At least the highway is paved. [photo by Lin]

After meeting up in Tucson and driving an hour up Mount Lemmon and dropping two cars off in Marshall Gulch, our hike began at the Lemmon Trailhead on Radio Ridge around 9:40 AM. The temperature was around 67° F, a nice break from the 100+° F in Tucson. After final administration tasks and gearing up, Michael led the hike from where we parked to the actual start of the Lemmon Trail.

It’s important when starting a hike to find the correct trail! We took an awesome group picture, and then some people walked a short distance south to the edge of the mountain for a great view below and a preview of our route.

At 10:30 we were ready to begin the 2000-foot descent.

The Lemmon trail began to descend immediately following the Pusch Ridge with fine views to the west and south, and even in the hazy air you could spot Mt. Wrightson (9456 ft.) to the south. Initially we passed through ferns and flowers, which quickly turned to wildflowers and granite formations winding down the ridge.

After hiking about 1.87 miles, we were at the old junction with the Arizona Trail before it was re-routed through the Wilderness of Rocks and Summerhaven.

Around noon, and having hiked 4.5 miles, we came to the Wilderness of Rocks trail junction that would take us east. Looking for a shady lunch spot, the group split up with some going south a minute or two to some shade, while other continued about 0.2 miles to large trees and massive granite outcropping with great views stretching from west to east.

After lunch the entire party reformed and we headed east through the Wilderness of Rocks towards Marshall Saddle. We began with a short, but steep descent, crossed a slightly damp rivulet and then started working our way around the amazing granite formations

The temperature and humidity had noticeably increased by this time of the day affecting everyone and contributing to the group beginning to spread out.

This was the time to begin using our radios so that front, middle and rear groups could estimate how much time were between them. The hike leader was concerned about losing hikers in the labyrinthine Wilderness, so the front group of hikers occasionally stopped permitting everyone to catch up.

The Wilderness trail runs four miles from the Lemmon trail junction to Marshall Saddle, but with the temperature and humidity, it seemed much longer. We did get the opportunity to get hats, shirts, and cool-cloths wet from the creek that meanders through that latter part of the Wilderness and our short breaks became more frequent.