail.
Another option is to take the Bear Canyon trail out of the Sabino Canyon Recreational Area up through Bear Canyon passed Seven Falls.
A third option is the one that five SCVN members (Phil Bentley, Alexa Bieberstein, Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl and Kenne Turner) decided to do when learning that the elementary school class coming to the Canyon on November 7th had been cancelled.
Wash Leading Out Of The Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site (Historical WWII Prison Camp)
This option involved driving the Catalina Highway to the Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds, where under a beautiful blue-sky morning, we began the twelve-mile hike in cool temperatures, with a forecast of sunny warm temperatures in the afternoon — windy with gusts of 40 mph.
Tim, Ed, Alexa and Phil At The Sycamore Reservoir Trail Saddle (Part of the Arizona Trail)
The Arizona Trail, which runs from Mexico to Utah goes through the area making use of many existing trails in the Santa Catalina Mountains. As predicted, the winds were gusty.
Phil, Alexa & Tim
This sign at the saddle on the Sycamore Reservoir trail is a common site for those hiking to the Sycamore dam. On our way to Thimble Peak, we stopped at the dam for a break before continuing on to the Bear Canyon trail.
The Peak Is In Sight! (Phil, Alexa, Ed and Tim)
Even with the very windy conditions, it didn’t take long before we began shading layers of clothing.
Photo Taking Time (Phil and Alexa)
This scene is located where the Bear Canyon trail goes left down into the canyon to Seven Falls. After a few photos, we headed off to the right through a beautiful mountain meadow toward the trail that would take us to Thimble Peak.
Thimble Peak
We were now only a few hundred yards from the pinnacle. You can click here to see 44 images on my Flickr account of our hike in a full-frame slideshow.
In addition to many photos, I managed to take several video clips, which I have edited into a video posted on YouTube and inserted below. The video contains a special treat with naturalist Phil Bentley singing America the Beautiful overlooking the Tucson valley from the base of Thimble Peak pinnacle.
At The Base of Thimble Peak Overlooking the Tucson Valley (Ed, Phil, Alexa and Tim)
Alexa Climbing The Pinnacle (Thimble Peak)
A Thimble Full Of Life
All one needs
in life is
a thimble full of
this and that
to experience life.
We determine
what makes up
THIS,
what makes up
THAT.
Do you have a thimble full?
— kenne
You can see all 44 images at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kennetu/sets/72157637734025706/
Related articles
- In Hiking, The More The Struggle, The More The Reward (kenneturner.com)
- Mourning the Loss of Gordon Hirabayashi (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
- Medals of Freedom to Dolores Huerta and Gordon Hirabayashi (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
Becoming is Superior to Being 
I love the photos of you guys all silhouetted against the sky, such an amazing place you live in! Yes I do have a thimble full of life and I am holding on to it!!
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Glad you like the image. Life has so much to offer, a thimble full can be a lot.
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yes it truly can. 😉
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i can see for sure that you guys had a great time. thank you for sharing
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Thanks for the comment.
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Looks like it was a lot of fun!
Beautiful scenery>
I have a thimble full of experiences, and I would like to add a few more!
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It was a great experience — thanks for stopping by.
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Reblogged this on Becoming is Superior to Being and commented:
This was a memorable hike four years ago. It was a beautiful, but very windy day in the Santa Catalina Mountains. — kenne
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