My wonderful group of Trailblazers.

Terry, Debbie, Tom, Chris.

Mount Lemmon has become many hikers' favorite destination this summer due to its cooler temperatures. Five of us decided to explore this summer haven on August 26.

Three avid fast hikers.

Tom is in the lead.

Although the cool mountain breeze was a nice departure from the desert valley heat, the added moisture in the air meant we were sweating within only a mile of starting our hike. We started at Mount Lemmon Trail #5 and hiked along it for 4 miles before diverging onto Wilderness of Rocks Trail#44 for 3.8 miles until finally reaching Aspen Trail #93 to loop back to the top of the mountain. We finished our 10 mile, 2369 feet elevation hike in 5 hours 16 minutes, making it out right before the rain came pouring down on us. The Arizona trail now follows the Wilderness of Rocks Trail and then down into Marshall Gulch.

Did you see a soldier’s head with a helmet.

Amazing rocking formation.

Beautiful rock formation.

Mount Lemmon was beautiful with lush green forest surrounding us on all sides, although the sight of burnt trees sparsely scattered in the sea of green told the story of Bighorn Fire at Mount Lemmon that occurred in June 2020.

Beautiful flowers.

More beautiful flowers.

We found a good lunch spot which was located only a half mile off the junction between Mount Lemmon and Wildness Rock trail featured stunning views from the top of the mountain.

Our favorite spot for lunch with stunning views.

To our surprise we encountered very few people or wildlife on the hike, though this may have been due to the unusually hot weather this summer. Despite the lack of wildlife on the trail, we were still captivated by the many interesting formations carefully carved into the rock faces by Mother Nature.

Town of Summer heaven on the top of the hill. .

The last mile and a half of the hike was a little challenging since we had already hiked so many miles under the hot sun. I felt my legs get heavy and I had to take many breaks until finally reaching Marsh Gulch trail Junction. Some of us soaked our shirt or hats in the creek to keep our body temperature cool to prevent heat stroke. Despite the struggles to get there however, the view at the top was beautiful we could see the whole town of Summer Haven laid out before us.

Some beautiful red flowers.

Although everyone was tired, we were all celebrated a successful hike and another beautiful day in the mountains.

Puple thistle