Ah Sunshine here we come. A few clicks of the mouse and a quick phone call and we are done. Air, car and hotel. We leave early on Thursday (5:30am !!) March 18th and return late on Sunday March 21. We are flying on America West since it was over $600 to fly Alaska! We’re flying to Phoenix and getting a car. From here we will drive 90 miles to Tucson and stay at the Ghost Ranch Lodge, a motel from the 40’s which has the most awesome cactus garden. We have stayed here before. We got a kitchenette so we can make our lunch for hiking.

We plan to hike Mt. Wrightson , the tallest peak in the Santa Ritas at 9453ft. It is typically a 11 mile hike with 4033 elevation gain but they have closed the parking lot at the trail head for construction. The construction won’t be finished so we will have to add 3 miles to our hike. Bummer. This is a training hike for Mt. Whitney.

I called the Nogales ranger station and we will need to park at either a picnic area or the beginning of Madera Canyon. Parking is $5.00.

We also want to spend a day visiting Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. And eating a lot of Mexican food.