Who says you can't hike in Tucson in the summer time? I think yesterday might have been one of the hottest days of the year. 110 or something like that, with the monsoon humidity. I got roped into Sabino Canyon yesterday with my wife and a close friend of ours. We set out at sunset. It was still in the high 90s, but with no sun. In the canyon, it was likely cooler with the mountain air, breeze, and water.
I have to admit, the prideful side in me wanted to dismiss walking down the paved road into the canyon. This is a problem with a person gets into a given thing: You get into a thing because you like it and it is accessible. You start to do increasingly difficult or advanced forms of whatever you are into, and before you know it, you are too good to do the ordinary forms. Refuse to give in to the snobbery.
In the end, the visibility of the paved road made it possible to complete the night hike without stepping on a rattle snake or getting sprayed by a skunk, and offered us an opportunity to get outdoors into one of the most beautiful areas in the Tucson region, on a day that I would never have considered setting foot outside. We practically had the place to ourselves, and as a bonus, we saw a buck deer, a ring-tail, a skunk, rattle snake, kangaroo rat, a bunch of giant Colorado River Toads, and just a tad of lightning. If you haven't done this on a summer night, I would definitely recommend it. Bring a flashlight and some water.
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