February 2007.............
Tucson: Coronado Natl. Forest - Sabino Canyon - The canyon is closed to vehicle traffic, you can hike the trails, or go by tram. The tram tours are about 45 minutes, and can only take you to stop 4 before it must turn around. It originally went to stop 9, however the floods of 2006 washed away parts of the road. One can now hike the rest of the way (or all the way if you prefer). There are several water crossings and lots of signs warning about Mountain Lions. At one time some were showing aggressive behavior toward humans, but they didn't say how long ago. From the number of people hiking, it didn't appear to have been recent. The main trail is blacktop, and easy walking. There are several other trails, more primitive. One is closed because the mountain in that area is unstable since the flood. We weren't dressed to hike, but would like to go back, the area is beautiful. Golden Age passport gets you into the park, however there is a charge to ride the tram.
February 2007..........
Tucson: Coronado National Forest: The forest comprises 1,780,000 acres of SE Arizona and SW New Mexico. Elevations range from 3,000 to 10,700 ft., it is a widely scattered mountain range called "Sky Island". We went from Tucson up the Catalina highway to Mt. Lemmon, part of the Santa Catalina Mountains, where pine covered mountains rise above the desert floor. There are giant Saquaro cactus in the lowland deserts, pine, fir and spruce at the highest elevations. The road to the summit (9,000 ft.) of Mt Lemmon is 27.6 miles long and called the Sky Island Scenic Byway. Along the road are many hiking trails, camping areas, and beautiful views. At the top is a ski area called Ski Valley. At 8,600 ft. is a village, Summerhaven, with 100 year round residents, and a much larger population in the summer. In 2003 over 200 homes were destroyed in a wildfire that burned over 84,000 acres. Tucson organized a "Lemmon Aid" to help rebuild Summerhaven. Total damage to Utilities, streets and sewers was over 4.1 million and it cost over 17 million to fight the fire. The forest service is now spending 2.7 million to prevent soil loss. They are still working on rebuilding the town, and when we were there we couldn't even count the number of houses under construction. When you figure it's been over three years since the fire you realize just how long it takes to rebuild a town. They were doing controlled burns in the mountains as we went through, that makes so much sense, hopefully to help prevent more forest fires.
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