Backpacking Adventure - Apr 04 - SEcond Day part 2 - Sabino creek over to the last tram stop

We dried off our feet and put on our socks for the final push down Sabino Canyon to the northernmost tram stop in the canyon. It was getting hot, and with our 30- something pound packs on our back in the hot sun, we were drinking a lot of water. We were hiking from shade tree to shade tree trying to keep as cool as we could, and there was a nice breeze when we could find some shade to cool down. We later found out that it was 87 degrees farenheit, and with very little shade the late afternoon sun felt like about 110 degrees hefting our packs.

The views in upper Sabino canyon are very nice, with lots of large rock formations, and beautiful things to see everywhere you look.

When we got back to the visitor center, we refilled our water bottles.

In this 2.5 mile section of trail, I drank close to 2 liters and nearly ran out of water by the time we boarded the tram. I was under the impression that section of the trail was flat, but it turns out that it gains and loses elevation so that the AEG is several hundred feet.

Needless to say, we were glad when we arrived at tram stop 9, while we rode the tram back to the parking lot to be picked up in the parking lot. I think it's a ripoff that backpackers can't ride the tram for free, but the forest service has been forced to be mercenary because the jerks in congress keep squeezing them for funds.

Box camp to Sabino Canyon is a nice 2 day backpacking trip. There are lots of great views, the trail goes mostly downhill, and our campsite was excellent. This is a backpacking trip I would recommend. If you have a few more days, it would also be nice to hike up the west fork and go over the cathedral rock trail and down Esperero trail, with a little more elevation gained, but the views are well worth it. But I would recommend not doing this hike any later than early March, depending on the year. You don't want to do this when the temperature is much above 73 degrees Farenheit.