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Snow above Tucson

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Snow above Tucson

Old 02-28-23, 05:45 PM
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andrewclaus
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Snow above Tucson

Snow line was down to about 4000' a couple of days ago, about 2000' above town. I gave it a couple of warm days to melt and tackled the Mt Lemmon Road today. To my surprise I was able to get up to the high point on the road at 8,200'. It was surprising both due to my fitness level and the snow being plowed so well.

The first photo is a dusting of snow on the hoodoos around 6,000'.


A nice snow slope (for SO AZ) on the climb:


The high point at 8,200':


Total for the day was 60 miles and 5,800'. Slow ride, about 5 mph on the climb. I've been faster, but have seldom had a better day.
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Old 02-28-23, 09:59 PM
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Very cool scenery!
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Old 02-28-23, 10:19 PM
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such a great, must-do climb. congrats and thanks for the pics!
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Old 03-01-23, 06:34 AM
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Thanks!

I just realized a mistake--I meant to post this in the "Did you ride today?" thread. If a moderator sees this, please relocate it. Call it a senior moment.
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Old 03-01-23, 06:57 AM
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great ride - thanks for sharing and making me jelly haha
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Old 03-03-23, 03:12 PM
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fwiw about three days before you made your ascent several of my friends tried to cycle Mt Lemmon and they were turned away at the very base (mile 0 on Catalina Hwy) by Sheriff's officers. They were told that snowfall towards the top had been so heavy that trees and utility poles were downed.
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Old 03-03-23, 03:40 PM
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andrewclaus
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Originally Posted by Bob Ross
fwiw about three days before you made your ascent several of my friends tried to cycle Mt Lemmon and they were turned away at the very base (mile 0 on Catalina Hwy) by Sheriff's officers. They were told that snowfall towards the top had been so heavy that trees and utility poles were downed.
If I took that photo turned 180 degrees, you would have seen a half dozen powerline contractor trucks. I saw the traffic backed up that day at Snyder Rd, when I went to hike La Milagrosa.
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Old 03-14-23, 11:49 AM
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I miss that ride!!!!
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Old 03-14-23, 03:13 PM
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I rode back up there today. Here's another photo of the same spot at the high point on the road at 8,200', two weeks later:



Two weeks of So AZ sun got rid of a lot of the snow. And the day after the first photo was taken, there was another 12"+ of fresh snowfall.

I rode the 60 miles from home a tad faster today, about a half hour off my total trip time two weeks ago. I took fewer breaks on the ascent, and stayed in the middle chainring on my old 1983 Trek 520. I hope to feel strong enough to finish the ride up to the summit radio towers some month soon.
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Old 03-17-23, 05:10 AM
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Originally Posted by andrewclaus
I rode back up there today. Here's another photo of the same spot at the high point on the road at 8,200', two weeks later:



Two weeks of So AZ sun got rid of a lot of the snow. And the day after the first photo was taken, there was another 12"+ of fresh snowfall.

I rode the 60 miles from home a tad faster today, about a half hour off my total trip time two weeks ago. I took fewer breaks on the ascent, and stayed in the middle chainring on my old 1983 Trek 520. I hope to feel strong enough to finish the ride up to the summit radio towers some month soon.
yeah...that last mile-long stretch past the ski resort to the towers is interminable...the steepest part of the ride. a real gigglefest that. power up in summerhaven if necessary.
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