Yesterday I set a personal record for my longest hiking day: 21.5 miles with 4840 feet of elevation gain. The hike featured an assortment of trail conditions: dirt, sand, rocks, pavement, snow, one knee-deep stream crossing. It was an all-day affair that left me tired, but overall feeling surprisingly good.

We started in the dark. The sun is just about to rise in this picture.

Lately my companions have been much more ambitious hikers, people with training goals. My most gung-ho friend has decided that the best way to do the Grand Canyon R2R (rim-to-rim) hike is to travel light and do it in one day. That means something like 24 miles and 6000 feet of climbing, most of it at the end of a tough day. He’s done it a few times before, and will probably do it more than once again this year, in both directions. I think he brings me along on his practice exercises so he doesn’t have to worry about outrunning mountain lions.

Along the way: Bridalveil Falls.

The ultimate “holy grail” goal for many runners is a marathon (26 miles, usually urban). Some people do it once and lose interest, but many do it again. They try for a better time, or do it in a different city, or with different friends, or…

I was never attracted to running, but I’m starting to understand how bigger distances can provide their own motivation. Tucson offers a wonderful assortment of hiking trails, and I’ve already exhausted most of the nearby shorter ones. I pore over AllTrails maps looking for new routes, which means going longer. Longer hikes provide a few advantages: I’m pushed to get better, I get to less-crowded wilderness areas, and with enough elevation gain I experience several different microclimates in the same day. This hike went from cactus desert to prairie to forest.

Gaining some altitude…

For a while, longer distances felt harder. Recently, frequent practice has helped me to break through a barrier (mental as well as physical) that kept me from attempting hikes like this one. Now they feel possible. I suppose runners experience the same thing.

Some residual snow on the shady north side of the ridge.

This time of year in Tucson is wonderful. It’s not too hot, there’s pretty snow on the mountaintops, the streams have water. At least until Summer, I think I’m up for some more big efforts.

Hutch’s Pool.

If this post inspires you to follow my route, here it is on AllTrails: Esperero Trail / Cathedral Rock Trail / West Fork Trail / Sabino Canyon Trail / Sabino Tram Road . I modified it slightly to return by road instead of the Phoneline Trail.

The stream we waded through.