mount lemmon Archives - Keeping With The Times

Welcome to Part II of my Catalina Highway, Mount Lemmon Trip Review!

If you like, you can read part I here.

As we headed further up the Catalina Highway, we started to feel hopeful as small pockets of yellow started to peek through the pines.

These are just teasers!
And then, goodness me … yes! How amazing are these carved tree trunks! At first I was dismayed at the damage, but then I began to think otherwise, what do you think? Check out the beautiful sunlight, peeking through brilliant yellows leaves against an impossibly blue sky. Sigh.I was thrilled to see oak … I don’t have access to many of these beauties.

and then …stunning maples … . I may have gasped. At the top …It’s so beautiful!

I know, it was a serious photo dump ;) but I hope you’ve enjoyed it!

If you’re thinking of taking this trip, this may be a good place to do a bit of research: Sky Island Parkway .

Thank you for stopping by and have an awesome day!

Day 14 #nablopomo

Today I have a review of our trip to the top of Mount Lemmon via the Catalina Highway. Armed with plenty of water, a homemade lunch, and snacks, we set out on our adventure.

The Catalina Highway, officially the General Hitchcock Highway, is the popular name for a Forest Highway and scenic route located in Pima County in southern Arizona (Wikipedia).

When we first arrived in Arizona it was early November and I wasn’t ready to let go of autumn. After a little research and much debate, we decided to make a trip to Mount Lemmon (near Tucson) rather than Oak Creek (near Sedona) to search for colour.

We weren’t sure we’d find autumn, but we’d never been to Mount Lemmon, so we decided to take the chance. It was quite a hike from our place in Fountain Hills at 172.1 miles (3 hours 28 minutes), and after a while I was feeling a little sheepish, thinking I had sent us on a wild goose chase. But not to worry. It was spectacular! The whole drive was spectacular … we love the Arizona landscape, so really, we would have enjoyed the trip whether we found autumn or not.

As we neared our destination and arrived at the park we found the Cactus Forest which “is a census-designated place in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. The population was 594 at the 2010 census (Wikipedia).”

Like I say, spectacular!
When we stopped for lunch at wonderful picnic area, I was already seeing colour … not really, but … maybe? The air was fresh, scented lightly by pines, and if you weren’t in the sun, it did get quite cool. I love that …

I have finally, after years and years of travel, started taking photos of the signs on the highway … oh my … am I the last person in the world to do this?