A Hike Through The Amazing Catalina Mountains

Today we decided to take the kids on a lengthier hike than normal since the last few days all the kids have been battling some sort of stomach virus (urghh). As much as we thought we were distancing ourselves from these viruses we managed to pick one up from at our last stop in the Tucson KOA as there were tons of kids and families that we met and hung out with. The kids battled through and are better now, but we were getting tired of hanging inside the RV and needed to finally stretch our legs and explore the outdoors! Lucky enough, we were blessed with an absolutely amazing campground as we are staying at the Catalina State Park just north of Tucson, Arizona. The park is situated at the base of the Catalina Mountains and there are tons of amazing trails and sights to see. Highly recommended for anyone visiting or passing through the Tucson area. Campsites have the usual amenities, good privacy and an amazing view of the mountains. There are wolves howling nightly and during the day there are tons of ground hogs/prairie dogs that are at each and every campsite just hanging out (kids love them)! We took the 2 mile Canyon Loop trail which took us up closer to the mountains, meandering through tons of desert vegetation and hundreds of beautiful saguaro cacti which only exist here in Arizona. Who knew? You know the massive looking cactus that has arms. They are amazing to see up close. Thankfully, the hike also took us to a beautiful river (tiny stream actually) where the kids could splash and cool off from the 32C heat. We also managed to bump into tons of lizards, an iguana and we heard the rattle of a diamondback rattlesnake. Needless to say we didn't stick around to say hi to it. Surprisingly, apart from some complaining early on on the hike, all the kids made the entire journey in good spirits. Madden had to be carried a couple of times, but given he's only two we think he did amazing for such a long walk. We're doing our best to get these kids used to longer and longer hikes so we can continue to explore these amazing places we stumble upon during our travels! Here's a few pics we managed to capture along our hike today. Such a beautiful place!