Friday, we moved to Catalini State Park which is just northwest of Tucson. It is situated at the base of the Catalini Mountains.
We have a great view of the mountains from our campsite.
Saturday, we took a hike to the Romero Pools. It was a beautiful beginning for the walk.
We were able to catch a shot of this Northern Cardinal.
We continued on, the path went up steeply.
More incredible sights.
More cactus in bloom.
More Saguaros.
We arrived at the Montrose Pool and realized we didn't have enough water. We have heard too many recent news stories of people getting into trouble while they are hiking, so we decided to turn back around.
As we walked back, we continued to be in awe of these giants.
The desert is in bloom.
Bees enjoying the thistle.
When we got back to the parking lot, there was an exhibit of southwestern animals. I didn't spend long at the snakes, but I was interested in this Gila Monster.
We returned back to the fiver for lunch. The high this afternoon was supposed to be 95, so we decided to drive up to Mt. Lemmon. It is one of Arizona's Scenic Byways and it definitely is!
The road winds around the mountain with many scenic vistas and pullouts.
When we got to the top, it was a cool 55 degrees! Snow was still on the side of the road.
On our way down we stopped at this group of rocks. It looked like a giant guarding his garden of rocks.
We learned our lesson on carrying enough water in Grand Staircase-Escalante the day we hiked to Calf Creek Falls. We had enough water for about 2/3rds of the hike, but it was over 90 degrees. Also, we were hiking through sand which reflected the heat back up at us. When we got back to the car, we gulped down a couple of bottles of cold water from our cooler over the next 15 minutes and sat in front of the air conditioner. Lesson learned. We now err on the side of carrying too much water.
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