Madera Canyon - Old Baldy Trail to Mt. Wrightson Peak

On April 22, I hiked 10.8 miles to the top of Mt. Wrightson and back on the Old Baldy Trail at Madera Canyon with my brother-in-law Ben. My wife Carrie and mother-in-law Laura joined us most of the way to Josephine's Saddle before heading back.



Although our main purpose was hiking, I had a total of 26 species. We hiked the 0.3 miles from the parking area, and turned left on the Old Baldy Trail. Not far up from this turn I heard an ELEGANT TROGON singing. Then two Elegant Trogons flew over Carrie and Laura, who were hiking behind me, and I heard a third singing to them ahead of me. I was able to see it, and it was a female. One of the other Trogons was calling to it, and it flew to the other side of the trail to join it.



Next we had ARIZONA WOODPECKER, GRACE'S WARBLER, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.



A little further up the trail, Ben saw a large bird flush. I walked ahead and saw a BAND-TAILED PIGEON sitting in a branch. I barely had a glimpse before it flushed again.

Other birds we were able to identify by song or sight before we reached Josephine's Saddle were MEXICAN JAY, PAINTED REDSTART, BRIDLED TITMOUSE, SPOTTED TOWHEE, YELLOW-EYED JUNCO, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, BUSHTIT, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, ACORN WOODPECKER, HERMIT THRUSH, NORTHERN FLICKER, HOUSE WREN, and GREATER PEWEE. I only heard the Greater Pewee, and it has a delightful song as does the Painted Redstart.



In the first 0.2 miles from the saddle up, we heard and then saw 3 STELLER'S JAYS, which I had missed the previous day at Mt. Lemmon.



A little further up, we had some more Steller's Jays.







Then we had a ZONE-TAILED HAWK fly over us. I heard several CANYON WRENS and saw two of them.



I had 3-4 RED-FACED WARBLERS. One of them was flitting from branch to branch at eye level and flew past my head. I was surprised to find a VIRGINIA'S WARBLER at such a high altitude. This was another bird I had missed at Mt. Lemmon.





Other birds that I saw on the way to the top that I had not already seen further down were HAIRY WOODPECKER, TURKEY VULTURE, and WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.



However, the most interesting sighting of the day was not a bird, but a pack of Kawata Mundis, also known as White-nosed Coatis climbing near the top of Mt. Wrightson. We had not idea what they were when we first saw them, but some of the other hikers told us what they were when we described them. They are beautiful creatures, red like a fox, with long, ringed, bushy tails, and long striped snouts. They are related to Racoons.





I became sick on the way down with nausea and leg cramps and received some much needed encouragement and assistance from a hiker named Steve Wamba, who carried my bag and camera and lent me one of his poles on the way down. By the time we got close to the bottom, I was feeling much better. My wife and mother-in-law were waiting for us at the bottom with Gatorade.