Romero Pools hike~Catalina State Park

We stayed in Catalina State Park for two weeks and it was time to move on.

Last Tuesday was our last full day in the park and we wanted to hike to Romero Pools.

Total Length
5.6 miles

Highest Elevation:
3700 feet

Lowest Elevation:
2720 feet

Elevation Change:
980 feet

We got a late start so there wasn’t much time for stopping to take photos on the way up..

Though, I did stop to catch my breath..

and used the opportunity to take a photo..

Or two..

Ok..I stopped a lot..

I had lots of breath to catch…

View toward Oro valley..

The hike was mostly uphill..through very rocky terrain..

I am pointing to the campground..

If you enlarge the photo you can might see Homey..

Up up and more up…..

I point the the trail ahead of us..

The trail we came from..

Aaakkk….this cactus gave me a fright  

Yep, that is the trail we came from..

and we continue to go higher..

And …

Higher..

I had to stop and catch my breath again..

and take a photo of the valley below.

An Arizona Snowman..

Looking back again toward the valley..

Are we there yet?

Nope..

Time to rest again and stare at the valley below…

As we hike to the pools we pass many wild flowers..

I didn’t take the time on the way up to photograph them.

I did take a photo of this beautiful Fairy Duster..

Almost there!

The pools..

We had no time to linger..

We had to get back before dark..

So, I took a few photos of the pools and we turned around to head back down the mountain.

I stopped to take photos of the flowers..

Fairy Duster flowers emerging..

This looks like a type of cytisus

A close up of the flowers..

Views looking down to the valley..

Another wildflower..

The same flower above unopened..

I stop and take more photos of the wildflowers I passed on the way up.

We continue on..

Hiking a bit quicker to make it down to the trailhead before dark.

Down, down we go..

Its much faster going down..

New arms popping out of this Saguaro..

We are almost there..

Just in time…

The sun is setting..and its starting to sprinkle..

Goodbye Catalina!

Until next time….