General Hitchcock Highway Archives – GlassMountains Trip Reports

On February 4th Eric Kassan, Susan Murphy, Darin Wilson, Adam Humphreys, and I hiked Bassett Peak, the high point of the Galiuro Mountains and the Galiuro Wilderness east of Tucson. Bassett Peak is the 23rd most prominent peak in Arizona with 3123 feet of prominence and 7663 feet of elevation. The weather was ideal and the hiking was fun and quite scenic.

Bassett Peak from West Ash Creek Road, north of Wilcox, Arizona

I drove from Tucson to meet the others at 8 a.m. just off Ash Creek Road on FSR 660. Eric and I loaded up the others and drove further in on FSR 660. We drove our vehicles part way along, across, and through rocky Ash Creek until it was prudent to park. Our two cars just fit parked off the road.

Our winter home in Tucson has a view of Mount Lemmon, the high point of the Santa Catalina Mountains to our north. Mount Lemmon has an elevation of 9157 feet, has 5157 feet of prominence, and rises about 6300 feet above our home. The General Hitchcock Highway (aka Catalina Highway) climbs from near its base in Tucson to Summerhaven. Near Summerhaven a side road climbs through Ski Valley and past a gate to the gated and fenced Sky Center. The General Hitchcock highway is a very popular bicycling route for local and visiting bicyclists. It is a great bicycling resource providing good workouts, fun descents, and excellent views of the Tucson Basin and surrounding mountains to the south.

Mount Lemmon from near home

Linda and I have bicycled up and down the highway to various destinations many times over recent years. We decided we should see how high we could ride this winter season as well and perhaps make it an annual winter project for us.

Bassett Peak, Arizona, February 2017

Bicycling Mount Lemmon, Winter 2016