Awesome Views - Tucson

The awesome views came this morning on a trip up to Mt Lemmon.  We got lonesome for snow and Vi had seen an advertisement for skiing up at Mt Lemmon, just northeast of Tucson.  So this morning after breakfast, we headed out to find Mt Lemmon.  We started up a road which was reminiscent of the Virginia City highway. 

Even though it was only twenty-five miles to the peak, it was a twisting and turning road - I swear I saw my own tail lights a couple of times :-).  There were various vista turn-outs along the way and each view was more stupendous than the last.  There was only which looked out over the entire city of Tucson - beautiful.  Others were notable for their rock formations.  I'll send pictures on my One Drive later this evening. 

Almost at the top there was USFS (United States Forest Service) Visitor Center.  There was a lone USFS Ranger on duty.  She said she lived there alone throughout the year, but didn't get lonesome because there were always plenty of visitors.  Reminded me of when we visited a fire-lookout station in the Sierra Nevada several years ago.  Beautiful views, but very lonesome.  At the top of the mountain, there was a small ski area.  Not very long lines - as a matter of fact, we didn't see anyone go up the lift the entire time we were there.  There's a small town, Sommrhaven, at the top which seemed to be mostly ski homes.  Not exactly Vail or Heavenly, but kind of neat in a small town way.  Couldn't have been more than 100 homes up there.

On the way up we passed many cyclists - those people had to be in great shape.  The Ranger said many of the Canadian teams came down during the winter to practice because they couldn't cycle at home.  A lot easier (and faster) on the way down - they really zoomed down the mountain road.  Top altitude was about 8100 feet.  There was a back road down called the Control Road, but they said it was a rough, primitive road about twenty-five miles down to a town called Oracle.  If Peter had been with me, it might have been a question of whether we attempted it.  However, luck was with us because it was closed because of snow and landslides. 

Looks like we're leaving tomorrow.  Can you believe they are heartless enough to kick us out on my birthday?  There's just no empathy these days.  We're heading over I-80 through the Mojave to El Centro.  If we like it there, we'll stay for a couple of days.  Otherwise, we'll head back up toward Reno along the backside of the Sierra.

We'll keep you posted.  Stay in touch.