Featured Rideout First Ride Up Mt. Lemmon Since January + First Time Up Since The Bighorn Fire

This past Sunday a small group of us rode to breakfast then up Mt. Lemmon. It was my first ride up Mt. Lemmon since my January bicycle crash. I had driven my Mustang up Lemmon last spring before the Bighorn Fire devastated 120,000 acres of the mountain in June but hadn't been back up since then. Honestly, I was not that eager to see the fire damage on our beloved mountain. But we decided to take a ride to the top to see how things looked.



First things first. We decided to eat first then ride so we sat on the lovely outdoor patio at Poco & Mom's, a great place for New Mexico Mexican food which is somewhat different than Mexico Mexican food. Blue corn, lots of green chili, delicious!




This is my breakfast. Three tamales--two were red chili & pork, the other green chili and chicken. The tamales were accompanied by scrambled eggs and calabacitas, a traditional Mexican mixed vegetable dish. Not pictured but (for me) an integral part of any New Mexican meal were blue corn tortillas.


This is the little group that made the trek all the way Ski Valley at the top of Mt. Lemmon. One guy turned around at Milepost 5 because he was tired of the traffic on the road on a Sunday. Mr. Sandi went home after breakfast to be with our boxer, Annie, who we are spending more time with due to her health problems. I love that man. This particular photo was taken at a campground a rest stop area called "Middle Bear" that is part of a larger area known as "Bear Canyon". It's a typical stopping point to layer up with warmer gear as the temperatures reliably start to drop. This is between Mileposts 11 and 12 and the altitude is nearing 7,000 feet.


We arrived at Ski Valley at the top of Mt. Lemmon to find that many other folks had also decided to make the drive or ride up the mountain on this day also. The parking lot in which we usually park was totally full but on the other side of the road there were still spaces left.




In the summer the chairlifts are open on the weekend for people to ride up and down the mountainside. We've rarely seen lines for this but today there were a lot of people taking advantage of this mountaintop activity.


A sign of the COVID times.....



Sandi T. and Speedy enjoying the nice cool temperatures up here.

More pics to follow in my next post.....

 

We always call Tucson "a big small town" because you always run in to people you know whoever you go and people seem to be so interconnected even though the metro area is 1,000,00. I heard someone calling my name and, lo and behold, it was two good friends of our with another friend of theirs! They had just decided to take the convertible for a drive up the mountain. The driver, Alan, sometimes rides with our Sunday group. He had a Tiger 800 but traded it for a BMW 1250GS.


This black beast was parked in the same parking lot just down from our bikes. None of us was sure what it was, though. Do any of you know?? It was definitely eye candy!


This photo was taken last spring when I drove up here. It's not the exact same view as the next photo but shows how green it was. The photo that follows shows the massive fire damage to the hillside just to the north.




On the ride down Mt. Lemmon we usually stop at a lookout known as "Seven Cataracts" which is just above Milepost 9. It's a good spot to take in the views, chat a bit before the ride home, and unlayer the warm clothes we've added for the higher altitudes.





There were quite a few motorcycles on the mountain today. Here's a shot of a group going up as we were heading down.


The temperature reading on Speedy up at Ski Valley indicated 66ºF as we prepared to ride down the mountain. This is what is was when I arrived home. And this is why our beloved Lemmon is so popular in the summer! It felt great to be back riding this awesome route. And I always appreciate how lucky I am that it's a mere 17 miles from my driveway!





Edit: Sorry for the repeat photo on that silver Beemer on this post. I was having technical difficulties there for a bit trying to attach photos at all.

 

Come to think of it, I've not seen a Beemer owner actually waving either, JtC! Rarely do I see a wave response when I pass BMW motorcyclists either lately. A couple of my ride buddies guessed the same as you on that black car. It had a sticker on it with "Gorilla Builds" or something like that.

 

When we were hanging out at the overlook going down the mountain, that black car drove past us. It sounded like a beast, too!

 

Thanks, Bikerman. Wish you could come ride Lemmon with us sometime! You’re always welcome. It would be cool if you could see some of the places that I post pictures of in person!

 

Thanks, Don! I'm always glad to share photos that bring back some fond memories of Tucson for you. That even happens for me when I look back over old photos--and I live here!

Yes, nature will heal itself but I'm afraid that seeing the still nasty scars from the big Mt. Lemmon Summerhaven fire of 2003, I probably won't be around long enough to see Lemmon in it's former glory. That said, each year it will be more and more back to it's former beauty and majesty.

 

Thanks, Wessa!

 

Thanks for sharing the BBC report, Thripster. Yes, the massive fires across the globe are tragic and troubling. Our skies here in Tucson are still hazy and it's hard to believe that it's from the west coast fires which are more than a six hours' drive from us. Views from space show a massive cloud of smoke that stretches from the west coast all through the southwest and well into the Pacific Ocean. I've spoken with friends who have family and friends whose homes have been burned to the ground and others who are in an area that is not imminently threatened but can't even go out of their homes because the air quality is so hazardous. I don't believe in coincidence in really any area of life and no more so with the number and scope of the fires worldwide. And then theres the scope of their impact on the environment.

 

Fun photo of your car and school, Daniel! That Buick Riviera you had reminds me of the boat of a car I drove in college--a green Ford LTD with a black hardtop. I don't have any photos of that my car, though. Maybe that says how I felt about it?! It was a hand-me-down from my parents and the car I drove all through college. I suspect there was method to their madness.