Travel: In Tucson, drive east on Tanque Verde Road and turn left on the Catalina Highway. Drive 10.1 miles and turn left into the Molino Campground and Picnic Area. Park adjacent to the road. Pit toilet, no water. The campground is open November through April.
Distance and Elevation Gain: 5.5 miles; 2,300 feet of climbing
Total Time: 5:00 to 7:00
Difficulty: Off-trail; navigation moderately challenging; Class 2+ scrambling, mild exposure in the West Fork; water in Molino is intermittent so carry what you will need.
The Naming of Airmen Peak: As noted in Hike Lemmon!, in 1986, Airmen Peak was named in the Santa Catalina Mountains in honor of all airmen who have died in military aircraft accidents in the greater Tucson area.
Technical Climbers: Airmen Peak, aka Stonewall, has 14 named climbs, Class 5.6 to 5.10. Consult Mountain Project.
Map: Agua Caliente Hill, AZ 7.5' USGS Quad
Date Hiked: December 12, 2018
Poem:
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
"High Flight," by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
Seen from the Catalina Highway, sun illuminates the east walls of Airmen Thumb, Airmen Peak, and Point 5,820'.
Route: The hike can be done in either direction but a counterclockwise loop is recommended. Get your feet wet so to speak in the easier of the two canyons. There are three bypasses in the West Fork; it is advisable to navigate from the top of the barrier falls. Hike up Molino Canyon and climb the northeast ridge of Point 5,820'. Head west to the Airmen Peak and Airmen Thumb (Point 5,968') saddle. Climb Airmen Peak and descend to the West Fork of Molino Creek. Navigate down the drainage to close the loop in Molino Basin.
Molino Canyon
The Molino Basin Trailhead, elevation 4,370 feet, is located on the Arizona Trail. The cross-state treadway runs along the north side of Molino Creek. A word about water--the creek is fickle. It may well be dry or it may be running strong. Too much water will render the hike difficult if not impossible, especially in the constricted West Fork. Just before the AZT crosses the wash, at about 0.1 mile, bear left on a distinctive social trail.
The footpath crosses and recrosses the streambed. It is helpful if you want to make time. Boulder hopping in the canyon bottom is a pleasant alternative. Creekside vegetation is typical: manzanita, sotol, beargrass, and oak. Unfortunately, buffelgrass is taking over native grasses. It is a non-native invasive and is listed and regulated as a noxious weed.
The canyon deepens and constricts, to be expected given the metamorphic composition of Catalina Gneiss. The parent rock is 1.4 billion-year-old Oracle Granite from the Precambrian age. It is the banded gneiss seen on the Catalina Highway. At 0.6 mile, the trail bypasses upcanyon-left a cascade flowing over this ancient rock. (THW, photo)
We share the canyon's beauty with a family of three cougars who left their tracks in wet sand earlier that morning. We follow them clear to our exit from the riparian zone. (THW, photo)
If your intention is the shortest and fastest out-and-back to Airmen Peak exit the drainage at 0.8 mile, upcanyon-left. Walk northwest up the draw and gain the saddle between Airmen Thumb and the peak, shown.
The social trail ends at the Airmen shortcut. Scamper up the center of the canyon on water-polished boulders. Caution: the rock is seriously slippery. Streambed vegetation is scoured before taking hold so there is little brush to contend with.
The canyon keeps getting better and better. There are monster boulders to weave around and little navigation puzzles to solve. (THW, photo)
My companions have spent considerable time in the canyons of the Santa Catalina Mountains and we agree that Molino ranks with the best. At 1.5 miles, the canyon gradient eases and walking is easy. (THW, photo)
Point 5,820'
At 1.7 miles, 5,140 feet, look left and locate Airmen Peak. For those climbing Point 5,820' leave the canyon in this area and head southwest. If you prefer to skip this prominence, exit at the side drainage upcanyon-left and ascent west to the saddle north of Airmen Peak, the divide between Molino Canyon and the West Fork of Molino Creek. Then climb south up a draw to the west side of the summit block. The Trail Talk folks at Summit Hut have written an excellent description of this route.
Point 5,820' is not ranked (only 200 feet of prominence on the west) but it offers a unique view of Airmen Peak and getting there is fun. Make for the northeast ridge. Aim for the left side of the north block on the summit ridge, image-center. Resurrection moss terraces the crushed granite slope. Bedrock is coated with grey-blue lichen.
Upon gaining the ridge the terrain gets more interesting with towers and rock stacks. There are multiple routes, all of them appealing. Some of the best scrambling of the entire hike happens in the final 400 feet to the crest. Interlocking crystals are embedded in stone; pegmatite clusters contain nuggets of quartz, mica and feldspar.
Summit slab-covered Point 5,820' at 2.2 miles. The view is far reaching but the most compelling view of all is our next destination, Airmen Peak. The approach drops about 300 feet into a Molino side drainage and then climbs to the saddle between Airmen Thumb and the peak, shown. (THW, photo)
Airmen Peak
Scope out the descent route before leaving the prominence. Downclimb the summit boulders and walk north a few strides to the head of a broad westward gully. This location is going to seem obvious. I've included this image of the top of the defile primarily to illustrate some of the technical climbs on the south and east walls of Stonewall.
Bottom out at 5,540 feet and do a softly rising traverse west. It is brushy but not obnoxious. The route is actually pretty sweet. Gain the saddle at 5,780 feet, 2.8 miles.
Nearby to the south is Point 5,968'. It is informally referred to as simply The Thumb. I extended the unofficial name to Airmen Thumb to distinguish it from all the other Thumbs out there. If you intend to climb this monolith consult the website, Contributing To The Problem for helpful tips. I'm pretty sure this beast is above my skill level.
The climb up the southwest ridge of Airmen is straightforward. Just work the center or both sides of the ridge intuitively. There are no cairns.
Flank the false summit at 6,000 feet on the west. (THW, photo)
Crest Airmen Peak at 3.1 miles. The summit is broad with great sitting rocks and anyone can stand on the high point, shown. We'd heard that the gentleman who named the peak had an entry in the summit register so it was disappointing to see the capsule broken and the register lost.
I am looking directly at Point 6,283'. I was hoping to combine it with this hike but there isn't enough daylight so near the Winter Solstice. One of my favorite circuits in the Santa Catalinas is visible on the horizon to my right: Peak 7,135', Guthrie Mountain, and Green Mountain. West (off-image) is Cathedral Rock, the Catalina Highway winding up to Windy Point, Lizard Rock, and the towers of Mount Lemmon. (THW, photo)
I walked to the edge of the stone butte to get a look back at Point 5,820', shown. Agua Caliente Hill is in the middle distance. Afar are the Rincon Mountains: Mica Mountain, the summit of Rincon Peak, and Tanque Verde Peak.
(THW, photo)
West Fork of Molino Creek
The West Fork of Molino Creek has just enough drama, complexity, and navigation challenges to embellish the experience. The canyon is steeper, narrower, and the rocks have an icy polish. If you were at your comfort limit in Molino Canyon, return that way. The fastest (and easiest) route is the climber's shortcut mentioned earlier that descends southeast from the saddle with Airmen Thumb.
While you could drop into the West Fork from the saddle north of Airmen Peak, this description descends from the Airmen Thumb saddle. It's just a 220 foot descent from the saddle to the West Fork. We hit the creek at 5,560 feet.
We found water in the West Fork. A slightly higher flow would have been lovely but then again, do not drop down this canyon if water is rushing. (THW, photo)
In places the tributary creek is quite narrow forcing workarounds. (THW, photo)
There are three substantial barrier falls that must be bypassed. The first is at 5,400 feet, shown. The bypass downcanyon-left is easy and fast.
The grotto's schist walls have a dark shimmering sheen. To see something comparable you'd have to go into the basement at the Grand Canyon. (THW, photo)
A few paces downcanyon is a smaller jet-stream fall. It's hard to conceive how water, so soft, can create a furrow in practically the hardest rock on the planet. (THW, photo)
The top of the second pouroff is at elevation 5,340 feet. The bypass is on the hillside downcanyon-right. We tried to shortcut back to the canyon but got cliffed out. So carry on until you come to a gully and use it as your access back to the floor. You can make out the gully in this image. This work-around requires some patience.
The bypass drops 220 feet. Here's a look back at the cascade from the reentry point. (THW, photo)
Exquisite narrows would be hard to negotiate in high water.
This magnificent arrowhead-shaped boulder is plopped right in the center of the canyon at 4,900 feet. We went around it downcanyon-left but on a hot day I'd like to slither down the stone and into the water. (THW, photo)
These bedrock sheets are located just before the final airy drop. (THW, photo)
Arrive at the third fall at 4,840 feet. It is a mighty two-tiered cascade. (THW, photo)
The bypass is located on the hillside downcanyon-right. The Summit Hut entry, written in 2011, references a path but it no longer exists. Climb a bit to get above a cliff band then contour across the slope until you locate a comfortable descent route. Be mindful and guard against slipping; I felt some exposure here. This image looks back at the cascade from the bypass.
More stone pools await but the challenge is over upon reaching the canyon floor. The waters of the West Fork are funneled under the Catalina Highway through a sizable cement-floored culvert just above the Molino Curve. You may either walk down the road 0.2 mile or go through the culvert. Continue down the creek until you catch sight of the restroom. A trail will take you back to the picnic area to close the loop.
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