To Mt. Lemmon On Mother’s Day

It was the first Mother’s Day in 19 years that World Traveler wasn’t with her mom for Mother’s Day.   It was a different kind of day for us for sure.   The occasion is usually marked with a wonderful homemade card;   this year was no exception.   The card arrived a few days before and wasn’t opened until the two were united on the phone.

This is World Travelers first year of college as a Golden Gopher.   Finals are this week and much study has been taking place in preparation.

For the two of us it was going to be another 100 degree day in Tucson.   Barbara also knew that unless we got out of the house it would be a day marked by how many hours we each spent in the office working.   NOT AN OPTION I was informed a few days before, and I agreed it would be the result if we stayed “In house”.

Another Photo Walk/Drive Day

It had been two weeks since we took our last photo-walk/drive.   Madera Canyon had provided a bit of cool weather while we walked the Nature Trial and then took a back route from the canyon over to state route 83.   Along the way a buck and doe make their photo opp debut along with some windmills becoming a favorite photo subject for Barbara’s lens.

For this day, the thought of spending 3 hours driving in one direction for a cooler climate to take pictures wasn’t appealing to either of us.

“How about we pack some sandwiches and head up the back way to Mt. Lemmon?”   It was a route we had passed on about a month ago instead taking the road to San Manuel and on to Reddington which twisted and turned it’s way back into Tucson through Reddington Pass.

The trip was set.   Off to McDonald’s for Mother’s Day breakfast.   (It wasn’t crowded)   Gas for the Tracker, clean windshields, camera batteries charged, memory cards cleared, sandwiches packed in the cooler along with plenty of water.   Off we went to Oracle up route 77.

Once in Oracle we saw the progression of seasons since we were there a couple of months ago to photograph the sites and Iris in bloom there.   As we turned onto the road to Mt Lemmon it was time to turn off the AC and crank down the windows.   At first a little warm it didn’t take long to acclimatize and know it was about 10 degrees cooler already.

Twenty Six Miles to Mt Lemmon

That’s what the sign said.   How long would it take us to travel that distance.   We were in no hurry.   It was our day to find and shot whatever our eye wanted to capture for the day.   And capture we did.   220 + images for Barbara, 120 + for me.   What a day.   Of course we will only keep a dozen or so from that collection.   Shooting digital means one significant change from the old days; FILM IS CHEAP.

We marked the time at the beginning of the 26 mile trek to be about 10:00 am.   But the time we sat down in Summerhaven for Lunch it would be 3 pm.   It was a fun, fun journey.

Space doesn’t permit to document all the time spent on the road or all that we saw.   Many miles were traveled slowly with frequent stops along the way to hop out and take a few snaps, or pulling over to let some who were more interested in getting to the destination than enjoying the journey go around.

The road is closed from December to March 15 each year.   It is one lane in many places and frequent pullouts are there for making room so vehicles could pass.   The road isn’t recommended for cars.   There are places where you could take out an oil pan or worse on a low riding vehicle.   It also is not a good road for a BIG SUV.   It really does narrow in a lot of places and getting a big vehicle up and down while making room for oncoming traffic could end up in a lot of backing up to find a wide spot.   Backing up on a road with not berm or guard rails can be . . .

Home again and a quick look at the images captured for the day before a quiet evening meal of sliced red bell peppers, cheese and crackers.   It was a good day.