Tuscon, Arizona: a NH pilgrimage to the desert

Tuscon became part of the trip because two of our friends (former NH-ites) were getting married there. They and another climbing friend from NH had moved to Tuscon within the past couple of years, so this was a nice chance to visit and catch up. The wedding drew quite a NH crowd! I think there were 18 of us total, plus the 3 who now live there. It was so much fun to see everyone again, have a chance to hang out and climb together and enjoy the beautiful Tuscon weather. We arrived at our friend James’ house late Wednesday night, with the wedding on Saturday. Unbeknownst to us, there was a bachelor party happening all day and night on Thursday, so Mike joined the boys for their festivities and I hung out enjoying a soft couch and bad TV for the first time in a good long while! We climbed at Mt. Lemmon on Friday (just a few miles outside of town) with a few folks, explored downtown Tuscon on Saturday during the day, then went to the wedding in the evening. The wedding was at a beautiful historic inn on the edge of town, the ceremony was in a little enclosed garden and the reception inside. Lots of great food and dancing!

Sunday we were all invited to Jeremy & Laura’s house (the newlyweds) for a little after-wedding gathering. It was a perfect time, relaxing, good conversation and marveling at the downpour outside! Couldn’t believe we were having yet another precipitation experience in the desert. The next day the 10 of us who were left drove to a climbing area about an hour away. The weather was, well, surprising. Snow flurries off and on all day….no joke! We managed to have a great day despite the chill. We climbed again at Mt. Lemmon on Tuesday with a slightly diminished group as people gradually left for home. Great weather, sunny and hot and hard to believe we were wearing hats and down coats just 24 hours before. We’d been planning to leave on Tuesday, but as folks from home kept extending their stay we couldn’t resist staying a little longer! Unfortunately I caught a bad cold, so I spent a day on the couch recuperating while everyone else climbed. Oh well, it was bound to happen eventually. We finally managed to get back on the road on Friday to start making our way east towards Kentucky and the Red River Gorge.

Tuscon