On Thursday, December 3, I hiked to the summit of Mount Hopkins in the Santa Rita Mountains of Southern Arizona. The Santa Rita mountains form the southern border of the Tucson basin. The highest peak of the range, Mount Wrightson, rises about 7000 feet above Tucson. It is accompanied to its west by lower Mount Hopkins. Both peaks are quite visible from bicycle routes in Tucson. I had hiked Mount Wrightson in March 2015, but had not yet visited Mount Hopkins. So it was past time to do so.
I drove to Madera Canyon and parked at the end of the road with access to several trails. I followed the Old Baldy, Vault Mine, and Agua Caliente Trails to a saddle below Mount Hopkins on its east side. It was quite windy and cool in the morning, but I was sheltered from most of the wind while climbing up the steep north side of the peak.
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