Frog Mountain and Sabino Canyon

Frog Mountain

The Santa Catalina mountains loom large over our eastside neighborhood and dominate the skyline of most tourist photographs of Tucson.  The Tohono O'odham call Mt. Lemmon (at 9,157 feet, the highest peak in the range) Frog Mountain, and particularly from our vantage point, the mountain does in fact look remarkably like a very, very large frog.  It's a quick trip from our home across the Tanque Verde Wash, which drains the southeast part of the Mountain, to the Catalina Highway.  This road is the only paved access to the campgrounds and scenic overlooks that dot the higher elevations.  Along the way are spectacular rock formations, forests, and the cool fragrant air that makes this a favorite summertime destination for locals, particularly cyclists.

Sabino Canyon

Nestled under Frog Mountain is Sabino Canyon, the largest of several dramatic rockface canyons that emanate out from the core of the Santa Catalinas.  The National Forest Service operates a tram along the Canyon allowing easy access to the trail up to Mt. Lemmon.  All along the route are interesting rock formations and a perennial stream that feeds several very nice swimming holes sheltered by lovely riparian vegetation.  Of particular interest are the many wonderful rock-face simulacra (rocks that look like faces, animals, etc.)  In person you can see a large number of these and one thing I noticed right away:  many of the simulacra also look like like frogs.  I suspect that as in areas of California and in Peru where these occur, natural rock features have been modified over the course of 12,000 plus years of habitation and perhaps were even used in shamanistic rituals by the ancestors of the Tohono O'Odham peoples.