Sabino Canyon scenery and shuttle ride

Everyone we talked to here and online had said we needed to go see Sabino Canyon so yesterday was the day. Like the last few days we got a late start. We headed east through downtown to get to Sabino Canyon Rd however we took a wrong turn and started heading up Mt. Lemmon. Once we noticed our mistake we had to go about 3/4 of the way up to find a pull off. We stopped and took a couple pictures of the valley below and the mountain side before heading back down and in the right direction. .

 

We got onto Sabino Canyon Rd and made it to the visitor center and the shuttle to take us up the canyon and back down. Sabino Canyon is a natural desert oasis that's located in Tucson’s Coronado National Forest and it's home to some great desert landscapes in the eastern foothills of the Santa Catalina mountain range. The history of Sabino Canyon started with the formation of the Santa Catalina Mountains over 12 million years ago. Around 5 million B.C., the mountains ceased formation around the Tucson valley. An earthquake centered in northern Mexico in 1887 dislodged massive boulders lining the canyon walls, which came to rest in the valley below. In 1905 the newly created U.S. Forest Service began administering Sabino Canyon. During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) built Sabino Dam and nine bridges over Sabino Creek in an attempt to build a road to the top of Mount Lemmon. The road travels about 4.5 miles into the canyon, but was not completed due to the steep terrain at the end of the canyon. A little history of the canyon.

 

 

Because of the late start we decided we would just ride the shuttle up and back and not actually do any hiking of the canyon. It was getting hot and the sun was out in full force. While waiting for the shuttle to come to pick us up, we took a short walk through the Bajada Loop Nature Trail next to the visitor center.

Glenda posing in her new hiking hat

Interesting Saguaro connection

 




After about 45 minutes the shuttle came and everyone hopped onboard. There are 9 stops on the way up the canyon where anyone can get off and hike the canyon at their leisure. You can get off on the way up or on the way back down. This is the scenery of the canyon.

There is part of the Sabino Canyon Wash in the canyon and some folks were wading in the cool water. The mountains are incredible and you never get tired of looking at them. I wish we would have been better about getting on the go earlier but due to the heat and the time of day(after 12 noon) Glenda and I decided we would do our hiking in Saguaro Nat'l Park, which we did this morning(earlier). I will post pictures of our hike on the King Canyon Trail, Sendero Esperandza Trail and the Gould Mine Trail. We came back to the rig and had some lunch and relaxed until the sun started to go down and the breezes cooled thing off. We did take a short hike just before sunset on the trails behind our site and settled in for the night. So far the evenings have been cool and we only have to open the windows and use a small fan in the bedroom. It's been unseasonably warm in the Southwest the last few days with highs near 90 but by this weekend temps will be moderating. The low humidity really makes it more tolerable, at least for us, right now. Tomorrow night we get the rig ready to travel on Saturday. The final leg of our travels to Gold Canyon for the winter and new adventures.