Foghiking

Onward!

July 27, 2008: 18mm, f/11, 1/60 sec, ISO100

I hiked on Mt. Lemmon this weekend and I was aiming for Butterfly Trail. However, this has been a wet summer and there is a lot of new growth, so the trail was very difficult (um, impossible?) to follow. This seems to be a problem with a lot of the trails on Mt. Lemmon, so if anyone has a suggestion for a good Mt. Lemmon trail that's easy to follow, let me know. Anyway, I ended up just following a small creek to the top of a hill where I came upon a dirt road that I knew was supposed to intersect with Butterfly Trail. I followed the road until I got back to the trail and then ended up following the trail right back to the same road and losing the trail again. I followed the road back to Catalina highway and walked two miles of paved road back to my car. The hike was still somewhat enjoyable, however, since the mountain was covered in clouds, giving the hike some good atmosphere (literally, I guess). The picture below was taken where the trail might have been. It shows how well the forest is recovering from a recent fire that hit the area.

Lost

July 27, 2008: 18mm, f/11, 1/20 sec, ISO100

I also took a picture from Windy Vista, which is a parking pullout on the drive up the mountain. It shows some of the clouds blowing by. This is also the location where I took the picture used for the title at the top of the page. The drive up Mt. Lemmon is a lot of fun because there is a lot of variety in a small span. As you rise in elevation, the plantlife and rock formations change every 1000 feet or so. During the first part of the drive there are saguaro cacti everywhere you look, but then a little up the road they are nowhere to be seen. Maybe in a future post I'll document the drive to the top.

Windy Vista

July 27, 2008: 18mm, f/11, 1/160 sec, ISO100