Up a few 100 feet from the night 1 campsite, this is looking to the SSE down the forest service road that we used to access the trailhead.
Wonderful views of Rincon Peak from the trail north up Heartbreak Ridge on day 2. Rincon peak is on the left, and way off in the distance to the right are the Santa Rita mountains, location of the U of A MMT 6.5m telescope.
Rincon Peak from the Happy Valley Lookout, 0.2 miles off the Heartbreak Ridge trail.
The view Northward from the lookout, toward Mica Mountain, today's destination.
Jani and the Happy Valley lookout hut.
Looking northwest, past the flanks of Mica Mountain toward Tanque Verde peak.
Totally incredible viewpoint that we encountered nearing the top of Heartbreak Ridge. Here we are looking at, near to far, the flanks of Mica Mountain, the San Pedro valley, the Galiuro Mountains, and in the far distance the Pinaleno Mountains, with Mount Graham about 50 miles away.
View of me and the view toward the southeast, with Wilcox Playa and the Chricahua mountains about 70 or 80 miles away.
Ann and Delphine investigate an outcropping of rock with the Santa Rita mountains far off in the background.
A Horned Toad from our stop for the night, Manning Camp. This is a different species than the ones I see down at my house, 6000 feet below in elevation.
In pleasant pine groves in Manning Camp.
A deer that we encountered on our way out of Manning Camp, climbing Mica Mountain.
Near the top of Mica Mountain, at about 8500 feet elevation in the Rincons, we encountered this blue ribbon with the remains fo a burst balloon on the end. Someone must have lost it, maybe in Tucson, maybe further away, and it drifted until it popped, and landed here!
Me at the highest point in the Rincon Mountains.
The crew that scaled Mica Mountain, L to R: Ann, Colin, Oleg, Delphine. The people who had the energy to climb Mica was anticorrelated with those who had the energy to climb Rincon Peak the night before.
Mica Mountain is heavily wooded, so we proceeded back south half a mile to Spud Rock, an outcropping with a better view. This picture shows the North Slope of Mica Mountain, with Redington Pass below.
Catalina Mountains, through the forward-scattering haze.
Looking west from Spud rock, Helen's Dome in the foreground, with Tanque Verde ridge in the background.
Looking south toward the Santa Ritas.
Directly south at Rincon Peak.
Oleg with the shadow of Spud Rock.
Delphine and Ann.
Colin.
Me, with Tucson in the haze of the valley below.
Night-blooming cacti on top of Spud Rock.
When we returned to Manning Camp after dark, there were some people up there with coolers ! They took horses up, and here the horses are in the corral.
Delphine and Ann say Hi to the horses.