On November 8 five vehicles with 10 Jeepers Creepers members and two guests made the long trip south to Oracle and up the Oracle Control road to Mt. Lemmon and Summerhaven in the Catalina Mountains about 30 miles from Tucson. The road has some maintenance and does not require four wheel drive, but it is a bit bumpy in two lower stretches and for the last few miles.
Our coffee break was at the Tom Mix Memorial rest stop. Do you remember western movies starring Tom Mix? He died near here in 1940 in a car accident.
Austin Hulcher told me that years ago the Jeepers Creepers attempted to take the Oracle Control road but found that it had been closed for the season after starting up it. As far as we know this is the first time the group has gone over this road.
Left to right in front of the monument, standing: Mike Williams, Tom Holz, guest Jerry Caldwell, Elsie Holz, and Mary Ellen Hulcher.
Seated: Steve and Linda Robertson, guest Candy Caldwell, Jeff Clyde and Jo Clyde Strong.
Missing are Austin Hulcher and Bill Strong
Jo and Bill Strong, the group leaders for the outing.
Our road wound around foothills and valleys for many miles like this before getting serious about gaining elevation. In all we had 24 miles of unpaved road between Oracle and the paved Catalina Highway at the top. It led us down the mountain to Tucson.
Our lunch stop after we picked up everything , just a mile or so from the Catalina Highway. A fire burned the canyon in the background. There are homes at the top but it appeared that none were destroyed by the fire. If we were to take the trip again, we should use one of several spots where the road gets into Ponderosa pines before reaching this windy site.
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