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Last weekend, in our first visit to the Marshall Gulch area of Mount Lemmon since a severe wild fire ravaged the area in 2003, Erin and I headed up the Marshall Gulch Trail with a destination of Mint Spring.

Accompanying us were Jenny and Aaron, great friends from Tucson. The idea was to get as high in elevation if possible (it was about 105 F that day in the Tucson basin) and also re-visit one of our favorite spots on the mountain. Mint Spring is a true spring which has water pretty much year-round. In the later 19th century, a rancher, miner, or pioneer planted some spearmint plants near the water source and they have been there ever since. Erin and I had enjoyed the mint plants and the water-created oasis during our courtship many moons ago; we were happy to be going back!

After the large fire (Aspen Fire) that started right in the Gulch in 2003, we expected the worst. The fear was that either the mint plants would be destroyed by the fire, or else the erosion from the loss of soil-sustaining tree and plant life would have clogged the spring and the surrounding oasis. Two years had done a lot in the Gulch and the eastern part of the Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area, which we entered after a quarter-mile on the trail from the over-crowded parking lot (if you go, park in Summerhaven and walk down to avoid the congested area). Though the Marshall Gulch was fairly untouched, as soon as we left the watercourse and started switchbacking up the ridge we started seeing the charred trunks and downed logs that signaled the recent fire. The undergrowth was very green and thick, mostly thanks to more sunlight coming down and also lots of rain in the last two years. The result was a bizarre combination of green and black! There were a fair amount of wildflowers, but most of the green color was was scrub oak, manzanita, odd weeds and various other plants typical of after-fire growth.

We met the Mint Spring Trail after about one and a half miles of climbing. Not knowing what we would find at the spring, we headed up the trail. Each ridge was a goose-bump experience as we thought that for sure this was the ridge with the spring! Finally, it was there…I was the first to the spring, but had a fairly hard time finding it due to the thick undergrowth. Finally I spotted a rock that someone had placed on a stick to show the spring location. It was still running and full of water! It looked great. The mint plants were alive, healthy, and seemed to be saying: “what fire?”. We rested and enjoyed the green growth and stark beauty of the spotted bark on burnt trees that contrasted with the freshness of the undergrowth. See photos of our hike at Aaron and Jenny’s Flickr page (thanks for putting those up Aaron!).

All in all, it was a good reunion with a favorite place. We took lots of cool pictures, got out of the summer heat, and shared a fun hike with good friends.