We’re still struggling to remain optimistic about our upcoming move across the country (with no jobs in sight, thus far), but yesterday we caught a ray of light in the rain. Not only did we go hiking in drizzly, monsoon-taunting weather, but we also made a big – hopefully positive – decision to extend our BIG MOVE into a big, month-long road trip. Yes, we’ve decided to take advantage of this small window of time when we are both jobless before embarking on the rat race of surviving in NYC while in grad school, no less.
Suffice to say, I will be updating this blog with our travel plans and experiences, but we’re still in Tucson for another month or so, and we’re planning many more small trips and hikes in the area like the one we did yesterday.
Green Mountain Trail
We began our ascent up Mount Lemmon with no destination in mind. We simply knew we MUST get out of the house. Luckily for us, the weather was amazing for this time of year. 80 degrees and raining. Unlike most of the country, in Tucson, we constantly search the skies, hoping for dark clouds on the horizon that might roll in, bringing the monsoon rains to drown the heat. When the monsoon hits, Tucson becomes much friendlier. Suddenly, we all have something in common.
We didn’t have to drive too far up the mountain for the temperature to drop enough for a pleasant hike. When we saw a full parking lot, indicating a good trail, we pulled off and studied the trail map sign
to get our bearings. We had the option of going down the Bug Spring trail or up the Green Mountain trail. I’m always a big fan of hiking up first and then coming back down to end the hike, so we turned left for Green Mountain.
The trail is well-defined but is pretty rocky, so good hiking shoes are a must. It’s also a bit of a stair stepper on the way up which was great since this hike is at somewhat of a low elevation. It felt good to work my legs instead of just my lungs like so many of the mountain hikes.
Overall, it’s an easy-moderate trail with some beautiful forest scenery and some good views of the mountains and the city. We only hiked in about an hour before the humidity and light rain had us nearly drenched. So we sat on a large slab of rock for a light lunch while looking out at the view before heading back down. Halfway back down, the sun overtook the clouds and dried us from the rain.
Recommended Podcast for your Drive:
The Ezra Klein Show: Jessica Valenti on honesty, internet trolls, and modern feminism
Valenti is the founder of Feministing, has her own podcast and column with The Guardian, and just wrote a new book called Sex Object. If you are interested in the feminist movement of the last 10 years, blogging, and/or the process of writing and publishing a book, then you should listen to this podcast. While I didn’t give Valenti’s podcast very high reviews on here, I still mad respect her as a person and a feminist.
In this episode, I loved hearing about her involvement in the feminist movement, her writing process, and her personal experiences of living in a society that so frequently treats women as sex objects. The book sounds very personal but also incredibly relatable for most women. And as Ezra Klein says on the show, men should absolutely read this book, too, for a glimpse into what our society is really like for women.
Trynia Kaufman 