Lovely Lady of the Catalinas

He also published two books of photography gleaned from his travels: World in Focus in 1968 and World Travels in 1978, both published by his company. In all, eight books have been published carrying his name. His latest, titled Indian Lands, includes a text written by University of Arizona anthropologist Clara Lee Tanner. (See Bookshelf, pg. 48.) As he grew in stature as a photographer, Arizona Highways continued as his showcase. “I felt I had to continue to shoot for Highways because it offered an entree everywhere in the world. It's been my most valuable public relations tool all these years.” For a goodly portion of those years, Manley has been a stickler for realistic ungimmicked photography, deploring the use of such tools as telephoto lenses. When asked about it, he said, “I want to share the beauty of Arizona with as many people as possible. And I feel I can best do this by photographing the notable places in a straightforward manner.

“Sure, I'll try for an interesting vantage point and wait for the most dramatic lighting, but I won't hide the forest behind a blade of grass.

“In other words, I am using the camera to reveal the beauty of identifiable landmarks and trying to give an honest rendition of the subjects. For this reason, I have resisted owning a telephoto lens. I feel that while its use can be artistic and interesting, it is a lie. The eye cannot see such a scene,” Manley insists, “and many misleading telephoto scenes have given a distorted view of a land that does not need such enhancement.” Once asked about the use of 35mm photography, Ray commented: “It has its place. It's best for uninhibited pictures of people, slide presentations, documentaries and picture stories. But,” he added, “it is not suitable for architecture, food or landscape work. In contrast, the large format camera provides great detail, good lighting, and recognizable subject matter in all these categories.” Today, he adds, “it also requires a lot of physical work. So I spend a lot of time looking before setting up for a picture.” Then there's the photo itself. His pet peeve is subordination. “I believe a photo of 'The Mittens' in Monument Valley should say 'this is a magnificent work of God and nature' and, therefore, it should not be subordinated by a foreground that becomes more important than the massive formations I'm trying to capture on film.” And like most photographers, he also has some definite ideas on the best time of day for photographing. “The last moment of the day provides the most incredible opportunity to record this land of ours at its best,” Ray says without hesitation.

Recently Manley sold his interest in the Tucson commercial photography company to his son Alan. What will he be doing? “I have no intention of retiring,” he says. “What I'll be doing is devoting a lot of time to doing what I do best and enjoy most: photographing Arizona for Arizona Highways.

“We have a motor home now, and my wife Ruth and I have a great time waiting for the exact moment when thunderstorms build over the Mogollon Rim, or the golden light of late afternoon hits the cliffs of Oak Creek Canyon or Monument Valley.

“Arizona is beautiful,” says Ray Manley. “And I'll just never tire of photographing it.”

The Lovely Lady of the Catalinas

Mount Lemmon beckons. Resisting the call to explore this fascinating mountain would be like leaving a great book unopened or missing a sumptuous feast. The peak gently dominates Tucson's rippling Santa Catalina Range like a profoundly beautiful woman. In fact, the mountain was named for a lady slender, dark-haired Sara Lemmon who spent her honeymoon in 1881 trying to climb to the top. After two fruitless efforts to scale the steep southern slope, she and her botanist husband conquered the north side on horseback, guided by rancher E. O. Stratton of Oracle.

Sara's climb was an adventurous one. She wore sturdy shoes, leather leggings, a buckskin hat, and heavy gloves, but she still ended each day removing cactus thorns. Her diary describes huge mountain lions, bobcats, and bears as well as a surprising flock of wild parrots in one of the lower canyons.

On the meadowy mountaintop, the members of the party triumphantly carved their names on the trunk of a tall pine. Proclaiming Sara Lemmon to be the first white woman to reach the summit, Stratton christened the highest point in the Catalinas in her honor. Tucsonans today affectionately nickname the 9157-foot peak to the northeast "The Lemmon," and many thousands travel to the top each year on the spectacularly scenic Hitchcock High-way. Completed by prison labor in 1950, the twisting blacktop road gradually ascends the rugged southern slope that so discouraged Sara Lemmon almost 100 years ago.

The two-lane all-weather highway begins on the flat desert valley floor, where kangaroo rats and horned lizards seek sparse shade under low bushes and rocks. From here, the beckoning mountain looks like a rose and lavender entity - an undifferentiated mass of lightdabbled rock. Nothing could be more misleading.

It's 30 miles and one hour from the Tucson basin to the top of the mountain. In the course of that trip, the highway winds through a vast range of (Right) An Indian paintbrush bursts with spring energy in the Lemmon Creek area of the Santa Catalinas. Peter Kresan climates and five distinct vegetative zones the same series of changes you would experience on a drive from southern Arizona to the Canadian border.

In the summer the trip takes you from sauna-bath desert temperatures to cool, refreshing forest shade. In winter you go from sunny poolside to sparkling snowbank. The thermometer will drop at least 25 degrees in the course of your ascent but the Arizona sun keeps things comfortable on Mount Lemmon. Even on the coldest days skiers often shed their nylon jackets when they break for lunch.

The Mount Lemmon Ski Area is the southernmost in the U.S., complete with a ski-rental shop, chair lift, and slopes for beginning and advanced skiers. The cozy log restaurant is open all year around, and in summer the chair lift becomes a scenic sky ride.

Mount Lemmon offers a wealth of civilized comforts, including a year-round restaurant, snack bars, a hotel, and a small store. But, despite the amenities, be sure to start your trip with a full tank of gas there is no filling station on The Lemmon.

Small pockets of civilization haven't changed the mountain. It remains the same quiet forest wilderness that long ago lured Indians, Spaniards, and American soldiers and settlers. People still make the climb seeking solitude, sport, and communication with nature.

Visitors to the mountain picnic and camp in wide flowery meadows, intimate ferny glades, and cool dark forests. Fishermen snare trout in a well-stocked seven-acre lake, sportsmen hunt in season, and woodcutters with permits chop fragrant cords of pine. Rock climbers have several favorite challenges there, too, while hikers enjoy more than 150 miles of improved trails.

Mount Lemmon stands 9157 feet above Tucson, and contains five life-climate zones, equivalent to what one would experience traveling from the Mexican to the Canadian borders. Gill KennyMount Lemmon also is a photographer's paradise, with sweeping purple mountain panoramas and nodding scarlet wildflowers. Your first striking picture can be taken at the base of the mountain, in Soldier Canyon, where an impressive stand of erect saguaro cacti guard the low foothills like soldiers on parade.

A nearby Park Service sign describes this as desert shrub, a unique mixture of sturdy plants which botanists call the most structurally varied in the nation. The green desert growth extends to about 4500 feet, where it begins to mingle with the plants of the oak woodlands. The change is subtle but definite. In the summer, there, you can feel a lifting of the heat and catch your first fresh breath of cool mountain air. In the winter you may see your first pearly patches of snow.

Far below the road, Molino Canyon meanders through this oak woodland. Its clear stream nourishes small groves of white-barked sycamores, shiny-leafed cottonwoods, graceful willows, and tall ashes. Water-loving birds and animals make their homes along the banks, as do shy raccoons, lazy turtles, and flitting hummingbirds.

You can camp and picnic all year around in nearby Molino Basin among gnarled oak trees and low-growing, red-barked manzanita bushes. In spring wildflower-lovers come here to admire the tiny cross-shaped crossosoma and great clumps of the rare white mariposa lily.

Worn grinding stones above the picnic area show that Molino Basin also was once a favorite prehistoric camping spot, where Hohokam Indians ground acorns into flour.

One last stunted saguaro grows just beyond Molino Basin, nestled in a warm niche between protective rocks. More adapted to the altitude is the intriguing little cream cactus, a plucky plant which almost shrivels away during droughts only to become fat and sassy during nurturing rains.

As the cacti wisely retreat, the oaks begin to reign supreme dull green Emorys and bright green Mexican blues. Other low shrubs and agaves stand respectfully beside them on the hilly grasslands. But supremacy is short-lived on Mount Lemmon. By the time you pass the abandoned prison labor camp, you'll see spunky junipers and piñon pines subtly supplanting the oaks.

Birds and animals have been changing with the plants. Mountain white-tail deer begin to replace the desert mule deer, while jays and nuthatches take over for the thrasher and the cactus wren. At 5300 feet, the piñon and juni-per are abruptly interrupted by the lush slash of Bear Canyon. Traveling above the seasonal stream, you get an exciting view of the mountain's most magnifi-cent stand of Arizona cypress, a strik-ing contrast to the modest low oaks you've been seeing along the road. The tallest cypress ever recorded grows near the canyon crossing.

tail deer begin to replace the desert mule deer, while jays and nuthatches take over for the thrasher and the cactus wren. At 5300 feet, the piñon and juni-per are abruptly interrupted by the lush slash of Bear Canyon. Traveling above the seasonal stream, you get an exciting view of the mountain's most magnifi-cent stand of Arizona cypress, a strik-ing contrast to the modest low oaks you've been seeing along the road. The tallest cypress ever recorded grows near the canyon crossing.

Bear Canyon Picnic Ground and nearby General Hitchcock Camp Ground are spicy jungles of Chihuahua and ponderosa pine, juniper and oak. There you might see your first fluffy-tailed Abert squirrel with its bright curi-ous eyes and distinctive tassel ears. If Capricious winds and waters have carved rock formations with names like “Punch and Judy,” “the Stogie Smoker,” and the “Toothless Old Man.” At Windy Point you can climb the rocks to view an incomparable panorama. Ten mountain ranges stand like sculptured pieces on a great game board. On a clear day you can pick out the tiny twin towers of San Xavier Mission 30 air miles to the south, pure and white against the lavender-blue landscape. At night the lights of Tucson twinkle in the blackness like thousands of gold and ruby stars.

Geology Vista Point is another fascinating stop just a few minutes up the road. A sign tells you how this great granite mountain was created by a violent uplifting of the earth's crust. The If you're lucky, you'll glimpse a lively flock of ring-tailed coatimundis scam-pering over the needle-padded ground.

Now you feel that you're really on the mountain. The stubborn little oaks are clearly losing out to the powerful towering pines.

Take the Green Mountain Hiking Trail from General Hitchcock Camp-ground for a quiet ramble through the dim cathedral-like woods. Some of the largest ponderosas measure six feet in diameter; tree ring studies have shown them to be more than 3000 years old.

You've been marveling over the forests, but all at once the huge trees are upstaged by fantastic granite monoliths.

marvelous rocks of Mount Lemmon are among the oldest in the world.

Just past Geology Vista you pass suddenly and quietly into ponderosa pine. It is the most striking botanical change on the mountain. At 7000 feet the domain is solidly dominated by the silent, fragrant, long-needled giants. You feel that you are at last in the forest. It is a deep, cool primeval place.

More than 400 privately owned cabins nestle comfortably in summer-home areas set aside by the Forest Service. As you pass these little houses, you enviously imagine a cool, idyllic life under the big trees.

At Rose Canyon Lake you can create your own summer idyll on a hilly campground with a postcard view of the water. Flocks of noisy Stellar's jays will interrupt your daydreams while tiny pigmy nuthatches peck at picnic crumbs. Leaping trout inspire visions of a gourmet dinner.

ground with a postcard view of the water. Flocks of noisy Stellar's jays will interrupt your daydreams while tiny pigmy nuthatches peck at picnic crumbs. Leaping trout inspire visions of a gourmet dinner.

Beyond Rose Canyon Campground, San Pedro Vista offers a glorious eastern outlook on the winding San Pedro River and the rugged Galiuro Mountains. From this point the plumcolored desert seems like a distant neverland a place far removed from your lofty perch.

Back on the pavement, the side road to Organization Ridge winds its way off into the silent forest. Churches, scouting groups, and clubs have built rustic retreats there among the peaceful pines.

You are climbing faster now. The air grows cooler, thinner, and more moist. The still forest becomes more like that of southern Canada. White and Douglas fir trees mingle with the pines. To remind yourself that this is indeed Arizona, stop to see the excellent exhibits at the Palisades Ranger Station, where Mount Lemmon's incredible vegetative changes are clearly and graphically illustrated.

From milepost 23 on you are traveling in the cool mixed conifers of the mountaintop. The area abounds with campgrounds and picnic places, each with its own distinct personality. A short distance beyond Spencer Canyon, for example, it is quiet and secluded, a mountain hideaway with its own bubbling springtime stream. Hike along the banks in May to see fuzzy pussy willows, yellow columbines, and porcelainlike pink wild roses.

At an altitude of 7600 feet, Bear Wallow's little spring attracts almost 150 colorful species of birds, including orioles, flycatchers, and tanagers. A favorite retreat of the Audubon Society, this campground rings with cheerful chirps and twitters.

At Sykes Knob the big attraction is the view a spectacle of forested hills and rocky cliffs. You can settle into a boulder armchair and watch the graceful maneuvers of swallows in the air below. Sit quietly, breathe deeply, and pretend you are part of the mountain. An equally exciting outlook awaits you at Bigelow fire tower, where the vast view sweeps from mountaintop to desert floor. Four miles past the Mount Just beyond the junction, a busy saw-mill cuts Mount Lemmon pine into rough yellow planks.

The steep road to the ski area snakes off next take it if you want to make the climb to the top. Otherwise continue on into the hamlet of Summerhaven.

There's mountain history in this pleasant little village where Sara Lemmon once watched her guide, E.O. Stratton, shoot 10 deer with only 11 bullets. Unaccustomed to man, the innocent animals had approached the strangers with wide-eyed curiosity. The story goes that Stratton gave part of the meat to two timber prospectors camping in tents nearby.

Gold became the thing to prospect for in the 1880s, but legends of rich Spanish mines on Mount Lemmon turned out to be rather difficult to substantiate. Pine trees proved more promising, and the first sawmill was built on the mountain in 1884.

During the 1920s, Forest Ranger Jim Westfall took over the old mill, cutting planks to build the first Mount Lemmon Hotel. Jim's wife Leeta reportedly kept the bar stocked with powerful homemade corn whiskey. For entertainment, the couple would listen to a neighboring ranger plunk out tinny piano tunes over a primitive telephone.

But things change even in Summerhaven. Today entertainment is a jukebox that renders the latest hits in living stereo. July Fourth is especially jumping, with a street fair, fiddle contests, and lots of homecooked food. Even on ordinary days the mountain gets its share of visitors as many as 25,000 make the trip on the warmest summer weekends. But Mount Lemmon never seems crowded. There's almost always a The cool northern face of the mountain appears the farthest away of all. The road to the ski valley takes you through tall maple, fir, and quaking aspen a true Canadian forest. Past the lodge, you climb sharply upward to the very apex of the peak.

The top of Mount Lemmon is an amazing amalgam of wilderness and technology. This is the home of the cunning bobcat, the swift white-tail deer, and the tricky wild turkey. But there's also a space-age observatory, a helicopter pad, and a forest of relay towers.

You can forget the modern world on two well-marked nature trails meandering downhill from the top of the ski lift. Sabino Dawn Trail takes you beside a number of mountain springs; Aspen Draw brings you into the world of aspen trees, the gold-and-silver queens of autumn.

Back along the main road, jade-green against the bright aspens, one lone grove of corkbark fir points dramatically toward the sky. These trees are very rare in the Santa Catalinas. Their tall, conical shapes wave in the wind like slender beckoning fingers. Their whisper is soft and cajoling.

Listen to the call of Mount Lemmon. She is a lofty, lovely lady, friendly and full of surprises. Don't resist her any longer. Come!

Editor's note: A trip to the top of Mount Lemmon is an exhilarating experience all through the year. The only time the Hitchcock all-weather highway might be closed is during and imme-diately after a heavy snowfall. But Forest Service road crews are quick to act and will usually have the highway cleared without delay once the storm has passed.

At the foot of the mountain watch for signs along the highway that tell you to tune your car radio to the spe-cial Santa Catalina Ranger District broadcast. A pleasant voice will tell you about current weather and road conditions and give you facts about the flora and fauna within the district. The mes-sage is updated by the Forest Service as conditions warrant.

To make your trip by auto or recreation vehicle as pleasant as possible, the Forest Service has built five campgrounds on Mount Lemmon at varying altitudes: Peppersauce, Hitchcock, Rose Canyon, Spencer Canyon, and Molino Basin. Because facilities at these campgrounds are subject to change, we suggest you contact the Santa Catalina Ranger District office for current details: 2500 North Pantano Road, Suite 126, Tucson 85715. The phone number is (602) 296-6245.