Mt Lemon

 Catalina Highway

Before starting our drive up the Catalina Highway up Mt Lemmon, we downloaded the University of Arizona's Mount Lemmon Science Tour app.

The free hour long audio tour app produced by the University of Arizona College of Science, is available to accompany the drive up the Santa Catalina Mountains Highway near Tucson. From the Sonoran Desert at the bottom to the pine forest at the top of Mount Lemmon, covers 6,000 vertical feet. In climate terms, it is like driving from Mexico to Canada in an hour.

The objective of the Science Tour is to teach the science of southern Arizona. The Santa Catalina Mountains are just one of several Sky Island mountain ranges that make southern Arizona an environment unlike any other. Sky Islands are isolated mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico, connecting two very different mountainous regions with more biodiversity in southern Arizona than anywhere else in the United States in only a few miles.

The drive from the bottom to the top, at the speed limit, takes one hour.  

Approximately 18 miles up Catalina Highway, we found ourselves at Windy Vista Viewpoint.

We are definitely getting restless to be back on the road or volunteering now that the trailer has been repaired. We have a few dental appointments for our tune ups before heading out in February.

Living in an RV resort is ok for a while. We had been offered the opportunity to camp host at Kartchner Caverns State Park or Picacho Peak State Park but had to pass until our teeth and trailer were tuned up.

 

I get lonely for friends and family at times and know things will change soon. But I never feel lonely while hiking or riding my bike. We talk a lot  while hiking for a while and other then walk for a mile or more without saying a word. Last week the 13 miles of hiking and 50 miles of bike rides over  left my left foot hurting. Ice, rest and massage did wonders. Actually, I think my foot hurt from running around in my flip flops. Back to sensible shoes.

The Arizona National Scenic Trail is a complete non-motorized path, stretching 800 diverse miles across Arizona from Mexico to Utah.

At the end of the highway, Skiing and snowboarding Mt Lemmon typically runs from December through February depending on snow conditions and accumulation. Ski Valley atop of Mt Lemmon boasts the title of Southern most ski resort in the continental United States and has over 20 runs including 8 that are Black Diamond. 

We didn't bring our skis with us since snowfalls is marginal at best. But we hope to get some skiing in once we head back to Utah soon.

Changing leaves along the Sunset trail.

I had previously mentioned that Canadians have been blocked from driving across the border leaving many resorts in the US's southern states with lots of vacancies. Snowbirds make a 2.4 billion dollar impact on Arizona's economy. They make an even larger impact on Florida when 500,000 flock south to the sounds of 6 billion dollars. Some Canadian friends have flown to Arizona for the winter. A few have hired towing companies to haul their RVs across the border. Commercial traffic is still allowed. They then fly to the US and retrieve their RVs for the winter travels