Mount Lemon, Sabino Canyon and Locomotives in the Desert

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Across the valley Northeast of Tucson in the Santa Catalina Mountains
lies Mount Lemon and the southernmost ski resort in the US



We took the drive up the 27 mile winding road on Mt Lemon out of the desert
and up into the evergreens and cooler temps




Debbie kept looking for Big Horn Sheep but found none





The many rock formations and rocky cliffs were perfect for rock climbing



South of Mt Lemon is Sabino Canyon


During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) built Sabino Dam and nine bridges over Sabino Creek in an attempt to build a road to the top of Mount Lemmon. The road travels about 4.5 miles into the canyon, but was not completed due to the steep terrain at the end of the canyon.

 Today there is a tram that will take you 4.5 miles into the canyon where you can choose to ride it back, (not that old yet) walk the narrow road back,(wuss) or climb the switchbacks 600 feet above the canyon floor and hike the Phone Line Trail back. This is what we did.


I know what you are saying. ..oh yay more pictures of rocks and cactus...
but it really was a fabulous hike






A couple of weeks ago when we were driving back from Tombstone I noticed something
 near the town of Benson AZ off in the distance way out in the desert .


Locomotives, hundreds of locomotives (click to enlarge)
So a week or so later we decided to take a ride a couple of miles out into the desert 
to see what the deal was


After a couple of miles we decided to abandon the car and walk the last mile out
with Debbie always being watchful for rattle snakes


About three miles off the paved road waaayyy out in the desert we finally came across the locomotives,... 292 of them to be exact.
 

That's a lot of locomotives, all hooked together and stretching almost 3 miles.

All being stored on a long siding of track in the desert waiting for rail traffic to pick up









Zig zagging across the desert off into the distance


Although an Area 51 type UFO encounter might have been more interesting,
we thought this was pretty cool too.










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