Mount Lemmon Meadow Trail June 9, 2017

                                Forest!!

Summer in Tucson, Arizona, can be oppressive with temperatures over 100 degrees most days. To escape the heat the immediate destination for residents is Mount Lemmon where temperatures can be 30 degrees cooler. The downside is that once a driver is on the Catalina Highway it is 27 miles to the top. Today my wife and I are taking the kids to hike the Meadow Trail which is just over a two mile round trip we are also taking a detour to see the Mount Lemmon fire lookout which is still in use by the Forest Service. Most of the trail is shaded Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine making for a pleasant hike. The one change I would make is to hike the Mount Lemmon Trail first because it is uphill and gets hot later in the afternoon. If you stop at the dirt parking lot above the Mount Lemmon Ski Valley visitors do not have to fight for a spot at the main trailhead a little ways up the mountain.

                                 Meadows and towering trees

                          A nice cool forest to spend an afternoon

  Looking towards Summerhaven; much of the forest on Mount Lemmon is recovering from the Aspen and Bullock Fires.

                               Q at the lookout

                             At the lookout looking toward the Wilderness of Rock

                                    Hiking back to the trailhead