Sky Island Scenic Byway

We decided to take the Sky Island Scenic Byway in the Santa Catalina Mountains where pine covered mountains rise above the desert floor. The trip up the highway can be compared to a trip from Mexico to Canada in all of 27.6 miles. The vegetation ranges from Giant Saguaro cactus in the desert lowlands to pine, fir, and spruce at the highest elevations. It was a beautiful diverse drive. Here is a link for more information on the Sky Island Scenic Byway if you are interested.

There are many vista points up to the summit. Here is a picture taken from the Seven Cataracts Vista. We think the vista point is so named because there are at least seven pools that could be seen (not in this picture). An amazingly beautiful sight in the middle of nowhere.

Next up was Windy Point Vista. The vista here provided panoramic view of Tucson. What caught our attention first was this guy climbing the backside of the rock formation. Yes, he made it to the top.

The smoggy inversion layer doesn't show off the views of Tucson very well.

We loved these rock formations. It appears as if rocks were just stacked on top of one another and left. Sort of like rock graffiti.

Here is a shot of the truck in front of the big rock wall that they had to cut through to put in the highway. Out here in the middle of the desert, we do turn heads traveling around with the kayaks. We frequently are asked where we've found water to use them. HaHa.

More scenic views from the Geology Vista.

Here are a couple of pictures taken from Hoodoo Vista.

San Pedro Vista with views looking east to the San Pedro Valley and Galiuro Mountains. The sign said that on a clear day you can see the National Forest in New Mexico. I'm thinking there aren't too many days like that. Still the view was pretty.

Next up, Aspen Vista. The Aspen are the dead looking trees as they have yet to get their leaves. Oh, the smell of pine was wonderful. Reminded us of being in the mountains near Lake Tahoe. It has been a while since we've smelled those wonderful smells.

Our last stop before turning around was Ski Valley. Yes, there is still snow at the higher elevations but with days like today, the snow is melting fast.

We had packed a lunch and so our next stop was a picnic area within the pine forest. It didn't take us long before we found our spot. It was only us, a few birds, soaring hawks, a beautiful view, and the smell of pine forest. I don't think it gets much better than that.

As we head back down to Tucson, we watched the temperature rise. By the time we were on the desert floor, we were back up to 90 degrees. The only plus about warm days like today is that once the sun goes down, so does the temperature.

After dinner, we took a walk down to the wash and checked the area out as we were hoping to see some owls. No such luck. On the way back, John took this nice picture of the sunset through the trees.

Melissa gave us a call but had to cut it short because her cell phone battery was going dead and she left her charger at work. It was a short conversation but it is always good to hear from her. We'll touch base later this week.