Archive for the ‘Mt. Lemon’ Category

I do miss snow. I’ve been a desert rat for 16 years now, and I miss the snowfalls, where you could just watch the silent snow falling to the ground, covering everything with such a pure white blanket. ‘Course, I like it even better when I don’t have to drive in it.

We  had our share of snow on the mountain this winter, even down to the 3000 foot level. We would wake up and look out at the mountain, to see a snow line across the face of the mountains, almost as though drawn by a ruler. Quite spectacular. But Sunday was up close and personal! I threw a few snowballs, laughed at the bikers in their shorts, sitting among the snow drifts, and ooh-ed at all the waterfalls created by the snow melt. Rocks glistened everywhere, and there were unexpected sounds of water running all over the mountain.

There are quite a ew spectacular views as you head from the valley floor up to the top of Mt. Lemon. At one point you can look back to Tucson in the distance, with Thimble Rock almost in front of you. This is the “back side” of Thimble Rock, and you can see the “front” side when you take the tram into Sabino Canyon, almost on the desert floor. Sabino Creek will have water running for the next few weeks, which will make for a wonderful spring.

The stone formations, while not as spectacular as Zion or Bryce, nevertheless are quite striking in their own right. You can see how the wind and water have etched wonderful monuments, that from some angles look as though they were going to topple at any moment. I love the hint of blue sky showing in the lower crevice.

Everywhere you look at amazing rocks, which is one reason why Mt. Lemon is a mecca for rock climbers.

And sometimes you just climb the mountain to be alone. If you enlarge this next photo, look for the man and his dog out all alone on the rocks.

And finally, the pure joy of snow! Somehow the t-shirt from the Festival of Books seems appropriate!

Mt. Lemon is an 8,000-foot high Sky Island right in the middle of the desert here in Tucson. It’s a 45-minute drive to the top, where there has been a LOT of snow – for Tucson, that is! There is a pull-off called the Seven Cataracts, which in 16 yeas of living here has never been running with water. Until this weekend – 70 degrees at the bottom, snow at the top and 60 degrees, and all seven waterfalls flowing. It was really beautiful, and unfortunately the camera setting was blurry and I couldn’t get all seven falls. But it was great just standing there for almost 20 minutes, watching the flowing water, and enjoying the lovely weather. There were hints of snow left on the ground, and we decided to go a little further up the mountain. Bike riders in their bike shorts, surrounded by snow. Shirt-sleeved children throwing snowballs. A great time! I did a bit of hiking to one of the look-outs and found an interesting camera angle. The colors were even brighter than the picture, with a marvelous blue sky.

I tried a posterize filter on the pic and like the results. Seems to have a little more depth. I’ll post more as the week progresses. Life is incredibly hectic at school right now, with grades due on Friday. There’s not much time for art to feed the soul, and I am really missing it.