Tucson trip vids

[FalconGTHO]

Sunday May 4, 08 with two buddies from two other boards. I hadnt been to Mt Lemmon since my first time 12? years. For the out of staters, there have been two fires in 03 and 05, so the landscape was barren and devastated, which sucked not only from a visual standpoint but from the environmental point as well. I knew about the fires but was hoping it wouldnt be as visible.

Nevertheless, at least for the roads Ive travelled in this state so far, THIS is THE BEST drive IN the state. Certainly on this day it was. The speed limit has been lowered since 12 years ago to 35, which bites, but the old limit was no more than 45. Also, not far into the drive a Ranger fee station has been put up to collect the hiking/camping fees that started to be charged a few years ago. That causes a bit of slow down because you dont want to draw attention by blasting by.

The fee isnt needed for driving or checking out the scenic overlooks, so fortunately the station is a two lane deal allowing those who dont need to pay the ability to just pass by.

We caught up to traffic shortly into it, so I had to do a few of the slow down, catch up moves but luckily they peeled off not too much longer after that into one of the overlook pull outs. From then on, it was free and clear to the top.

I had been alerted that the road is patrolled by the county Sheriff and that they have no problem pulling people over on the side of the mountain. None were seen on the way up however. But, with so many blind curves I didnt push hard past 40 much at all. On the way down they had some import pulled over going up but near the bottom. There is a section somewhere around midway thats posted as a "Speed Enforcement Zone" so that was a killjoy. Going down I pushed harder but I stopped at all the pullouts for pics so I didnt get to enjoy any real hard core driving.

I definitely want to go back, not only to take more time at the overlooks and stop at more of the unnamed lookouts but also to run the road more quickly. Plus do a lot of hiking. Definitely it would be a weekend and even a long weekend return trip to get it all done. Considering it takes two hours to get there, going down on a Friday night so I have a full day is definitely the way to go.

Anyway, I tried a new way of recording video. Video was as much a reason for this trip as seeing the views and getting stills. Well, the video quality is great, but the video content itself, to me, blows. Unlike my South Mtn vids (also on YT), these vids are pretty friggin boring.

I strapped the camera to the side mirror which worked well. However, I used rubber bands, which allowed the camra to jiggle some. It doesnt affect the vid really, but it allowed the cam to rattle against the mirror housing. Next time Ill use shoe strings to strap and make sure the cam is padded against the housing.

The biggest let down, however, is the sound. Since the sound on my S Mtn vids was too distorted because the cam was too close to the exhaust, I figured the "mirror cam" location would solve that and provide me with a fantastic symphony of Ford Racing exhaust. Umm, negative. Tire noise is OUT OF CONTROL. There are some times when you can hear it, but not well. Also, the road itself doesnt lend itself to the kind of sound generating driving that S Mtn does.

When I go back, Im going to do a "rearview mirror" cam facing forward. In fact, Ill probably do that almost always from now on. I do have a method in mind for a "trunklid cam". Also, its clear I should invest in another point and shoot cam so I can get going and coming vid at the same time. Strap both cams together back to back and mount them on the roof. Heh.

Keep in mind the road is 27 miles and my vid is only 18 mins. So you only get to see 30?%.

Anyway, heres the vids, pics to come shortly:

YouTube - Go.net/2005Stang.com Spring trip Pt 1

YouTube - Go.net/2005Stang.com Spring trip Pt 2

[El Jefe]

Its definitely a fun drive. Before the Sheriffs started patrolling the Mt like crazy we were going up probably every week. The fun trips are after 1am when the roads are empty. Nothing like taking turns at 65 in my buddies Vette. We almost hit a deer once though, that made us both practically wet our pants

Theres plenty of good pull outs for pic opportunites. Ill try to make the next one!

[FalconGTHO]

Hmm, high speed is great, but not at night, unless it was a full moon.

[El Jefe]

Oh ya the moon lit up the road completely. Theres just lots of wildlife to look out for. Let me know if you come back up!

[Jacostang]

Thanks for posting, nice stuff!!

[AZSaleen04]

Very Nice!