We decided to take a scenic drive yesterday along the Catalina Highway. Officially, it is known as Hitchcock Highway, but everybody calls it the Catalina. This 27 mile highway out of Tucson, AZ takes you from an elevation of 3,000 feet at the foot of the Santa Catalina Mountains, all the way to the top of Mt. Lemmon, which is 9100 feet. The highway starts of Tanque Verde Road in Tucson, then as the road climbs, the vegetation changes from Sonoran Desert to the high forests of the Canadian zone...so it's like driving from Arizona to Canada in a brief period of time. The temperature changed from 87 degrees to 57 degrees during the drive....boy, did that feel good! It took us about an hour and half from Casa Grande to get to the start of the Catalina Highway.
The overlooks are spectacular, the geological formations AMAZING! Isn't it incredible what Mother Nature has done with all these rocks!?...there are cool pine forests and hiking trails and beautiful picnic areas...there are campgrounds, but the highway and campgrounds are NOT big rig friendly.. It's a trip best made by car or possibly a class C motorhome. Places to turn around are few and far between....
We'll take today and tomorrow to show you some of the most wonderful views.....Here are some today....
It's a big world out there, and we're just a tiny, tiny part of it. (See the tiny trio standing on the rocks?)...but what an impact we have on our planet!
We'll see you out on the Catalina Highway again tomorrow....also known as the Sky Island Scenic Byway....you can certainly see why!
Yer sure doin' a good job of puzzlering I.M. One minute yer in Arizona, then y'all are in Canada, all in a day, now that I.M. almost able to grasp myownselfs brain around. But when ya talked bout drivin to Catalina tomorrow I knowed y'all were just a teasin'. I got a cousin lives in L.A. as they reference it, and he hisownself told me they ain't built no bridge out to that there island yet.
ReplyDeleteI.M. who is unhesitately helpin' the unfortunately unknowledgeable unwittingly understand the unintentionally unknowable.
Looks like a beautiful drive. Going on our bucket list for sure.
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