April 1 - 5, 2011

Manning Camp, near the top of the Rincon Mountains, is just one of three campsites we'll be using during this extended-weekend outing. Please join me for this wonderful four-night backpacking trip in Tucson's backyard.

The Plan

We'll drive around to the east side of the Rincon Mountains on Friday morning, April 1st. Leaving our vehicles at the trailhead, we'll hike up to Happy Valley Campground and set up our first camp. We're going to be here for just one night, since some of us had been here just three weeks earlier.

On Saturday we'll pack our stuff, have breakfast, then head up to Manning Camp. Getting there involves a relatively tough hike across the aptly-named Heartbreak Ridge. The ups and downs on that trail can drain your energy quickly. Fortunately, there are several good places for breaks. We'll relax at Manning Camp on Saturday evening, knowing we have a full day of hiking ahead of us. If the cabin is occupied by the Park Service, we might be able to drop in and say hello to some old friends.

On Sunday morning, we'll get up and have breakfast, perhaps say hello to the rangers, then head off for a day of hiking above 8,000 feet. There are several different looping dayhikes we can do on Sunday, and we'll figure that out once we're up there. We'll spend a second night at Manning Camp on Sunday.

On Monday morning, we can relax and enjoy the morning before we pack up camp and head out for our last campsite and our last night in the Rincon Mountains. The one thing we must do is load up on water. Our camp on Monday evening may be a dry camp. We won't know until we get there. Fortunately, it's mostly downhill and just a short distance away.

The plan is to stop at either Spud Rock Spring or Deer Head Spring for our last evening of this trip. The total distance is less than three miles - less than two miles as the raven flies - from Manning Camp, depending on where we stop. It's mostly flat or downhill, so should take less than two hours to get to our campsite. We can definitely take our time on Monday!

On Tuesday morning, we have a seven-mile-plus downhill trek via the Turkey Creek Trail, a road, and a route to get us back to our vehicles. We'll leave early enough to try to get to the trailhead by about noon, which will allow us to get back to Tucson by early afternoon. It's going to be very warm coming down the east face of the Rincons into that direct April sunlight.

This trip is planned for up to eight people. There are three campsites available at Happy Valley, many campsites at Manning Camp, and a few campsites for our last night. Each of those campsites can hold two or three tents.

Depending on the level of interest, I will reserve as many as three campsites at each location. The National Park Service charges $6.00 per night per campsite. At a minimum, the total charges will be $24.00 for the group. At most, the total charges will be $72.00 for the entire group. That's a very inexpensive four-night trip!

You'll need food for four dinners, four breakfasts, and four lunches, plus snacks.

Water and Weather

There will be plenty of water at Happy Valley, based on the amount of water that was flowing everywhere during the Happy Valley trip in March. Water at Manning Camp should not be a problem whatsoever. Water for our fourth night at either Spud Rock or Deer Head might be iffy, so we'll have to carry water from Manning Camp.

The weather in the Rincon Mountains in early April can be very nice. Daytime highs will be in the 60s or low 70s with nighttime lows in the upper 30s and low 40s. Remember that our lowest campground at Happy Valley is at 6,100 feet, and Manning Camp is at 8,000 feet. Our last camp will be about halfway between the two at 7,200 feet. It's a bit cooler than Tucson, perhaps by as much as 15 degrees. You will need a colder weather sleeping bag.

One nice thing is that we are allowed to have a fire at all of our campgrounds. That makes the evenings a bit more special. Perhaps we'll have s'mores!

The Hike

day	miles	elev gain	destination
Friday	0.0 / 0.0	0 ft / 0 ft	Miller Creek Trailhead
Friday	1.5 / 1.5	400 ft / 400 ft	Park Boundary
Friday	2.9 / 4.4	1600 ft / 2000 ft	Heartbreak Ridge Trl Jct
Friday	0.6 / 5.0	400 ft / 2400 ft	Happy Valley Campground
Saturday	1.8 / 6.8	800 ft / 3200 ft	Happy Valley Lookout
Saturday	4.2 / 11.0	800 ft / 4000 ft	Devil's Bathtub
Saturday	1.6 / 12.6	500 ft / 4500 ft	Manning Camp
Sunday	5.0 / 17.6	1200 ft / 5700 ft	Mica Mountain Dayhike
Monday	2.0 / 19.6	500 ft / 6200 ft	Spud Rock Spring
Monday	0.6 / 20.2	200 ft / 6400 ft	Deer Head Spring
Tuesday	4.6 / 24.8	400 ft / 6800 ft	Turkey Creek Trailhead
Tuesday	1.6 / 26.4	200 ft / 7000 ft	Road's End
Tuesday	0.9 / 27.3	400 ft / 7400 ft	Miller Creek Trailhead