Mt. Lemmon--Oh yeah!

Brian and me climbing up Mt. Lemmon

Mt. Lemmon and cookies. Yes, climbing Mt. Lemmon used to be about getting the pie, but the little pie place has been replaced with the Cookie Cabin.

Kathy Rakel, who has been staying with us for the past week, has been in Tucson for the year while attending grad school at the University of Arizona. She's never ridden to the top of Mt. Lemmon. She and I rode up to about mile 16 last year, but turned around because there were ice patches on the road. Not today, the weather was supposed to be beautiful as always in June.

I got a head start on Kathy and Brian, who decided to ride from home. I drove to about a mile from the base and started there because knew since I'm haven't gotten my fitness back totally from being injured, that I'd need a head start. Although I started the climb at 6:15, it was already hot to be climbing. Oh well, in an hour, the temperature would be perfect since I'd be at 5,000 feet elevation.

Brian and Kathy caught up at mile post 7. We then took turns taking pics and being goofy. Once past milepost 16, we went into the trees and it was actually a little chilly! We continued to climb and finally got to the downhill at about mile 20. It was one of the fastest descents I've ever done, and definitely some of the fastest cornering. It was very windy and we had a tailwind going down--fun, but a little scary, and if you know how I ride, I rarely get scared on downhills---mountain or road. We all survived and finally got to the ski hill turn-off. The road got steep for a couple of miles, but the pavement was still great. Once we had climbed to the bottom of the ski hill, we knew we had more work ahead. The glass-like road turned into a pot-hole, patched mess. 1.5 miles of this took us to the very top of Mt. Lemmon---Steward Observatory. We took the usual pics, then headed to Summerhaven where Kathy enjoyed her hard labor with a cookie from the Cookie Cabin.

Ahhh...something about beginning your ride in Saguaros and Prickly Pear at 1500 feet and ending in Pine trees at 9000 feet. What a great ride!!

The above pic is of Brian and Kathy about a mile past Windy Point.