[matt@expaz]

Cat-Dog and I are doing some hiking, exploring and easy 4-wheeling this Sunday (7/15) on Mt. Lemmon (near Tucson). First, we are going to do a short 1-2 mile hike up in the cool pines along a trail to a ridge line a friend of mine knows. Then it's off to try to find Apache Camp. I discovered this site while studying one of the old topo maps of the Tucson area. This camp is down the Control Road (the backside of Mt. Lemmon). The Control road is high-clearance truck rated, the very short 4WD trail to Apache Camp should be easy. Not sure what we'll find there, most likely just some foundations, but you never know...

After that, we'll head down the Control road toward Oracle. If we have time, we are going to do some more exploring in the Rice Peak and/or Campo Bonito Area. There are a few trails we haven't been on out there. Again, I am expecting these trails to be easy.

We are meeting at the McDonald's at Catalina Hwy and Tanque Verde at 7 am on Sunday and expect to be back in town before 5 pm. Rain forecast is 40%. Crossing fingers. Mt. Lemmon Passes are required (they can be bought at the gas station near the McDonald's)

This should be a laid back, relaxing adventure (unless we get hit by a big monsoon :-).

Love to have anyone come along.

Let me know if you're interested in joining us.

[azscout]

Hey Matt, me and my dog Belle would like to go with you on this trip but I don't think I could make it to the meeting spot. Would it be possible to meet you somewhere on the back side of Mt Lemmon after you do your hike seeing that I'm coming from the Phoenix area? Either PM me or post up what you think would work if anything. Also, do you know if I would still need a permit coming up the back way?

[matt@expaz]

Azscout,

PM sent. You don't need a permit unless you go all the way to the top of the mountain (coming from the backside).

[matt@expaz]

Had a great time yesterday, though with most exploratory trips, things don't really go as expected. The hiking trail was more beautiful than anticipated. The four-wheeling was more difficult than expected. After almost rolling his vehicle on the way down to Apache camp, my friend had a much easier time than we expected getting back out. The other trail was more rocky and brushy than I predicted and what I had seen on Google Earth to draw my interest there, was not what I thought. The weather was warmer and drier than expected (thankfully, the storm that created the 3 large sink holes in my front yard and flooded a portion of my house waited until we were home to hit).

But, as expected ... the trip was a good time and the company was great. Thanks for coming along azscout! More pictures and trip report soon.

An unexpected friend seen along the road to Apache Camp :-)

[mbuckner]

Azscout,

PM sent. You don't need a permit unless you go all the way to the top of the mountain (coming from the backside).

What permit is required to go to the top of Mt Lemmon?

Regards,

Mike

[matt@expaz]

You need a "Mt. Lemmon" pass to stop at many of the area on Mt. Lemmon. It's sort of like the Red Rock Pass for Sedona. You can go to my website at: http://www.experience-az.com/coolstuff/permitinfo.html for more information. It has a link to the pass information at the bottom of the page.

[mbuckner]

Thanks for the info ....

[Bradywgn71]

I thought I had seen something on the news a couple months ago stating that they couldn't charge a fee on Mt. Lemmon to park in the lots. My wife and I went up the control road on the Oracle side and down the highway on the Tucson side a couple weeks ago. The booth for the passes was closed when we passed it. Here, I found this news article on it:

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/sta...940c829b0.html

[matt@expaz]

Brdywgn71,

Thanks! You are correct. I did not know that, I bought my yearly pass last August and wasn't going to look into renewing it for another month. It appears the Forest Service has been very quiet on this issue. The Conorado National Forest website is very ambiguous on this subject and after doing some quick reading on the article you gave (and a few others), they resisted changing their website, etc. for a long time (around June or July). I talked with a FS representative and it appears they are either appealing or looking into an appeal of the judgement. More to follow on this subject soon. Thanks again!