To anyone who hasn't hiked up Mt. Lemmon: I suggest you go and do so.  Not necessarily now, because if you're in lab, you don't want to just leave your experiment going (or maybe you do, I don't know), but when you get the chance.  The scenery on Mt. Lemmon is completely unlike that that you are used to (particularly if, like me, you have spent two years stuck within a mile radius of the UA).  I am sure you can drive to the top of Mt. Lemmon since we did find a paved road near the top, but it would be a mistake. You should hike to the summit.   When you see the view of Tucson (and beyond) from the top, you get a sense of accomplishment, having endured tripping over tree roots, dodging mountain bikers, and managing issues related to bladders.  It's a wall calendar photo-worthy sight with the added plus of getting an early morning adrenaline rush.  That is, unless buying a calendar gives you an adrenaline rush, in which case I strongly suggest that you get out more.

At 8:00 AM, we left campus, packed in two vans with the leading one driven as though Mt. Lemmon were a temporary wonder that appears once every millennium and rapidly deteriorates upon exposure to sunlight. Our supplies for the hike included water bottles, bagels, sun protection, bagels, and bagels.  Seriously, there were a lot of bagels.

Our trek began at 9,000 ft., and there was hardly a dull moment; I, for one, love nothing more than climbing up a scenic mountain while staring at the shoes of the person directly in front.  If you're unfamiliar with the trail and don't want to trip every ten feet, this is actually helpful, though if you do this, you should also make sure to stop every so often.  In the few instances that our group paused on the way up, the scenery was stunning, at least by 'I'm-from-Phoenix' standards.  We also got a crash course in plant identification from Carol, and four days later, I can confidently identify a leafy-looking organism as a plant of some kind, on a good day.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip, though, was meeting with Dr. Glynn E. Thompson, part-time resident of the mountain's fire lookout.  He served in the U.S. Navy, fought in the Vietnam War, got a PhD in philosophy, worked as a firefighter for forest fires, and hey, why not, wrote a book (The Raving Eunuch Monks, in case you're interested).  Living in a lookout made in the early 1900's that appears as though it will get swept off the mountain by a breeze and, for bureaucratic reasons, cannot be renovated, Glynn Thompson has led an unquestionably storied life, and if you get the chance, I recommend paying him a visit.

I am by no means a morning person, starting each weekday with copious amounts of caffeine in some form or another (I haven't gone intravenous yet), but all in all, the trip was well worth getting up at 7:00 AM.  For someone who thinks summer weather in central Tucson is "fairly decent," being on Mt. Lemmon was like being up north in Flagstaff.  Like I've said, the scenery is great, and if you and some friends (or enemies, if that's how you roll) are hanging out and have a day to kill, try hiking Mt. Lemmon.

And no, I wasn't paid by anyone associated with Mt. Lemmon to write this.

Kenneth Olson, UBRPer in Dr. Robin Polt's lab, Chemistry