Solo Backpacking in Saguaro NationaL Park

November 2024

I spent the morning organizing gear and packing my car, getting ready to head out on a solo adventure to Saguaro National Park. The plan for this trip came together very last minute, when I was researching over the weekend. As a school teacher, I am fortunate to have week long breaks from work around certain holidays, and I usually like to make the most of the time by going on a road trip or backpacking trip.

After an eventful summer and fall between getting married in Sequoia NP, honeymooning in French Polynesia, attending a friend’s wedding in NY, while keeping up with school work and creating content, November break came up quick and I wasn’t prepared. So, I ended up planning this trip we weekend before I set out.

I did some research into backpacking trails in the southwest, looking specifically at Arizona. I landed on Saguaro National Park because the weather looked pretty mild for this time of year, and I could cross another National Park off my bucket list.

When researching the park and trails, I came across the Douglas Spring and Tanque Verde Peak Loop trail which is 28 miles and 5,200+ ft of elevation gain on the East side of the park. I looked at recent reviews of the trail, read the info on the park website and secured my backcountry campsites along the trail. Since it was a 6ish hour drive out there I decided I would break up the drive and car camp along the way. I recently made the biggest purchase of my life and got myself a 2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness so that I can go on more adventures and comfortable sleep in the back if I want! I named her Felisha and I was very exited to be taking her on her first road trip and car camping adventure.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/arizona/douglas-spring-trail-tanque-verde-peak-visitors-center

I loaded her up and we set out on Monday morning toward Arizona. I found a campground near Gila Bend, 2 hours from Saguaro NP East. I picked my campsite, then paid the iron ranger and set up my JetBoil to make some mac and cheese for dinner. If you didn’t know, Kraft makes a dairy-free Mac and Cheese and it’s really good! The sun was setting as I prepared and ate my dinner and holy moly it was one of the best sunset’s I’ve ever seen! I think mother nature or the universe was trying to tell me that I made the right choice with Felisha and that we will have many more memorable moments like this together.

Out first night car camping was a huge success! I was comfy and cozy with my sleep set up and got to watch moon and stars through the windows. I’m thinking I should get some window screens to prevent bugs from coming in because I woke up to 2 mosquitos in the car with me, but I like having fresh air and want to keep the windows cracked.

After checking out the petroglyph site nearby, I hit the road for the Saguaro NP Visitor Center to check in with the rangers. Some of the reviews had mentioned the lack of water on trail so I wanted to check in with the rangers for their water report and trail conditions. The rangers I spoke to told me that the last trail report was from 2 weeks ago stating there were some still-water pools a quarter mile from the Douglas Spring and Juniper Basin Camps.

Since this report was from 2 weeks ago, I figured there was a good chance these pools were dried up so I decided to carry as much water as I could, which was about 6 liters (13 lbs of water) and I brought my water filter too, just in case! Before I hit the trail I “cameled up” and chugged a liter of water so I would not be starting the trail thirsty or dehydrated.

I started my hike around noon and had 7.5 miles to get to camp. The start of the trail was gorgeous with lots of different cacti, including the namesake giant Saguaro cacti that tower over the trail. I took my time enjoying the scenery and desert landscape, but also because my pack was so dang heavy with all the water and the trail was a gentle incline getting steeper by the mile.

I chatted with a few friendly hikers along the way and it’s always fun to see their reactions when they see a woman with a backpack alone on a trail. Some people are impressed and commend me for my bravery and independence. Others like to try and discourage me, criticizing my decision to hike alone and warning me to be safe. I learned that these comments are just projections of how people feel about themselves and what they are comfortable with. This is part of the reason why you can’t always trust what people say on the trail when asking about conditions ahead because it’s subjective and everyone has a different experience. What is hard for one person may be a breeze for another. Distance can also be subjective when you are basing it on perception, what feels like a mile to one person may feel like several to another. So, when asking about the trail ahead I usually try to get insight from multiple people and compare especially when getting info from day-hikers.

I did come across a hiker heading back from the direction of Douglas Spring Camp and asked if he checked out the water source. He said yes, there are a couple of puddles like the ranger said, but he wouldn’t recommend drinking from them. Now I could have just taken his word, but I wanted to check it out for myself. He also let me know that there were 2 guys ahead of me already at camp. This was good news to me because I was curious what other people are doing for water out here.

I made it to camp and popped into my neighbors site to inquire about their water plan, but they didn’t seem to want to talk. The vibe was telling me not to press them with my questions, so I left them alone and set out to look for water.

I wandered down the dry riverbed about a quarter mile and found the pools everyone was talking about. They were shallow puddles filled with swimming bugs and decaying leaves and other things. Out of the 6 liters I packed, I had only drunk 1.5 so I still had 4.5 liters for the rest of the trip. Now, if I were in a truly dire situation, I would filter this water, but I was only planning to be out here for a night or two and I had enough water to last me another day, so I decided not to filter from the puddle, to ration the water I had left. Knowing that I only have the water I packed, I wasn’t sure if I should press on with my trip or turn back the following day and I decided I would sleep on it and make my decision in the morning.

I made a backpacking meal as the sun set and by 5:30pm it was dark. I crawled into my sleeping bag and realized I had left my headlamp in the side pocket of my car door. But my new Suunto watch has a flashlight feature so I read my book by the light of my watch until I fell asleep. Im currently reading The Alchemist, which has been on my list for a very long time and I’m happy to finally be getting around to reading it.

At some point in the middle of the night, a critter ran full speed into the tent wall right above my head, and rebounded into a bush which jolted me awake.

I woke up early and weighed out my options for the day as the sun began to rise:

Option 1: Turn back and hike 7.5 miles downhill to get back to my car

Option 2: Hike 7.5 miles to Tanque Verde Peak and down to Juniper Basin Camp

Option 3: Hike 16 miles over the peak, past Juniper Basin, and to visitor center.

I didn’t think 4.5 liters was enough water for another night on trail, and I really didn’t want to just turn back so I went with option 3 and decided to continue on and hike the 16ish miles to the visitor center and see if a ranger could drive me the remaining 8 miles to the trailhead.

Luckily the weather report showed it would be in the 60s and overcast all day so I wouldn’t have to deal with the heat or sun. The trail after leaving Douglas Spring was pretty overgrown with very thorny bushes and I was in shorts so my legs got pretty cut up.

I made it to TV Peak (elevation 7,049ft) before noon and stopped for a lunch break. I saw signs of mountain lions which made me a little nervous but I know if they were hanging around, they would see me way before I notice them.

I trekked on past the peak and soon came to Juniper Basin and decided to check out the campsites even though I knew I wasn’t going to stay there. There are 3 sites and I had reserved site 3, as I passed sites 1 and 2 I noticed there were boxes filled with water at both sites. Upon further inspection I saw that they each had a date (some of them dating back to June) and “NPS” written on them. I sat in my campsite and did some thinking. I wondered if someone had cached this water here for their group, or if NPS dropped it off in case of emergency for hikers passing through, but I though it was weird that they were only in the first 2 sites, and not site 3 which I had reserved for that night.

It was just past noon and I had 8.5 miles (mostly downhill) and 5 hours of daylight left which I figured was plenty of time to get to the visitor center/ranger station before dark. So I hit the trail once again and followed the ridge until I came to a road that would lead me to the visitor center.

By the time I made it to the visitor center I was exhausted. My feet were in pain with 2 giant blisters on my heels (that’s what I get for not wearing my Altras!), my legs were scratched up, and I guzzled water from their water fountain. I had made it 15 minutes before they closed and was feeling super lucky. Or so I thought.

I walked up to the rangers at the counter and they were all amazed to see me with my pack on and I explained that I had just hiked 15 miles and am finishing up my trip. The two rangers at the desk even called their friends in the back office to come up to see me. Tbh I found this to be kinda strange… had they never seen a backpacker before? And even weirder, when I asked them for a ride to the trailhead where my car was, they told me they cannot help me and told me to call an Uber or taxi. What a bummer! I was actually shocked that they turned me down after their enthusiasm for seeing a backpacker and the fact that they were closing in 15 minutes, but whatever!

Before I called an Uber, I offered to give them an updated water report since the ranger I checked in with before my trip told me that the last update was from over 2 weeks ago. Well, when the ranger pulled out the water report log, she informed me that the last report was actually from 3 days ago, the day before I started my hike…. Which means the ranger I spoke to before starting my trip gave me false/outdated information which can be SUPER dangerous for people setting out into the backcountry.

I also asked about the water cache I saw at Juniper Basin and asked who it was there for. They told me it must be for the rangers who go out there to do trail maintenance but they weren’t sure. If I had known that water was there when I started my trip I would have done things a little differently.

Disappointed and annoyed with the rangers and their lack of information and unwillingness to give me a ride, I left the building and sat on the curb until my Uber arrived. I had always held Park Rangers in the highest regard and even trust them with my life, but after this experience I’d be lying if said my trust in them hasn’t been somewhat tainted.

When I made it back to my car, I headed straight into town for some Pad Thai and a cold drink before making my way back to the Painted Rock Campground where I spent my first night of the trip.

Overall I enjoyed my time in Saguaro National Park, the trail was beautiful and despite the water situation, overgrown trail, and misinformed Rangers, it was a good learning experience. After all, it wouldn’t be a true adventure if everything had gone perfectly to plan. And besides, I made it out with only a few scratches and blisters so I’d say it was a success!

Thanks for following along on my journey! Until the next one!

Happy trails!

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