ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is slated to sizzle, with temperatures topping 110 degrees this weekend. But heat-stressed residents can find some relief in evergreen forests with wildflowers and a trickling stream just an hour’s drive from the city.
There — at Marshall Gulch in the Catalina Mountains more than a vertical mile above ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ — temperatures can be at least 20 degrees cooler than on the desert floor.
Pine, fir and maple trees provide soothing shade in a picnic area in the gulch and along nearby trails, including a 3.7-mile loop route made up of the Marshall Gulch and Aspen trails.
Wildflowers, including huge white cow parsnip blooms and golden columbines, brighten a road leading from the mountain village of Summerhaven to the gulch. Those and other colorful flowers also show up along trails in the area.
A few trickling streams add to the cooling atmosphere.
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Michael Stanley, manager of the Mount Lemmon Water District, noted that water was flowing this week — if only a few inches deep — in Carter Canyon and Upper Sabino Creek high in the Catalinas.
A faint flow and some small pools of water also persisted along the Marshall Gulch Trail.
To reach the gulch area, follow the Catalina Highway northeast of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ for about 25 miles to Summerhaven. Continue south out of Summerhaven for about a mile to a parking area in the gulch.
