Charouleau Gap for the Third Time.

Background.

Patti and I have done the Charouleau Gap trail twice before. This time it seemed a lot rougher at the beginning.
The day was overcast, windy and cold.
The trail goes from the town of Catalina, AZ  northeast through the mountains and ends at the town of Oracle, AZ. a distance of about 19 miles. 

Get Going.

We met Tom and Lillie at the Valero Station on Golder Ranch Road in Catalina.
This is the turn off for the Charouleau  Gap Trail.  After topping off the tanks we headed east down the road. After about a mile and a half we turned north on Lago del Oro Road. About 2 miles up Lago Del Oro we came to the start of the trail.

This is the sign at the entrance to the trail. It is easy to miss.

We pulled off and stopped at the staging area for the trail to air down the tires.

While we’re airing down Patti spotted this road runner and just barely got a picture. They are very fast. 

On the Trail.

The trail starts out rough right from the staging area…

and gets progressively rougher.

Granite Domes.

About a mile in you start climbing over large slabs of Granite.

This is the last of the granite. The climb up the dome was not as hard as it may look.

This is what it looks like from inside our jeep.

Moving Right Along.

We cleared the Granite and now we are on the rocky dirt trail.

We stopped at the Charouleau  Gap to take a break.

Down to the River.

The ride to the river is pretty rough.

Yes, this is the trail not a gully. At least it isn’t a gully right now but I think it is a gully when it rains.

Eventually we get to the river. It is pretty low at this time of year.

We drove along in the river bed but eventually we were back in the rocks.

Then back in the river for a little while.

Silly Sign.

Down in the canyon we came to this sign.

If the road ahead is hazardous what the hell did we just come through. I know I had to use 4wheel on that stretch.

Many River Crossings.

A little farther down the rocky road we crossed the river again.

More Rocks.

And we are back in the river;

and back on the rocks.

Back in the creek.

Climbing out of the Canyon.

I think this hill is called the Elevator Shaft. It looks hard but if you stay on the right side it isn’t bad at all.

As we near the top of the canyon we can see the Biosphere.

The trail at this point goes down into some deep canyons…

then it climbs up to the top again. After several miles of this we eventually got to the end of the trail at Oracle. We aired up the tires and headed for the hotel.

Okay that was our third trip over the Charouleau Gap trail and I think we have done it enough to be able to say that it is the last time.