Two hikers rescued from Mt.Lemmon – Arizona Daily Star – A mother and son set out on the Lemmon Trail to hike from the top of the mountain to Catalina State Park and needed a rescue due to dehydration and exhaustion.
Woman injured in fall on Mt. Lemmon – Arizona Daily Star – A woman falls in the Rose Canyon Lake area on a walk from her campsite.
Heights of Catalinas looking like a rain forest – Arizona Daily Star – Nice pictures and information on the flowers, ferns and moisture on the higher elevation trails – by Doug Kreutz.
Street Smarts: Road named for old prison camp – Arizona Daily Star – This article pulls together a number of interesting facts about the highway and the Prison Camp – interesting reading and certainly don’t miss the pictures there were several great pictures that I had not seen!
David Leighton includes his Sources for the information in the Street Smarts article – one very interesting source that I was not aware of is Peter Taylor’s Master’s Thesis “If you build it, they will come: The story of the Catalina Highway.” So far I have only read select sections carefully but I am already completely fascinated – the sections I have read are filled with fascinating details! (And even some of the material I have seen before is pulled together nicely and fun to revisit.) This Thesis is available to read online without charge from the University of Arizona. One of my favorite details so far:
Unfortunately for the escapees, the most viable route of escape was to follow Soldier Creek as it headed down toward the Tucson basin. The drainage quickly becomes a closed-in, steep canyon that funnels a hiker through an ever-narrowing chute. As the canyon reaches the desert floor, it begins to widen out where it crosses the Catalina Highway. The guards would simply wait at the road for the prisoners to arrive. The escapees, by then tired out from their over night hike and often pin cushioned by cactus thorns, were then apprehended and sent to a regular prison (7’C 29 November 1993).