The first range I’ll be traversing on my long-hike and photography project is the Tortolita mountain range, which rests north of Tucson; east of where I live in Marana. This is the lowest elevation range I’ll be traversing, beginning at an elevation of around 2,500ft and maxing out at 4,698ft- quite the difference from the San Juan Mountains I’ve called home for so long, with the highest density of peaks over 13,000ft in the country haha :)
Getting used to lower elevations is super weird for me! And that’s one of the reasons I am beginning this Sky Island Traverse in the Tortolita Mountains; they’ll also be the most aggressively hot range when it comes to average temperature. I need to hit them as soon as possible or else I’ll be waiting for December… which I don’t want to do!
A small, yet extremely rugged mountain range and an important sky island of the Madrean Sky Islands.
In my initial SIT (Sky Island Traverse) blog, I listed some stats of what I expected mileage and such to be. And as the traverse is getting closer and closer, I’ve dialed it all in considerably. So At this point, for this range, here is what I’m thinking more accurate stats will be:
Distance of Hike: 46 miles
Elevation Gain: 7,475 vertical feet
Notes: The mileage to do what I want to do in this traverse meant more than doubling the mileage of what I had initially planned for. This is okay, as the elevation profile hasn’t changed too much. I will be able to cover some of this ground quickly. It’s important for this project to truly traverse the range. This route feels good to me and is reasonable for my goals.
The Tortolita Range will be referred to as Section 1 on my Sky Island Traverse for the sake of keeping things in order!
Section 1 of my route is a hefty kick-off to this project and has three spots to get water; all of which are sources for cows- yuck. So I am hoping to cache water out there over the next couple weeks in a few key spots.
Some of the wildlife I am hoping to document in the Tortolita Mountains include: Sonoran desert toad, cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, zone-tailed hawk, tortolita taulssnail, any of the four special bat species calling the Torts home, and reptiles such as gila monsters and rattles snakes of various species. I’d also love to see white-tailed coues deer and wild cats.
The main biomes I’ll be traversing through are: upland Sonoran desert scrub, semi-desert grasslands and chaparral.
To learn more about the Tortolita Mountains, check out the Wiki and Peak Bagger.
As I complete each section, I will be posting detailed reports on that section of the hike, including gear lists, some photos and probably some teaser videos. And of course, I’ll be sharing some of the section’s highlights in more real time to my IG stories, which many of you have come to enjoy over the years.
I’ll also be sharing my GPX routes as I complete sections. So if you are someone that enjoys seeing actual routes, rest assured knowing I’ll make those public, along with the permits I acquired to legally do the routes.