Esperero canyon/Ventana canyon

My husband and I took the Esperero Canyon Trail to Bridal Veil Falls then up to the Window and down the Ventana Canyon Trail. This route is published at 15.5 miles total. 

We dropped a car off at the Ventana Canyon TH and drove to Sabino Canyon. We were on the trail by 7 am. It was a gorgeous day with all of the wildflowers blooming. The EC trail was popping with color and is one of my favorites because it gets so little traffic. We saw only 3 people between the TH and the top of Cardiac Gap. 

There was some water in Esperero Creek but certainly not flowing like it was on 2/14 when I hiked here last. Then there was a monstrous waterfall you could see in the distance from the ridge. Today there was no water to been seen and just the sound of the wind. We got to Bridal Veil Falls around 10:40. The falls were running enough to fill our water bottles and for me to slip on a rock and get soaked! We met and ate with another hiker who was going up the Cathedral Rock Trail and back to Sabino via West Fork.

After Bridal Veil Falls the trail becomes very steep. I was glad I had my poles as I needed them to haul myself up the trail. Most descriptions say that this portion of the trail (between BV falls and the Window) is very faint an hard to follow. We found it to be well marked with cairns and not nearly as faint as we thought. You would be hard pressed to get lost on this section. The views are spectacular and so worth the effort.

After what seemed like an eternity of climbing we reached the Window at 1:45. Took a rest here for half an hour to tank up for the long descent down the Ventana Trail. It was grueling doing this part of the trail since our legs were already so tired from the hike up. We agreed that if we do it again we will break it in to a 2 day hike.

We took a short break near Maiden Pools and were back at the car at the Ventana Canyon TH by 6:30 pm. The section from Maiden Pools to the TH was gorgeous with the brittlebush and fairy dusters. It made up for how tired we felt.  

It was a very long, hard day. I know we are not the fastest hikers but the published time of 9 hours for this route seems very optimistic. We were stingy with our breaks and it still took 11.5 hours. I would only do this hike again if I knew there was water available at BV Falls. While we didn't end up drinking any of the "fall water" it was nice to know we had it in case of emergency.