Mt. Lemmon is the highpoint of the Santa Catalina Range north of Tucson. Although it rises nearly 7,000 feet above the desert valleys, the Catalina Highway winds nearly 27 miles up and into the range, ending at the Mt. Lemmon Ski Area just short of the summit. A non-county maintained road goes another couple of miles to a parking area and gate just below the very top, which is where the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory is located. The summit is full of buildings and has obviously been graded over the years; nevertheless, finding the "top" is still easy, assuming the gates into the complex are open. There are literally dozens of possible routes to attain Mt. Lemmon's summit. I have been to the top three times: in 1997, again with my wife in 2004, and by myself in 2010.

First Visit, July 1997: The plan for today was to hike out to Rice Peak and then to seek out the Pinal County highpoint liner on Rice Peak's northern slope. I chose to start this hike from the Catalina Highway, with the intent of bagging Mt. Lemmon later in the day after I had (presumably) successfully found the Pinal liner. I followed the Catalina Highway up into the range and turned off onto the Oracle Control Road just before the main highway splits (with one road going into Summerhaven and the other up to the ski area). Oracle Control Road is a four-wheel drive back road that eventually works its way down the range and into the community of Oracle, 29 miles later. It's rarely driven except in emergency situations or by the occasional four-wheeler out for some fun. In my case, I just needed to drive it about 200 feet to a wide parking area, where a trailhead to the Arizona Trail/Oracle Ridge begins. According to a sign, Rice Peak was 6 miles away.

I started down and did fine, coming to Dan Saddle after about an hour. I then followed some fainter trails, finally coming around a bend and seeing Rice Peak still a couple miles away. However, all was not well as I was low on water and it was a lot hotter than I had figured. Then, I took a pretty bad spill. Figuring luck was not on my side I decided to hike back out. The water situation was critical and I ran out still a couple miles short of my car. And, it was all up-hill. I finally egressed in a near stupor and as thirsty as I have ever been in my life. I had some water in my car: nice and hot from sitting in the sun. I swigged some, then drove into Summerhaven and rehydrated (and recovered) at a cafe in town. That was too close a call. Ever since then I have always carried way more water than I think I'll need. Lesson learned, you bet!

Afterwards I still had some time on my hands so I drove up to the ski area and bought a ticket up the ski lift. From there I walked about a half-mile on service roads up to the observatory complex. The gates were open and I walked in; a worker gave me permission. I walked up a road to the highest areas, and sought out the highpoint amid the low-cut grass and rocks near all the buildings. A woman came out of one building and asked what I was up to and she didn't seem to mind. After all that I went back to the ski lift, got back down to my car and was on my way.

Second visit, August 2004: Beth and I decided pretty much at the last moment to take advantage of a brief spell of good weather to head down to Tucson and make a go at the highpoint. We actually were here in early April, too, but a storm had come through and dropped a lot of snow. The drive up to the ski area was nice, but the snow had closed all routes to the summit. This time, the ugly humid weather that usually sits over Arizona in August had been pushed out for a few days by a high-pressure cell, and it was actually really nice for a few days - hot, but dry and clear, with no afternoon storms to bother us. So, with a weekend free, we just went for it. We left Chandler at about 7:30 a.m. and made the easy drive to Tucson, arriving about 9 a.m. We got supplies, gassed up, then worked our way east via Grant Avenue to Tanque Verde Road to the Catalina Highway.

The drive up is quite scenic. The first few miles features thick saguaro cactus with ocotillo, palo verde and mesquite brush. Then the desert brush gives way to grasses and juniper. We paid our $5 fee at the kiosk, then came to where the road is under construction. A flood in about 1999 or 2000 wiped out whole sections of the Catalina Highway, stranding people up high and forcing them to descend via the Oracle Control Road. The construction delayed us some, and we arrived in Summerhaven around 11 a.m. to start our hike, intending to hike up the Marshall Gulch Trail.

The whole upper summit areas of Mt. Lemmon have been ravaged by two massive fires in the last two years: the Bullock Fire of 2002 and the Aspen Fire of 2003. The Aspen Fire completely burned through the town of Summerhaven, and got to within literally feet of both the ski area and the observatory. Most of the trails have been closed since 2003 and were only reopened in late July, 2004. The Marshall Gulch Trail is a popular route to the top. At just over 6 miles round trip and about 1,700 feet of gain, it offers a good half-day hiking option for those (like me) who don't have the time for the 19-mile, 7,000-foot route from the bottom, or the interest in driving the road to near the very top. However, today the Marshall Gulch route was closed due to a search for a missing hiker (found alive after 6 days... very fortunate). We tried a couple other possible trails that come out of Summerhaven but they were closed. The whole town is being rebuilt. As of our visit the general store had re-opened and a few homes were near completion. Many others were in the early-mid stages of completion. However, many areas were still as they were at the end of the fire: utter devastation, just the foundations left. Very sad. We decided to drive to the ski area and go up from there.

We found a trail on the south side of the road, near the junction of a guardrail and the wood-post fence of the ski complex itself. This trailhead was not signed but I saw a couple hiking on it and they said it goes to the top. Beth and I started in on it a bit after 11 a.m. The trail descends about 60 feet to a drainage then ascends moderately via many switchbacks. It's steep in places, flat in others. Shortly it reaches the top of the ridge and the top of the ski-lift. Up to here the forest seemed to have been spared the worst of the fires, but once we surmounted the ridge the effects of the fires were very apparent. From here we followed the same set of back service roads I used in 1997 to the top. Again, the gates to the observatory were open, so we just walked in and walked the top area. No one was around and no one seemed to mind. The hike up covered about 2 miles and took us just under an hour.

We descended via the road, just to see what it looked like. We took a break for snacks along the way. The descent took maybe an hour - the whole round trip took us just over two hours. The weather was spectacular, and there were many hikers everywhere. We drove down the highway and got lunch at a Garcia's near the interstate, then drove home.

Third visit, June 2010:I came back to the Santa Catalina Mountains after a five-year absence, with designs of hiking to the summit via the Marshall Gulch route. The last time we were here the Aspen Fire had obliterated much of the upper slopes and most trails were closed for rehabilitation.

I left Scottsdale Saturday afternoon and arrived in Tucson around 4 p.m., got some supplies and drove up the scenic Catalina Highway. In about an hour of leisurely driving, I rolled into the Mount Bigelow area, which is about four air-miles east of Lemmon. Bigelow is a sub-peak in the range, with a road to the summit, on which sit numerous communications towers. There are free ad-hoc camping spaces along this road, but given it was close to 5, most were already taken. I lucked out and took one of the last remaining spots. I had nearly unobstructed views of Tucson below me, and of the Rincon Mountains to the east.

The night was cold but very pleasant. The other campers were boisterous; the gang below me seemed to consist of a few families and their kids. They devised a fun game that consisted of banging something against something wooden, making a loud percussive sound followed by hearty yells of “whoa” and “hey” and “neat”, both child and adult. Whatever game it was, they played it till almost 10 p.m. I curled up into my truck’s bed and was able to zone them out for the most part. I slept well under my down comforter.

I was up early the next morning, and drove on to the Marshall Gulch trailhead. I got my stuff all set and started hiking just before 7 a.m., the second car in the parking lot. I followed the Marshall Gulch trail up Marshall Gulch and its running stream. The fire damage wasn’t too bad here, but about a half-mile in, the damage was more evident. In 1.2 miles the trail surmounted Marshall Pass and the junction with the Aspen Trail. From here to the top the trail went through the burn area. Nothing but dead tree trunks the whole way up, but there was much undergrowth sprouting, The hiking itself was straightforward. The trail gets steep in places and the dirt still has a lot of fine ash in it. The trail gains onto Radio Ridge, then pushes to the top, where the first of many communications towers sit. This stretch was another 1.3 miles.

The remainder of the hike to the summit was along service roads. The observatory was closed so I went around the perimeter of the fence to the north end. I had never visited the north end of the summit area before, and suspected I might have missed a rock pile that might be the highest point. When I got there, there was a cairn but the highpoint itself was about 50 feet inside the observatory area, maybe 2 feet higher than the cairn. This part wasn’t that interesting, but at least I could say I was there.

I hiked back out and took a side trip to the Mount Lemmon Lookout, situated on a rock promontory south of the summit area, with phenomenal views to the west, south and east. Dave was the lookout man and we had a good chat. He filled me in on the details of the Aspen Fire from 2003 and told all sorts of interesting stories. His dog Gus was helping him out. We talked maybe 20 minutes. A real decent guy.

I retraced my route back to my truck at Marshall Gulch, amused to now see about 40 vehicles and maybe 100 people all over the place, hiking, picnicking and having a merry old time. I was even more amused to see a message written in the dust of my truck’s shell from my Tucson pal, Scott Casterlin. What a small freaking world sometimes. Then, a few minutes later he rolls up in his car. He’d been hiking up here with his friend Katie. The three of us went into Summerhaven and got some snacks at the General Store, killing about an hour of time. After saying our goodbyes, I made the long boring drive home, stopping for a meal at the Cracker Barrel in Casa Grande, which seems to be habit for me now, given I’ve stopped here now about half a dozen times after hikes. The waitress was real cute. I was home by 4 p.m.