We can see Thimble Peak from our front door.  Named for its distinctive shape, the Peak is easily identifiable from most of Northeast Tucson.  (Unlike Mica Mountain, which I recently learned I was mistakenly calling Tanque Verde Peak.)  The Thimble sits atop a ridge between Sabino and Bear Canyon, fairly close to Blackett’s Ridge but not accessible from trails within the Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area.  Studying a map on AllTrails, I found that we could get there starting from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground on the Catalina Highway (road to Mount Lemmon).  The hike is a ten mile roundtrip with a 2300’ elevation gain: ambitious, but within our limits.  We had a perfect weather day, and we went.

View of Thimble Peak (circled) from our neighborhood

I love the Coronado National Forest, but not its trail signage. A couple of weeks ago I took a solo hike from the same area to the relatively obscure Gibbon Mountain. There were no markings whatsoever. I took a turn, wondering “is this the right trail? Is it a trail at all?” Fortunately, it was.

Along the Arizona Trail. The sparse vegetation provides long, great views.

I expected more clarity for our Thimble route, because the first half followed the well-marked Arizona Trail, and because our turn-off was also the turn for Bear Canyon at the Sabino Area.  We found a large cairn marking a fairly well-traveled path (travelled by people, and apparently also horses), but no indication that it was the way we wanted.  We hoped that the Thimble itself would be visible for confirmation, but it was behind some nearer peaks.  We took the turn.

Again, the path turned out to be correct.  After a brief climb with a few slippery gravel spots, we crested a saddle, attaining a wonderful view: Bear Canyon, the city of Tucson, and yes! the Thimble.

On the saddle, looking out at Tucson over Bear Canyon. Thimble, top right.

Thimble’s summit requires a Class 4 scramble, and most hikers get to the base of the Thimble formation and turn around.  That was our plan as well.

Yeah, that looks pretty steep.

Our grown-up decision moment wasn’t that though, nor was it a result of the poor signs. We were on the final leg to the Thimble and we just didn’t like one part of it, about half a mile from the end. It was sloped sideways over a ravine, and the trail beyond that point was not clearly better. We had enjoyed a great day of hiking and views and while the final destination might be nice, it would be an incremental improvement to an already fine day. On the other hand, a bad experience this far out would definitely be a serious downgrade. Not a good gamble.

Final view of Thimble, from Sycamore Reservoir Dam

We plan to return and do the hike again, skipping Thimble and continuing down Bear Canyon instead of returning the way we came. This hike was a good recon mission and confidence builder.

We took a slightly different way back to the campground, returning to the Arizona Trail by a trail closer to Sabino Canyon. That one was beautiful, as well as much better marked than our way up. It had a sign!