Randy Ride Mt lemmon
Randy Ride
Mt Lemmon / Summerhaven
In 1957 Harley Davidson introduced the world to the Sportster XL, the longest running motorcycle model in history. That same year in July, eleven pilots from the 15th Fighter Interceptor Squadron stationed out of Davis-Monthan Air Force base in Tucson flew their F-86D Sabrejets to Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, NM. They were to perform a fly-over presentation in honor of departing Commander General Wendell W. Bowman, 34th Air Division, Air Defense Command.
During the briefing at Kirtland, thunder storms began moving into the area causing the fly-by and review to be cancelled. Since the “Sabre Dog” is an all weather interceptor, the pilots were instructed to return to Tucson. Lts, Henry Van Liet, and Joseph Ornate were among the pilots who were making the 318 mile trip (as the Sabre flies). The thrust from their General Electric J47 engines enabled then to arrive above Tucson in 50 minutes. At 25,000 feet above the Santa Catalina Mountains, the pilots began to rendezvous and prepare for 3-ship formations and fly-by above Davis-Monthan.
Lt Ornate began to assemble the formation by positioning his F-86 on the right wing of the element leader. As he trimmed his controls to maintain formation, his single seat interceptor was suddenly jarred upward out of position. It felt like someone was shooting missiles at him from the mountains below. In his earpiece he could hear the element leader ordering him and Van Liet to eject. While Ornate had been setting up his formation, Van Liet was also attempting to form along the right wing. The tail from Van Liet’s Saber Dog had stuck the underside of Ornate’s plane causing both fighters to pitch up and out of control.
Ornate’s jet was now upside down, gravity was forcing the pilot off of his seat making it difficult to reach the ejection handle near the armrest. Using all the force and will he could muster, Joseph was finally able to engage the ejector. At 20,000 feet both pilots were able to pull the rip cords on their parachutes. Winds were pushing them north of Tucson. Storm clouds below them obscured their view of the ground; they could not tell if they were to land safely in the desert or crash into the mountains. When they finally did break through the clouds they where relieved to see they still had a few thousand feet to go. Van Liet landed backwards on the side of the mountain, pushed by the winds. Ornate landed through some trees, also on the mountain.
Lt Ornate gathered and folded his parachute so that the planes circling above would know that he was safe. He then proceeded to hike toward the Mt Lemmon Lodge. During his hike he noticed Van Liet’s parachute still open about a mile away. Changing his course, he hiked for two hours to reach his friend hoping to find him still alive. When he did arrive at Van Liet’s location he found him unharmed. Henry had decided to leave his chute open so that rescue would be able to find him.
At the time the Mount Lemmon Air Force Station was in use and manned by the 684th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron assigned by the 34th Air Division. Various radars were in place to monitor the area and control the nuclear missiles located throughout the area. This station has since been decommissioned and the location is now used by the University of Arizona as an observatory. It took several hours for men from the station to reach Ornate and Van Liet that night. Nightfall and the terrain made progress difficult. They decided to camp on the mountain for the night rather than attempt the dangerous decent using flashlights. During the night their campfire was doused by a heavy monsoon rain. The rain had also extinguished a growing fire caused by the wreckage of Van Liet’s jet that was now spread for several hundred yards along the Butterfly Trail. The pieces of the F-86D, #52-3623, are situated on the mountain in an area that was determined to be too difficult to retrieve. By hiking 5 miles along the Butterfly Trail from Catalina highway, the pieces of the wreckage can still be seen.
It was almost unbelievable that the night could be so cold this close to Tucson, AZ on July 8. It was if the pilots had landed in a different word, at least a different part of the planet. In a way, they did. The Santa Catalina Mountains are one of 40 Sky Islands found in North America. This mountain “island,” separated by vast expanse of desert is among the most diverse ecosystems in the world because of the great topographic complexity. The region is a blend of tropical and temperate, harboring well over half the bird species of North America, 29 bat species, over 3,000 species of plants, and 104 species of mammals–a diversity exceeding anywhere else in the U.S. The geographic zones within the Santa Catalina sky mountain are diverse enough to simulate travel from Mexico to Canada all within 27 miles. While the annual precipitation in Tucson is 15″ or less; Mt. Lemmon gets 180″ of snow.
The Sky Island Scenic Byway begins at the base of Mt Lemmon and terminates over 8000 feet higher at Summerhaven and Ski Valley. This road is one of the most scenic highways in the Southwest, complete with mountain forests, canyons, deserts, and breathtaking vistas. One of the only paved roads leading up to the top of Mt. Lemmon, it begins in the Lower Sonoran region and climbs up to the forests of the Canadian zone, providing a unique chance to experience four seasons in one trip. The parkway gets its name from areas of biological diversity in the Coronado National Forest that rise dramatically from the desert floor to stand wreathed in clouds as twelve widely scattered “sky islands.”
The Sky Island parkway is also known as the Mount Lemmon Highway, Arizona Forest Highway 39, and the Catalina Highway, but is officially known as the General Hitchcock Highway. The highway is named after Frank Harris Hitchcock, former Postmaster General of the United States who spearheaded the efforts/funding to build a road to Summerhaven. To reduce costs, a federal prison was established at the base of the mountain to provide labor to build the road. During World War II an internment camp was set up to contain Japanese Americans after the Japanese attack on Peal Harbor. These internees were also forced to work on the construction of the road.
One of the prisoners of the camp was Gordon Hirabayashi. Gordon was born in Seattle and had received his degree at the University of Washington. Gordon had protested the internment of Japanese Americans along the west coast and had demonstrated several protests. He was ultimately arrested and charged guilty during Hirabayashi v.United States case where it was decided that the US could hold Japanese guilty for avoiding curfews. Hirabayashi was sentenced to the Honor Camp on Mt Lemmon, but the US would not pay to send him to the Arizona prison. Gordon then hitch hiked to Tucson. When he arrived at the camp, the officials could not find his paperwork and told him to go on. Hirabayashi refused to leave thinking that would cause him more trouble than he was in. After they sent Gordon to dinner and a movie, they eventually found his paperwork and admitted him to the camp. After the war, he went on to earn B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from the University of Washington. He spent the rest of his life in the teaching profession. Years later a political science professor from the University of California, San Diego, had uncovered documents that clearly showed evidence of government misconduct in 1942—evidence that the government knew there was no military reason for the exclusion order but withheld that information from the United States Supreme Court. With this new information, Hirabayashi’s case was reheard by the federal courts, and in 1987 his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Gordon Hirabayashi, was later honored in 1999 when the site of the Honor Camp was converted into the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area. On April 27, 2012, President Barack Obama announced that Hirabayashi would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his principled stand against Japanese-American internment.
As you travel up the Sky Island parkway you are met by a formation of hoodoo’s. These are thin, tall rock formations that appear along the highway, watching your progress.
There are only a few places you can fish in and around Tucson. This is Rose Canyon Lake. Located at 7000 feet on the way up to Mt. Lemmon, it is a 7 acre lake surrounded by Ponderosa pines and walking paths. There is an $8 parking fee. The Rose Canyon Lake turnoff is at mile post 17.3. Turn left and follow road through campground to the end.
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The original Catalina / Sky Island paved road was narrow, in places had little or no shoulder, featured vertical drop-offs near the road, and was bumpy along most of its length due to years of patchwork repairs. It was long regarded as “one of the most dangerous roads in Pima County.” In 1988, the Federal Lands Highway program began a series of seven projects aimed at significantly improving the roadway, with the assistance of the US Forest Service and Pima County. The projects were aimed at improving the quality of the roadway and increasing safety for travelers, while minimizing the impact on the visual aspects and natural beauty of the surrounding mountains. The final project was completed in 2007, at a cost of $15 million, and the road is now much wider and features adequate shoulders, passing areas, and extensive guard rails.
The highway ends at Summerhaven. The Summerhaven area was originally used by the U.S. Army at Fort Lowell in Tucson as a military camp in its campaign against the Apache people in the 1870s and 1880s. It is now a quaint village of shops and restaurants rebounding from the ashes of the 2003 Aspen Wildfire. The Aspen Fire burned from June 17, 2003 for about a month on Mount Lemmon. It burned 84,750 acres of land, and destroyed 340 homes and businesses of the town of Summerhaven. Damages to electric lines, phone lines, water facilities, streets and sewers totaled $4.1 million. Firefighting cost was about $17 million, and the Forest Service is spending $2.7 million to prevent soil loss. The residents of Tucson organized “Lemmon Aid” to help rebuild Summerhaven. You have to admit the folks in Tucson are very clever.
Just outside of Summerhaven is the Mount Lemmon Ski Valley, the southernmost ski location in the continental United States. The ski lift runs year round, as a “Sky Ride” experience in the summertime, offering views of the Ski Valley area, forest and grass-covered slopes, and the long distance vistas of the mountains and valleys in the distance north of the Santa Catalinas. Ticket prices are $9 for the Sky Ride.
So now that you have a little history, how about a nice Randy Ride along this fine highway? We can do KSU (8:00 am) from Ann and Mark’s house; possibly do a meet in Casa Grande if Steve wants to come along. Take I-10 south to Grant exit 256. East to E Tanque Verde Rd (left turn). Continue to E Catalina Hwy (left turn).