Hiking Club members cooling off in an Aspen forest high in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson this summer (photo by Jim Savage)
Warren Wasescha, Sun Lakes Hiking Club
Sometimes change is good, especially when it’s 115 degrees outside. Recently, a few Sun Lakes Hiking Club members traveled to the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson to cool off in an Aspen forest at 8,000 feet to enjoy the smell of wild mint and the sight of wild raspberries and blooming wildflowers. It was just what they needed to counter the effects of a too-long heat spell in Sun Lakes.
Changing up experiences is healthy and often just what the soul needs. It’s why our Hiking Club plans a group hike in the spring to a different part of the Southwest each year.
Recent Special Hikes have included destinations like Palm Springs, Prescott, Tucson, Chiricahua National Monument, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Santa Fe.
What makes these Special Hikes so much fun? For starters, great hiking in places you wouldn’t otherwise visit. Then there is the fun of socializing, daily happy hours, interesting lodging, and sometimes the unexpected, like getting a special tour and dinner on the USS Midway in San Diego when rains washed out plans for the day’s hike, or spending Valentine’s Day in Las Vegas celebrated by great hiking in the surrounding national forests during the day and dinner with spouses in the evening.
Like to hike? Come join our club. We are a friendly, inclusive group of hikers who welcome all able-bodied hikers. Our goal is to make group hiking fun, challenging, social, and safe. Membership is open to individuals who reside, rent, or lease in Sun Lakes or SunBird.
Our club hikes formally November through April and informally in the summer. We hike at three different levels of intensity.
For more information about our club, please type “Sun Lakes Hiking Club” into your web browser and look for our Meetup page. You’ll find information about our club along with photos and descriptions of past and future hikes. If you have questions about the club not answered on our website, please contact our president Ted Maresh at [email protected] and he can help you.
If you would like to join club hikers and explore some of Arizona’s cooler hiking spots, please contact Stu Frost at [email protected].
Hiking is one of the many rewarding activities you can do in our community. We look forward to hiking with you!