University of Arizona

Sense of Place

Geos. 195D

Mt. Lemmon

Map of Catalina Highway

Mt. Lemmon, all the way to the top, is one of the great sites and natural history trips of Tucson.

Catalina Gneiss

Babad Do'ag Vista Possibly to be Encroached Upon by Trophy Homes

User Fee to Drive the Highway

A user fee is charged to drive the Mt. Lemmon Highway and stop to hike and/or picnic or do whatever to enjoy the mountain. There are various pros and cons to user fees. Some recent voices on this subject:

Piñon Pine-Nut Muffins

1 cup (~6 oz.) piñon pine nuts, ground
½ cup wheat flour
½ cup water
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
  Combine dry ingredients. Add water and
honey and mix well. Pour into greased
muffin tins. Bake for ½ hour @ 350º F.
Makes 24 bite-sized muffins (or ~6 big ones).
From: Niethammer, Carolyn. 1974.
American Indian Cooking: Recipes From the Southwest.
University of Nebraska Press.

Gordon Hirabayashi Prison Camp

An abandoned prison camp is located on the highway just above Molino Basin. It's named for Gordon Hirabayashi, who passed away in early January, 2012. See his obituary here.

Sky Islands of the American Southwest

The Sky Islands of the American Southwest are very biodiverse.

Global Change and Stacked Ecosystems of the Sky Islands

Arizona is rightly known as the "Grand Canyon State," but Baja Arizona could be just as reasonably dubbed the "Sky Island State." The Catalina Highway allows a close-up look at Sky Island biogeography, namely, stacked ecosystems. With changing elevation, ecosystems themselves change, from Sonoran Desert down low, to Madrean mixed woodland in the middle, and to Rocky Mountain subalpine forest on top.

Fire on the Mountain

A large fire called the Bullock burned parts of Mt. Lemmon in 2002, and other parts were burned in 2003 in the Aspen fire.

Aspen burn
Aspen burn area up close, 2007. Photo credit — Jayme Kelter

Aspen burn

Aspen burn area up close, 2010. Photo credit — Paul Sheppard

Coronado National Forest 2010 Forest Plan

The Coronado National Forest is currently revising its forest plan. A draft version is available here. Public comment is now open on this. Feel free to exert your new-found sense of place and comment. ladder fuel

"Ladder fuels?" Photo credit — Paul Sheppard

Snow on the Mountain

It snowed the day of the April 2007 SOP trip, and just before the April 2010 trip. Unusual, but not unheard of, even for Southern Arizona.

snow at Palisades

2007: Palisades Ranger Station, ~8,000 ft. elevation. Photo credit — Paul Sheppard

snow at the top

2010: The top, ~9,100 ft. elevation. Photo credit — Paul Sheppard

Team Photo, 2011: Middle Bear

2010 team photo on Catalina Mt. trip

Photo credit — Paul Sheppard

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Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Main Office: (520) 621-1608, Fax: (520) 621-8229
Comments to Paul Sheppard: sheppard @ ltrr.arizona.edu