Southeastern Arizona contains the southern portion of the Basin and Range, which started extending in an east- west direction and forming our many mountains (ranges) and 
basins 15 million years ago. It has a range in elevation from approximately 1000 feet to over 10,000 feet and possesses 5 of the 7 major biozones found in the Northern Hemishpere. It is also the location of the Sonoran Desert, one of the greenest deserts in the world. The icon of the Sonoran Desert is the giant Saguaro cactus. Although shown in most western movies, the Saguaro can only be found in the Sonoran desert, which, in the U.S., can only be found in southern Arizona.
Tucson is one of the oldest, continually inhabitated places in the United States. Southeastern Arizona has a rich history, ranging from Spanish Conquistators and Missionaries (Mission San Xavier is called the Sistene Chapel of the New World and was written up in a recent National Geographic (December, 1995)), to Native Americans (the Chiricahua Apache's i.e. Geronimo's, stomping grounds), to mining and ghost towns.
Below, the maps show some of the more prominent ranges in southeastern Arizona. The blue regions represent all areas above 9,000 feet in elevation. Mt. Lemmon, the tall mountain north of Tucson, has the southern most ski resort (one lift) in the United States. Kitt Peak is the largest astronomical observatory in the world. It is the second most sacred mountain of the Tohono O'odham people. Their first most sacred mountain is Baboquivari, which is also the only technical mountain in Arizona. This photo was taken from the summit of Mt Wrightson, the tallest point in the Santa Rita Mountains.
Each degree is equal to 111 km = 69 miles = 60 nautical miles = 60 minutes.
The links below are to detalied enlargements of 1 second topography data
The Tucson Basin has an elevation of about 2200 feet. The elevation difference between Tucson and the surrounding mountains of course means a difference in climate; the temperature drops 3 degrees for every 1000 foot gain in elevation and the annual precipitation at the top is twice to three times that in Tucson. Mt. Lemmon averages 165 inches of snowfall a year whereas Tucson averages 11 inches of rain a year. True, most mountains share this phenomena, but there are few places in the world where one mountain can take you from subtropical desert to boreal forest. That is the equivalent of traveling from Mexico to Canada in a 10 mile hike. Thus, each mountain has its own ecosystem and are referred to as 'sky-islands,' forests surrounded by a sea of desert. Multiple ranges support such large animals as big horn sheep, mountain lion, bear, and even the occasional Jaguar. However, human activity in the basins is fragmenting the habitat which can threaten large carnivore habitat.
The metaphor "sky islands" is used to describe the basin-and-range geomorphology of the Madrean Topographic Archipelago (located between the northern Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico and the Colorado Plateau/Rocky Mountains in the southwestern United States), which is characterized by mountain "islands" rising above the desert "seas". The sky islands provide refuge and corridors for inter-ecosystem movement of flora and fauna and effectively extend the northern habitat limit of many neotropical species into the temperate zones of the southwestern United States (e.g., Mexican Grey Wolf, Jaguar, and Thick-Billed Parrots). This region is an area of exceptional biodiversity and has become an important study area for biology, environmental ecology, and conservation management. Recognizing the importance of the sky islands, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recently identified the region as one of the global megacenters of biodiversity.
Geographically, the sky island region transverses the borderlands of the southwestern United States (SW New Mexico and SE Arizona), and Mexico (NW Chihuahua and NE Sonora) and ranges from the Gila and Apache National Forests south through the Coronado National Forest into the Rio Bavispe country of northern Mexico. Biotically, the region is a crossroads between two major forest (Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madrean, representing the Neoarctic and Neotropic = north/south crossroads) and desert ecosystems (the Sonoran and the Chihuahuan = east/west crossroads).
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The following are from a 2 night backpacking trip along the west fork of Sabino Canyon in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness area (no dogs).
I've roughly outlined the route on the map (click on the icon at left). We hiked from east to west, up and over Romero Pass. There was alot of snow melt, so there was plenty of water. It is an extremely isolated area, since it is only accesible by foot, considering a city of a million people is only a few miles away. We only saw 2 other people.
Photos of the Santa Ritas from some recent trips. Mt Wrightson is the highest point in the Santa Ritas at 9453 feet.
We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
Native American - Anonymous
In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.
Baba Dioum
73 in January
91 in February
97 in March
99 in April
72 in May
75 in June
?? in July
85 in August
82 in September
109 in October
89 in November
142 in December
160 in January
229 in February
177 in March
137 in April
127 in May
71 in June
65 in July
85 in August
80 in September
103 in October
138 in November
115 in December
102 in January
108 in February
135 in March
97 in April
