The Santa Catalina Mountains: A One-Day Family Trip

CLYDE W. DORAN

A 40-MILE family motor jaunt from Forest Service uniform, shows us the huge Tucson, Ariz., to Mount Lemmon relief map and exhibits, which interpret through the Coronado National Forest is the human and natural history of the similar to traveling 1,500 miles across Santa Catalinas. The animals and vege- the United States from Mexico to Canada. tation that characterize the many life Bring your picnic lunch and Jump into zones of the mountain are vividly dis- our family car. Many of the same plants played at the center. and animals can be seen on the ride from Live lizards, Gila monsters, and rattle- Tucson to the top of the Santa Catalina snakes are part of the displays inside the Mountains that can be found going from center, while Gambel quail, cottontail the Mexican border all of the way to the rabbits, and Harris ground squirrels play Canadian Rockies. outside on the very doorsteps. The visi- Our first stop is Sabino Canyon, the tor center's territorial slump-block build- major drainage on the south slope of the ing harmonizes with its desert setting. Santa Catalinas. As we enter the national We spend the next hour walking a forest boundary, the forest ranger checks self-guiding nature trail, where the plant our "Golden Passport" and directs us to species are named and descrited on little the Sabino Canyon visitor center. metal plaques. These acquaint us with the variety of vegetation. The adaptations that plants make to their environment is Sought Cities of Gold like studying the characteristics of human The ranger explains that the Coronado behavior—fascinating while a bit over- National Forest was named after the whelming at the same time. Spanish conquistador, Don Francisco Other hiking and horseback trails can Vasquez de Coronado, who marched into take us where we may see the grotesque what is now southern Arizona from giant saguaro cactus and look for lizards, Mexico in 1540 seeking the fabled Seven snakes, ground squirrels, javelinas (wild Golden Cities of Cibola. Today, the gold hogs), and innumerable birds. But since this brave explorer sought in vain is being it's a 2-mile hike to Seven Falls, we decide discovered in different forms—valuable to bypass that today and take the short water, timber, forage, wildlife, and out- drive up the Sabino Canyon. door recreation opportunities as well as A streamlined road runner crosses the minerals of various sorts. The visitor center at the mouth of î$j ^ Sabino Canyon was opened in 1964— Clyde W. Doran has been Forest Supervisor one of the first U.S. Forest Service cen- of the Coronado National Forest for the past ters. The attractive young lady naturalist, 5 years. Son of a forest ranger, he was born on resembling an airline hostess in her pert die Alpine Ranger District in Colorado. 32 Rock towers and natural bridge in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Coronado National Forest,

road near the first of nine picturesque de Niza visited the site of present day one-way bridges. We drive under tower- Tucson in 1539, the city has been under ing cliffs along the bubbling boulder- four flags—Spain, Mexico, the Southern strewn stream. Confederacy, and the United States. Spain Family groups are everywhere—wad- ruled until Mexico gained her independ- ing and swimming in the deeper pools. ence in 1821. The area was bought by We catch glimpses of picnickers where the United States in 1853 through the white-barked sycamores shade tables and Gadsden Purchase. fireplaces. The manmade structures fash- At the outbreak of the Civil War, the ioned from concrete and rock blend into U.S. Dragoons were withdrawn, and for the environment like they grew there. a brief period Tucson was claimed by the A half million people visit this canyon Confederate South. each year. After the war in 1871, a U.S. military Sabino Ortero located his ranch head- post was established at Tucson and later quarters at the mouth of the canyon in at Fort Lowell to protect the settlers from the 1870's. Records indicate that the can- raiding Apaches. Fort Lowell was aban- yon was named after him. doned in 1891 because the Apache peril From the Sabino Canyon we drive back steadily decreased following the capture toward Tucson, then take the Hitchcock of Gerónimo in 1886. Highway winding up to Mount Lemmon. During the 1870's when Tucson had Tucson's high-rise metropolitan area and a population of less than 3,000 people, its sprawling suburbs lie beneath in the early records show the domestic water Santa Cruz Valley as we climb toward supply was obtained from wells only 37 the peaks ahead. The bright hot sun feet deep. The Santa Cruz flood plain was reflects thousands of shining dots below, lush with sacaton and other native peren- the giant outdoor aircraft storage facili- nial grasses, inviting cattlemen from ties at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Texas and California. Today the ecology Since the Spanish priest Fray Marcos of the valley has changed—thorny shrubs 33 predominate, except where the land is mountain was via a controlled, one-way irrigated, and the valley's underground and treacherous dirt road built in 1917 on water table has dropped between 300 and the north or back slope of the Catalinas 400 feet. from Oracle, Ariz. The first use on record of the Santa Now we leave the desert-shrub veg- Catalina Mountains for recreation, in the etation type, the level with 11-inch annual form of relief from the heat, was by the rainfall, and climb through semidesert soldiers from Fort Lowell. They hiked grassland. The saguaro cactus, ocotillo, to the cool pine-clad slopes by way of creosote bush, mesquite, and palo verde Soldier Trail up the Sabino Canyon. (Arizona's State tree) give way to grass- Today we can drive leisurely along the land as we ascend. blacktopped Hitchcock Forest Highway, The soils here look granitic and highly thankful for modern transportation im- erosive. The Forest Service has to practice provements. The highway is named for good land management to prevent an ac- former Postmaster General Frank H. celerated erosion. We recall the conser- Hitchcock who was instrumental in pro- vation principles of multiple use and of moting its construction by the Bureau of sustained yield resource management that Public Roads and by the Pima County the forest naturalist had explained to us Highway Department. all at Sabino Canyon. The county maintains the highway to- My daughter Cecilia cries, "Wolf!" as day and keeps it cleared of snow through- we round the next curve. Would you out the winter months. believe it, a coyote! We all spot the coyote Prior to 1950, the only access to the crossing a deep arroyo. Cecilia chatters

Map helps locate points of interest in this sweeping view from Windy Point Vista in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Coronado National Forest, Ariz.

34 about coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, Reservation, and other mountains strad- and other beasts of prey and sympathizes dling the Mexico-United States border. with the white-tailed deer. What a spot for the camera enthusiast! We think about stopping to have our Roadside interpretive displays explain picnic in hopes of seeing the elusive ring- the vegetative life zones. tailed cat in Molino Basin, but decide to Nearby Geology Vista has still another drive a litde farther. Molino Basin Forest interpretive exhibit, dealing with the Camp is in the open oak woodland (at more common rocks found on the south 4,500 feet) of the upper Sonoran life slope of the Catalinas. Its central location zone. In spring, the hillsides are often and easy access to the highway make this carpeted with the showy white Mariposa vista point ideal as a helicopter landing lily. It is here that the beautiful although pad during fire season. From here Forest deadly coral bean grows. Just two of its Service men and equipment are ferried beans contain enough poison to kill an in to fight remote fires. adult human. About a mile above Geology Vista we These bright red beans were used by abruptly make our final transition from the Indians for jewelry. chaparral to ponderosa pine forest while crossing a low saddle from a south-facing 800-Foot Fall slope to a north-facing one. Rustic routed wood signs remind the traveler of the At the 5,500-foot level of the Hitch- elevation and vegetation changes. cock or Catalina Highway we stop to The next sign points out the way to the look across Bear Canyon to Seven Cata- recreation developments at Rose Canyon racts. This is where Willow Canyon Lake, named for the once abundant wild enters Bear Canyon with a spectacular rose that grew in the canyon. The small 800-foot fall of seven steps. lake is used year around for trout fish- Farther on the highway enters a pine ing—with ice fishing in the winter. Al- grove, sheltered in a deep canyon. Bear though there are picnic and camp sites Canyon picnic ground is in this pocket to accommodate more than 100 families, of trees. Just below the picnic ground is most of them are occupied. The Arizona the largest measured Arizona cypress in Game and Fish Department must have the world. It is over 70 inches in diameter stocked the lake with trout this week! and a towering 90 feet tall. Our next stop, San Pedro Vista, gives Both Chihuahua and ponderosa pines a distant view of the Galiuro and Graham are found here. We examine the differ- Mountains. The broad sweep of the San ence in their cones and needles while we Pedro Valley with the large copper eat lunch. smelter at San Manuel dominates the A bushy-tailed squirrel is offered a valley scene. We speculate about the sandwich, but he dashes away in a great distance to the Galiuro Mountains, and and important hurry. the fun which we could all have during a A quarter mile up the canyon from the horseback trip into this roadless Galiuro picnic ground we see the decaying re- wilderness area. mains of the General Hitchcock Tree. The firefighting headquarters for the This massive Dougjas-fir was rooted in mountain are at Palisades ranger station. a seep or spring which probably accounted My wife is as fascinated by the Smokey for its large size. When the tree was Bear drapes and the rustic furniture as I blown down by high winds in 1952, it am by the interpretive exhibits on the was nearly 8 feet in diameter and over trees of the Santa Catalinas. At the ranger 320 years old. A dated cross section of the station we learn that nearly 300 summer tree is now on display at the Palisades homes, many organization camps for ranger station. Scouts and church groups, innumerable From Windy Point Vista, a vast pano- radio electronic installations, a sawmill, rama unrolls to the south and west. From and stellar observatories of the University here we can see Baboquivari Peak, 60 of Arizona and NASA occupy many sites mile« to the south oji the Papago Indian on the Catalinas. 35 We are amazed that along the highway mon Snow Bowl has three ski runs of so little of this considerable development varying difficulty; and in the ski lodge is visible. One seems completely in the the visitor can find food and warmth. forest wilderness. The biggest thrill of the trip occurs Looming over the ranger station is near the ski lodge when the first wild Mount Bigelow. The three tall towers turkey that any of us has ever seen ambles upon its summit transmit a major net- across the road in front of us. work's television programs to Tucson and All of us hope to return during the to southern Arizona. The noted tree ring winter season to ride the Poma Lift, ski, study laboratory of the University of and slide on the whirlybirds, which are Arizona is also located here. The Bige- fashioned from inner tubes. low fire lookout tower, dwarfed by the The road above the ski lodge leads taller television towers, is a key fire look- to the U.S. Air Force Radar Base, on out in the Forest Service detection system. the 9,196-foot summit of Mount Lemmon. Just below the summit, on the north slope of the mountain, there is a stand of sub- Ladybugs Harvested alpine fir, the cone-bearing representative We climb the lookout and get a breath- of the Canadian life zone which is found taking view of the whole Santa Catalina in the Catalinas. Range and beyond. We look down into Mount Lemmon was named by John rugged country north and east of Bige- Stratton, who started one of the first low, where an infrequent mountain lion cattle ranches on the eastern side of the is reported. In summer the shrubbery is Catalinas near what is the present site of covered with "simmering" masses of lady- the U-Circle Catde Co. bugs. No one has yet explained this con- In 1881, a Dr. Lemmon and his bride gregation of beetles. These masses are of a few weeks came to the Stratton's often harvested—^under Forest Service ranch after a tedious trip from Florence. permit—and sold to farmers and to or- Mrs. Lemmon was the first white woman chardists throughout the country to con- seen by Mrs. Stratton in the 2 years she trol insects in their crops. had spent at the ranch. Summerhaven is a privately owned John Stratton guided the Lemmons to rustic resort village built on patented the top of the mountain on a botanical mining claims on the headwaters of the trip. Mrs. Lemmon became the first white middle fork of Sabino Creek. Here food, woman to reach the top, so it was named lodging, and gasoline are available. in her honor in 1882. Few of the moun- Large pegmatite dikes that are found tains in the United States have been nearby in Marshal Gulch contain many named for a woman. garnets sought after by rock hounds. A Precipitation at the mountaintop aver- trail leads to the "Wilderness of Rocks" ages 33 inches per year, compared with in the Santa Catalina natural area where 11 inches in the city of Tucson, and most no roads or manmade developments in- of this comes in the winter as snow. The terfere with nature studies. temperature on Mount Lemmon is usually A small band of desert bighorn sheep around 20° to 30° cooler than that of range from here to Pusch Ridge. The Tucson. Last winter the ski lodge oper- Arizona Game and Fish Commission ator informed us that the snowfall totaled permits a limited hunt of mature rams. a whopping 190 inches. Hunting for game is permitted on all As darkness comes quickly after sun- national forests, and bag limits, seasons, set, we hurry down the mountain to and licensing is controlled by the State. watch the sunset from Windy Point and Hundreds of desert mules and white- the lights come on in the valley below. tailed deer are harvested each year in the The changing shadow patterns make each Santa Catalina Mountains. turn of the road a new experience. The southernmost ski area in the The Santa Catalinas^—this towering United States is at about the 8,500-foot "island in the desert"—can satisfy almost level on the Catalinas. The Mount Lem- any interest you may have in the outdoors. 36