Friday, January 16, 2015

BEAUTIFUL DRIVE UP THE HIGHEST PEAK IN TUCSON

Thursday, January 15 - We took a beautiful ride this morning up Mount Lemmon, an elevation of 9159 feet. It is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains. It is located in the Coronado National Forest, north of Tucson, Arizona.

Mt. Lemmon

The drive up the mountain is over 25 miles, and of course it is pretty slow going. But we weren't the slowest guys on the road. The highway was loaded with bike riders. Now that would be a workout! It was a little threatening watching them fly down the mountain. They flew right by us, and we were driving the truck.

Mt. Lemmon

There are many safe places to pull off  and enjoy the view or take pictures.

There’s the road we traveled from the campground. Mt. Lemmon

Mt. Lemmon

Mt. Lemmon

There are several trail-heads at many of these pull-outs where you can park and enjoy a hike in the mountains. We considered this but it was very windy today, so we'll think about it another day. There is a campground about half way up the mountain with a 25' suggested limit on trailer length, and it is dry camping. There was a camp host there to collect the fees and keep the peace. Now that would be a secluded work-camping position!

There are many interesting rock formations and noticeable changes in temperature and geography as we drove higher.

Mt. Lemmon

Mt. Lemmon

We didn’t drive the entire highway to the top. At 5,000 ft., we decided to turn around and head back. The wind was blowing at about 30-35 mph, and it was only 42 degrees. It was a lovely drive, and we would like to drive the entire way on a little better weather day.

Mt. Lemmon

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!