January 15, 2020 - Prehike - 50 Year Trail and Gem Trail at E. Equestrian Trailhead, Catalina

John and Nancy pre-hiked 50 Year Trail on a beautiful winter day with no wind and slight cloud cover.

The trail is located in Catalina State Park, at the end of East FeatGolder Ranch Drive at the end of

the pavement. The E. Equestrian Parking area is large and sandy with no washroom facilities.

It is advised to stop at the gas station at the corner of Oracle Road and East Golder Ranch Road.

The hike started at 9:30 at a Cattle Guard which indicated there were cattle in the area. We only

saw a bull and a steer on the whole hike. There are many paths scattered throughout the desert

so it is great to have an All-trails track to follow. The terrain was flat with desert vegetation

including large Teddy Bear, chain link and staghorn cholla and Mesquite trees for the first

hour and 15 minutes of the hike. We decided to go onto Gem Trail as it seemed to lead us to the

boulders and seen on the horizon. The trail wound around the rocks up to where we could see

views of the Golder Ranch area below as well as the mountains in Catalina Park. We continued on

Gem and had lunch at the turnaround point at 11:30. We enjoyed the walk through the boulders

and desert and arrived back at the trailhead at 1:30.

The extra loop on Gem Trail added 1 mile. This may be the difference between the medium hike

and the long hike.

We decided the medium hike would do one loop of the Gem trail and come back at a trail that

intersects Gem trail - 7 miles total. The long hike would continue and do a longer loop on

Gem Trail - 8 miles total.

Feature Picture - Enhance by Nancy