[Az-Geocaching] Mount Lemmon Situation

[Andrew Ayre]

I went up Mt Lemmon for the first time since the fire yesterday. The damage
wasn't as bad as I expected. I'm guessing that the media decided to bias
things for the worse as usual. There is lots of green, currently lots of
grass. Ski valley looks completely untouched, but I could see from the drive
up that the top of Mt Lemmon and Radio ridge, both of which are just out of
sight in Ski Valley, are now pretty much bald. There are some other peaks
here and there that you see driving up that are also now bald. The damage is
most visible from the road in Summerhaven. Currently when you turn the last
bend into Summerhaven, the road is blocked off just past the point where the
Aspen Lodge used to be. The Mt. Lemmon Cafe was open and the pies are just
as good as before. :) The mountain doesn't smell of ash or anything like
that, contrary to how the media portrayed what it would be like for the next
year.

The road from ski valley to the top of Mt. Lemmon is closed, so Tucson Top
is definately unreachable. Most of the side roads off the highway to the
south are closed or closed to anyone who isn't a resident, however I didn't
see a closure sign for Prison Camp. It appears many if not all the
trailheads that go to the north appear to be open. The General Hitchcock
road and campground is still closed. Bear Wallow appeared to be open.

Soldier Trail does indeed appear to be open from the bottom, so I'll
reactivate Dash for the Cash Cache, and I'll check on it's condition in the
next few weeks.

The parking spot for the Bear Canyon @ Windy Point cache is now occupied by
a large pile of rocks, so there is no where to park. If you park at Windy
Point and attempt that cache then it adds 2-3 stars onto the terrain rating
(I know from experience :)).

Andy