Instead of the typical Madera Loop, let's do a less traveled "unofficial" Loop!

• When: Saturday April 8th

· Time - We will begin the hike at 8:30 am. This means we will depart from the (last) upper parking lot of Madera Canyon at 8:30 am to begin the hike.

· Hike Location: From the Madera Canyon, upper parking lot, we’ll hike the Old Baldy Trail, to Josephine Saddle, to Agua Caliente Trail, to an unofficial trail that will drop us onto the Carrie Nation trail, returning us to the parking lot.

· Length – RT approximately 6.5 miles

· Rating - “C” Intermediate, but due to the quick elevation loss on the return “unofficial” trail it pushes this rating to the max. This is NOT a Beginner hike, and please be prepared with 2 trekking poles, and hiking boots with good traction to assist in your decent.

· CEG = 1959’

· Duration - give ourselves approximately 5 hrs to complete the hike

· Restrooms – available only at the trailhead

· Water – suggested 2 liters

· Carpooling – due to the minimal parking spots, and parking fee at Madera Canyon, I highly recommend we carpool. For Hikers coming from Tucson please meet me at the Home Depot parking lot I-19/Irvington. Look for the white Toyota with the hatch open. I will depart from Home Depot at 7:45 am. If you’re are coming from Green Valley I suggest you use the Discussion Board to organize a carpool (possibly from La Posada). Carpoolers; please be prepared to give your Driver a few dollars for gas and parking.

Our ascent will be approximately 2.5 miles / elevation gain 1780' from the parking lot to Josephine Saddle where we can break for a snack. After our snack & rest, we’ll head cross-country on the Agua Caliente Trail for .5 miles and another elevation gain of approximately 179’. At this point we will turn-off the Agua Calinete, to head NW onto an unofficial trail. This is a beautiful, but steep section of the hike with loose footing, requiring trekking poles and hiking boots with good traction. Within .5 miles we’ll drop 779’ as we descend to the bottom of the narrow canyon where we’ll pick up the Carrie Nation Mine Trail. Due to several interesting sites, we’ll take another break when we reach the Carrie Nation Mine. When I visited this in March there was a carpeting of flowers! After we leave the Mine, we’ll encounter minor boulder-hopping as the Carrie Nation Trail crisscrosses a stream bed. Again, when I traveled this the last week of March there was still water running! The combination of these trails is beautiful with interesting sites along the way.

As always, each Hiker hikes at their own risk.