Daytime Temperature: 60 - 70 degrees
Lowest Nighttime Temperature: 25 degrees
Humidity - as low as 8% (Now that is dry!)
Rainfall: What is that? (None)
Chiricahua National Monument - Another area of outstanding natural beauty and as a result we visited three times.
Our first visit was in the nature of a fact finding mission and we gathered information regarding hiking opportunities. As it was very cool and windy we drove through looking at the amazing rock formations (a young deer crossed the road in front of us), well worth the trip for non hikers.
Visitor Centre to Heart of the Rocks - A 8.5 mile hike which took us in amongst these amazing rock formations. The Heart of the Rocks part of the hike is circular. The hike can be made almost fully circular but then becomes a 10.5 mile hike. 10.5 miles is well within our range, however the shorter winter days worked against us as we don't like getting up too early since the coldest part of the day is around 7 AM. The rock formations take on different shapes and shades according to your position and this ever changing landscape is so beautiful and interesting that we never even noticed the moderate elevation changes we encountered.
Echo Canyon Loop Trail - 3.5 mile hike meanders through more fantastic rock formations to a lower level valley, where very large trees thrive and birds abound. We encountered a very friendly Scrub Jay which although it wouldn't perch on Wullie's finger followed/led us for a few hundred yards. We also added a few new bird species to our spotters records. The return journey provided views across the valley to rock formations which resembled huge cities including cathedrals, castles etc. We took 4 hours plus to complete the hike and although there was some elevation change on the return leg, this was mainly due to the amount of time we just stood gaping.
Chiricahua National Monument should be on the itinerary of every visitor to this part of Arizona and is in fact a good enough reason for visiting. The only problem we had was losing our Golden Eagle passport, which for $50 a year allows you unlimited entrance to all National Parks, Monument, Historic sites. We had 8 months use and saved a lot of dollars so we didn't feel too bad and invested another $50 on a new one.
Twin Lakes Birding area - Between 12,000 & 20,000 Sandhill Crane visit this area during the winter months. They land on the fields to feed and a few times each day take to the skies like an aerobatics team. They split into squadrons and try to outdo each other in the amount of formations they can fly. This is a very warm sheltered spot and we spent a large amount of time walking with the binoculars to the fore and added quite a few different species to our spotters record.
Cochise Stronghold - This is named after the Chiricahua Apache chief Cochise. The impregnable wilderness of rocks provided safe haven for the Apache during their 12 year war with the US Cavalry. Cochise never surrendered and only agreed to peace in exchange for land. He died two years later and was buried amongst the rocks of the Stronghold by friends and no one is sure exactly where. To two kids brought up on Cowboy/Indian films the fact that we were actually following the paths used by the Apache for thousands of years was exciting enough. The scenery, birds and other wildlife only added to the pleasure derived from this hike. We hiked from the western side up to the Stronghold divide but it is possible to hike from the eastern side as well and on the eastern side is a massacre site where a Mammoth was killed by the Apache. The trail from west to east and back is only 9 miles so is easily possible in a day.
Daytime Temperature: 63 - 80 degrees
Lowest Nighttime Temperature: 35 degrees
Rainfall: 8/10 spots on the windscreen on February 16th.
Our activities were slightly curtailed during our stay in Tucson as Linda's ear infection was still playing up. The people parked next to us in the RV park were from Washington state. The man was stationed at US AFB Upper Heyford (Near Oxford) where he met his wife in the 1950's. She worked in the local hospital in Banbury before moving to the USA. Linda and her therefore had something in common to talk about and occasionally listen as well. A really nice couple. A local electronics store was offering a bargain too good to turn down: a Satellite System for $99, a free 35mm camera and a voucher to the value of $25 for a meal in a Microbrewery restaurant. Our regular readers know how Linda cannot pass a Microbrewery so Wullie had to struggle with installing & assembling a Satellite receiver & dish. We now have over a hundred channels of quality television?
Tucson Mountain Park - Hiked 11 miles through cactus across the desert with very little shade. The hike was only supposed be 7 miles but no marking of paths and many more paths than shown on our map resulted in a couple of wrong turns extending our hike. Not a brilliant hike but we did see some flowering cactus and different birds.
Saguaro National Park West - Famous for the huge Saguaro cactus which can grow up to 50 feet, live 200 years and weigh as much as 7 tons. In a single rainstorm the surface of the plant expands like an accordion to store up to 200 gallons of water in its central core. Many birds and rodents make their nests in the outer skin of the plant. To survive in this tough environment the young plant relies on native trees for shelter from sun, frost and animals. Survival odds are not too great - a Saguaro produces approximately 40,000,000 seeds during its life and only about one will survive to maturity. We drove around the scenic loop and hiked a mile to a viewpoint of the desert and the surrounding mountains. Many different varieties of cactus, as well as Saguaro's, were encountered during the hike.
Daytime Temperature: 55 - 80 degrees
Nighttime Temperature: 40 - 50 degrees
Rainfall: A sprinkle during one night, and a few drops one afternoon.
Sandstorm: Close windows and doors even for one as mild as this. Should have dismantled Satellite Dish as it blew over but fortunately no damage.
Ajo is 43 miles from the Mexican border and the economy was supported for many years by the 1.5 mile open pit copper mine. The Plaza in town is in the Old Spanish style and is very attractive and different. Another National Monument, Organ Pipe Cactus, is within 34 miles.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - Is famous for the Organ Pipe cactus which is rarely found north of Mexico. Chose the 21 mile Ajo Mountain loop drive to see the diversity of the Sonoran desert. The Ajo Mountain loop is amazingly green for a desert. Lots of trees, different varieties of cactus and many birds on this drive through the 4000 feet mountains.
Sports Activity - The RV park belonged to a Motel which had a Tennis Court and a Shuffleboard rink. Shuffleboard has similarities to Curling as you propel plastic discs towards a target at the opposite end of a concrete pad. The discs are propelled using a long stick with arms at the end and the concrete pad is treated with 'Sliperene" to increase speed. Played both but think Shuffleboard is more fitting to our skill set (some books say it is an old peoples sport?).
Daytime Temperature: 58 - 80 degrees
Nighttime Temperature: 40 - 52 degrees
Rainfall: None
Our second visit to the Phoenix area so this time decided to stay on the western outskirts. a very expensive RV site ($36/night) but fortunately we belong to an organization called Passport America which gives us half price. Have returned here as the RV is going in for some minor Warranty repairs whilst we are Curling in Illinois for a week. We are flying out of Phoenix to Chicago so we may be subjecting ourselves to a temperature drop of 50 degrees? although it is mild there at the moment. Nice warm sunny weather and a charcoal BBQ by our RV pitch means Wullie will be duty cook a few times during our stay.
White Tank Mountain Park - County park to the west of Phoenix with quite a few miles of hiking trails. Hiked 1 mile to a waterfall which was of course dried up as there has been no rain for over a hundred days. Were able to climb right into the bowl cut out by the waterfall and let our imagination work. Hiked a five mile round trip in Mesquite canyon to a viewpoint over the remainder of the mountain range.
Alice Cooper'sTown Brewpub/Restaurant - Revisited the night before flying off to Chicago as we had enjoyed it so much previously. Not as busy as the night the Basketball was on but the food/beer was just as good as before. Wullie really struggled to finish his half Chicken/Spare Ribs combo but the laddie is a fighter and found 3 pints of Microbrew a great help. He's beginning to appreciate Linda's love of Microbrew!
Miles travelled this month: 1,274
Accumulative miles: 19,923
Interesting Hyperlinks:
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
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