alive. Strange carvings made by centuries of wind and dust form unusual sights. Huge boulders are shaped into seemingly human or animal characteristics. Here is where you will find the famous “Duck Head Rock”, or "Nixon Head Rock" (named after our President), depending on your perspective. The view from Windy Point overlooks the Tucson valley. Views of ten mountain ranges can be seen from this vantage point. After your continue your drive and reach the end of the road, you are met by temperatures some thirty degrees cooler than the blistering one hundred degree temperatures you left behind. Patches of snow on the ground loom above you. This is wear you will jettison your vehicle and grab your pack to continue beyond the pavement into this forest towards a monstrous clearing. It takes the better part of a strenuous hike to reach the makeshift camp. By the time you reach this point you body tells you that you are exhausted, but this is when you see it; the clouds hovering over the valley are embodied with thick, white air taking on the appearance of massive cotton balls that you could rub against your face and sense the feeling of goose down. The bottom side of these clouds is a dirty gray, signaling an impending thunderstorm. You make camp and sit looming over the valley in a position that makes you feel as if you are in control of the destiny of the earth below. The storm begins with a strong breeze. The breeze causes the pine needles from the evergreens to brush against each other sounding as if you were rubbing your hands along a silk sheet. Your eyes capture a burst of color off to your left. You think to yourself that it could not have been lightning because you swear that you saw red. Could it be a forest fire? Then you see it burst in front of you, a massive lightning bolt out over the valley. The bolt is a deep shade of fire red. After what seems an eternity the booming report of the thunder catches up to the ligh...
