Mt. Lemmon/Meadow Trail Loop

Date Hiked: 6/30/07
Total Mileage: 3 miles
Elevation Change: 8,000' - 9,100'

This hike consisted of 2 different trails:
Mt. Lemmon Trail #5: 2 miles
Meadow Trail #5A: 1 mile

A good friend of mine from college, Steph, visited Tucson at the end of June. Since it's so hot in the valley during the summer months we figured a brisk hike in the mountains would be a much more pleasant activity. I'm happy to say we're still on speaking terms:)

We drove up the Catalina highway towards Ski Valley to get to the very summit of Mt. Lemmon. This is the first time I'd been up this ways and for awhile we wondered if we were still on the road (it's not maintained by the county). We made it OK and headed on down the Mt. Lemmon Trail.

This trail had some fantastic scenery on the way down...you can also still see a lot of the damage from the forest fires years ago. We followed Mt. Lemmon down to the intersection with the Sutherland Trail, where we briefly debated continuing on the Arizona Trail and walking to Utah, before heading back up...

And up...

and up...

You don't realize it quite as much on the way down but this is one really steep trail. We took frequent breaks to hydrate and bitch and moan. We eventually connected with the Meadow Trail and took that back to the summit. It was still a pretty steep climb but this trail was more shaded and had more switchbacks so it didn't feel quite as steep.

We finally finished and I have never been quite so glad to see a parking lot (and bathrooms!). This was a pretty challenging trail, even with just doing 3 miles so I'd recommend doing a few easier ones first...sorry Steph!