Tour of Mount Lemmon- Tucson, Arizona

- March 12, 2013

(View of the Catalina Mountains looking north from standing on "A" Mountain on the west side of Tucson. 2009)

Or rather, I should title this, tour of the Santa Catalina Mountains, with mention of the highest point, Mt. Lemmon, because when living in Arizona, the locals say they "took a trip up Mt. Lemmon" or are "going up Mount Lemmon today", meaning the entire mountain. Tucson is surrounded on most sides, not only by Saguaro National Park, but also by four mountain ranges. The Rincon Mountains are to the East, Tucson Mountains on the West, Santa Rita Mountains are further to the South, and towering over Tucson to the North are the "Catalina Mountains" as they are always called. Even after five years of living in Tucson, I actually didn't even know the name of the mountain range was preceded by the word "Santa" until just now.

The mountains in Tucson are a daily sigh for sore eyes. Because the desert land in between is flat and the trees are not tall, the mountains offer a pleasant reason to look up once in a while to be reminded that there is more to the land than dirt and spiny cacti. That sounds harsh, but in the summer when it is 110 degrees and the sun is bearing down, it is hard to have energy to look for beautiful things. The Catalinas are a favorite destination in all seasons. During the summer, the higher elevation offers a cooler reprieve from the intense heat of the city. Many people take trips up the mountain to possibly splash in a stream, take a pleasant hike, or to visit the town called Summerhaven which is at the uppermost point of the range. There you can find delicious fudge or cookies, restaurants and a general store.

In the winter, the Tucsonans journey up the mountain for skiing, sledding, or snowball fights when it snows. When I was an ESL teacher at an elementary school, most of the children had never seen snow unless their family took a trip up Catalina Highway during the winter. One student told me that his dad drove up the mountain in his pickup truck after a winter storm, filled up the truck with snow, and then brought it back down to his house on the south side so his wife and children could make snowmen in their yard.

The drive up the mountain is winding and a bit nerve wracking for people such as myself who had never even seen a mountain in real life before moving to Tucson. It is beautiful though, and fascinating to watch the landscape and vegetation change as you drive higher up Catalina Highway. There are lookout point along the way or parking lots which allow access to hiking trails. Often you'll see people rock climbing or crazy bicyclists pumping slowly up the mountain or racing pell-mell DOWN the mountain! (The 9,157ft tall mountain, I might add!)

While living in Tucson, I went "up Mount Lemmon" for church retreats, romps in the snow or streams, day trips with my family and sight seeing excursions with our out of town visitors. I went up a few times with a small group of church friends for quiet prayer times alone along the trails or just to get out of the pervasive summer heat for a change. It is definitely a "must-see" if you visit Tucson and if you live there, you will be thankful to have the Catalina mountains at your doorstep.