We stayed at a guest house on the edge of the Saguaro National Park. The property we stayed at is actually a notch out of the northeast corner of the park.
There were 6 cats who live on the property. We had fun trying to figure out the names for all of them. I think this might be Mimi. The horse's name was Lakota. We had fun going for walks with him and watching him run around in the local coral.
We rented bikes from www.cycletucson.com and decided to go right out to ride up the Mt. Lemmon Hwy.
The bikes were Cannondale road bikes. The rental came with a bicycle map, pump, cycle computer, and tool pack, but I used my kitty tool pack as you can see in the picture. It got some approving comments from some of the locals also riding this popular route.
The wheels had an extra lining (tuffy strip) in between the tire and the tube to help keep us from getting flats. They worked good because neither of us got a flat the whole trip.
You can see the thunderstorms in the distance. Some of the rain evaporates before it reaches the ground. We were worried that it might come our way.
We followed the road for about 16 miles of climbing and turned around just past windy point at 7000 ft of elevation. We didn't see any bears.
There was snow on the ground and we had to put coats on to keep from freezing on the way back down.
Did some relaxing after we got back.
We had some beautiful sunsets while we were there.
This is the dirt road we started out on every day. The rest of the day was on paved roads. We saw a coyote run across the road on our way home.
Our second day we did a couple of loops through the Saguaro National Park. The road is an 8 mile loop with short up and downs that feel like you are riding a roller coaster. The sign at the visitor center said to "beware of cyclists and wildlife".
There is actually a river running through the cactus field if you look closely.
We had lunch and shared the left-overs with the chickens. They need fat to make tasty eggs. Our hosts shared the eggs with us. They were way better than any store bought eggs I've ever had.
This is Agua Caliente Regional Park. The pools are from natural hot springs. It used to be a fancy resort in the 1800s but now it's just a nice park with ducks and walking paths.
After a couple more days of riding we decided that Mt. Lemmon Hwy was the most fun. Here I am approaching the toll booth. No charge for cyclists!
The scenery changes drastically as you go up the climb. Tall Saguaros eventually disappear and transition to pine forrests.
The rock formations are incredible. There is just not enough time to take pictures of them all.
20 miles of sweeping downhills till we reach the bottom.
