A Lizard Poses on Blackett's Ridge

6:15am and the parking lot at Sabino Canyon is rather full, for a summer morning.  When I left my place at the crack of dawn it was already mid 70's and warming rapidly.  The morning outdoor window is open for about 4 hours and during that time the humidity is very low, the sky is clear and it is beautiful.

Headed towards Blackett's Ridge, 3 miles distant.  The first mile is flat and then the ascent begins, 2 miles having an average grade of 17%.  In the distance, the sun shines on the canyon but for much of my ascent, I thankfully hike in the shade.

From the parking lot to the top, my best time is 51 minutes (5th out of 448 for we Strava users) but any time under an hour is good for me.  I reach the top in 1:01 so kind of disappointed as I was going as fast as I could for the duration of the route.  My fitness just isn't great right now but that will change, probably for the worse, ha, ha.

Sabino Canyon

Looking to the southeast.  Many wasps were buzzing around the flowers.

After about 15 minutes, I headed back down.  Not nearly as green as it was a month ago but monsoons should begin any day now and will dramatically change the color.

How about that!?  99% of the time they skitter away too fast for me to get a shot but this guy or gal posed for a long time and what a long tail and beautiful colors.  Hope he doesn't end up inside a rattler.  Finished with 6 miles and 1776' of climbing.  I kid you not, on July 4th, I hiked 1776 feet.