A few pics from our visit to Tucson 11/22-23 2003. We rode in the "El Tour de Tucson" bicycle event on Saturday, then drove to Madera Canyon with Tom and Suzanne to hike the Bog Springs trail on Sunday. Also visited the San Xavier mission.

The Bog Springs Trail starts from Madera Canyon and runs through part of Coronado National Forest and Mount Wrightson Wilderness Area.

This hike starts in the Santa Rita Mountains from the Bog Springs Campground. The trail begins by climbing moderately on lots of loose rocks.

Bog Springs is a small, man-made, cement rectangle with a slow flow of water. Not terribly exciting, but the huge Cottonwoods and shade make this a pretty spot. From Bog Springs, the trail continues to Kent Spring approximately 1.2 miles further in. This part of the trail gets pretty steep, but it does offer some great views of Mount Wrightson and Madera Canyon.

Kent Springs is another man made spring, this time round, with a flow of cold water (the top was frozen when we were there!). Again, lots of large trees and a stream-bed running down the hill. There was a small amount of water in the streambed---just enough for it to sound relaxing and peaceful. There are also good views in this area of Kitt Peak and Baboquivari Peak to the east. From here, the trail begins to descend toward Silvester Spring, once again following an old jeep road. This descent is steep. Along part of this descent, you parallel a stream, which makes for a beautiful walk. There are some small waterfalls and cascades as well.