Chiricahua Mountains (2-6-2011)

   Paul and I spent our anniversary hiking in the Chiricahua Mountains, which was home to the Chiricahua Apaches many years ago.  The last time we were here, we hiked a short trail, in 5 inches of new snow.  This time we were luckier- there was no fresh snow on the ground, although about 30% of the trail was snow covered.  It was a test of our "layering" abilities, for sure.  Everyone knows if the temperatures are cold and may vary, you need to layer.  Deciding what to wear for those layers required some thought though.  In the end I wore a short sleeved hiking shirt, a sweatshirt, a hooded sweatshirt, and my Gor-tex windbreaker.  I also had two hats with me (baseball cap and a warm one), and swapped back and forth between them all day.  For the first hour I was really glad I had all those layers on, since the temperatures had barely approached the 40 degree mark.  We both shed and added layers all day long as we moved from sun to shade, snow to bare ground, and wind to calm and every combination of those factors imaginable.

 




Big Balanced rock- 25ft in diameter, weighs 1000 tons

                                                                                                                                                                We took a longer trail this time, hiking the Ed Rigg trail to the Mushroom Trail to get to the Heart of Rocks Trail that has some interesting rock formations.  Once we finished the Heart of Rocks trail, which is a small loop, we had to make a decision about our route back.  We could continue forward, taking the opportunity to see new formations, but that would add 2 miles and some elevation gain to the day; or we could turn back and return the way we came, keeping the day's hike at about 7.5 miles. 

   We decided it was too late in the day to comfortably hike the extra mileage, so we  turned around.  However, we did think it was worth adding a short 1 mile spur to get to see "Inspiration Point".  By that time we were getting tired, so we were hoping it would be worth it.  It was.  The skies were clear enough to see for long distances and the views were awesome.  Total mileage for the day was 8.5 miles.                                         



view from Inspiration Point



              Once we finished the hike, we went home to get ready to go out to dinner.  Willcox doesn't have too many restaurants, but they do have a decent Mexican one.   It was a great day and felt great to get out and get moving again.  Today we head to El Paso for a few days before heading down to the Gulf coast of Texas.

Celebrating 11 years

Paul and I are celebrating our 11th anniversary today.  I am not a "mushy" type of person, but the last 11 years have been the happiest of my life.  Having someone as a partner who is supportive, intelligent and fun, and always puts me first has made my life more amazing than I thought possible. 
    We're spending the day hiking in the Chiricahua Mountains.  We've basically been hibernating for the last few days as Arizona suffers record low temperatures.  Last night it got as low as 14 degrees here in Willcox.  We haven't had the snow that other parts of the country have had, but around here, no one is prepared for such low temperatures and they are struggling to cope.  We were planning on being in El Paso today, but the snow and the cold have caused us to delay moving again.
    Today it's supposed to finally warm up- 58 degrees in the mountains, 64 down in the town, but we are slow to get moving because its still only 28 out right now.  Hopefully we will get to hike and I can post some pictures.


February 5, 2000



Hunkering down in Tucson, AZ (01-31-2011)

     After saying goodbye to everyone in Quartzsite yesterday, we arrived in Tucson with the idea of staying for two days and then heading for El Paso, to see Paul's mom before meandering across Texas.  That was before we saw the weather forecast though.  I'm sure everyone is aware that most of the country is getting blasted with yet another nasty winter storm.  Our daughter in Indiana reports that ice has been falling for hours now, and Boston is expecting another 20 inches of snow.  I am  glad we have been able to stay as far south as we have, although we sure haven't avoided all the snow and cold weather.  El Paso is expected to get about 2-4 inches of snow on Wednesday, and the low temperature is supposed to be 9 degrees on Thursday, so we're going to wait it out here and see if Friday's weather looks better.  Its not going to be cozy warm in Tucson either, but it won't be that cold!

   There is a gem show going on here right now, so the town is busy, and we'll have to leave this park and find somewhere else to stay tomorrow.  They had no room for us after tonight, so we scouted out a couple of places and hopefully it won't be a problem.  We found two places, but one doesn't take reservations (state park) and the other is $50 a night.  Talk about sticker shock!

    There is so much to do in Tucson, we could spend a month here, but today we chose to go to the Sonoran Desert Museum.  I'm glad we did- its one of the best museums we've been to.

All of the exhibits are first class, and the  shows were interesting and informative.  In the morning the show starred about a dozen live animals, most of whom walked across the stage, from one side to the other.  The birds that were featured flew over the heads of the audience, or walked down the aisles.

     The museum is mostly outdoors and the displays of wildlife and habitat  of the sonoran desert were very well done.  By using glass windows above and under the surface of the display, you are able to see the animals in a more natural setting.  We saw a fox sleeping in his den, and the snakes look like they are touchable, but live behind glass built into artificial rocks.




 

a hawk and one of the handlers

In the afternoon there was a raptor show that involved 4 handlers and 5 hawks. The hawks are actually a family of hawks, since this breed hunts together as a family.  Everyone was asked to keep their hands low, and not put them above their heads, and the hawks flew so low you could feel the breeze from their wings. We watched them for about a half hour and learned a lot about their habits in the wild. We never heard the handlers talk (a ranger was addressing the audience) but they all had headsets to talk to each other.  The only time the handlers stood is when they wanted a hawk to land on their arm.  The rest of the time they would stay in a crouched position.

  We were frozen by the end of the day but we had a great time.