Southwest New Mexico

March 8, 2016 - Three Rivers Petroglyph Site - US Dept. of Interior - Near Tularosa, NM

We had a banner day today.  Woke up to rain for the first time in 5 weeks since we've been back on the mainland.  Saw a nice rainbow as the squalls passed by.  Enjoyed the pungent aroma of moist Creosote bush, fantastic, following the rain showers.   All of this followed 2 days at a little gem of a state park, Rockhound State Park, near Deming, NM.  First night in, we visited one of the two wineries in town and ended up buying bottles of Gewurtztraminer and Moscato after our tasting.  Got our oil changed while in town, and enjoyed three nice hikes around the campground and the South Canyon section of the park. 

There are semi-precious stones scattered on the hills surrounding the park, geodes, thunder eggs, jasper, perlites...

Our campsite had gorgeous views of the hills in back, and the basin and sunsets to our west.

Today, on our way North from Rockhound, we stopped at the White Sands National Monument where evaporated gypsum has been deposited by the Southwest winds:

Sliding is an option here.

Pretty cool place.

We ended up this afternoon at this gem of a park, where we are one of 3 campers.  We're surrounded by over 21,000 documented petroglyphs and there are some cool trails, and we even visited a beautiful little church chapel from 1911 about 3 miles down the road.

 Like I said, a banner day!

When in Tombstone

March 8, 2016 - Reflecting back on Tombstone, AZ

While we were staying at Kartchner Caverns, outside Benson, AZ the other day, we took an afternoon to visit Tombstone, AZ, about 20 miles down the road.  You gotta see the gunfight at the OK Corral:

Where your actors will encourage the audience to support the good guys (dressed in black!) with hoots and "yays!", and discourage the bad guys (scruffy cowboy types) with Boos and Hisses.

You can also see a real live replica of an old Tombstone Bath:

We stopped at Big Nose Kate's Saloon for lunch:

And rounded out the afternoon with a visit to the Bootstrap Graveyard:

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Hiking the different Deserts

March 3, 2016 - Kartchner Caverns State Park - Benson, AZ

The desert flora and fauna vary considerably, often over short distances.  Access to water and, to a lesser extent, elevation, orientation (south facing vs. north facing hillsides) greatly impact the type and quantity of both plant and animal life.

Hiking in the Sonoran Desert (such as found at Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park)

You might find coyote.

Or Gopher snakes:

Or barrel cactus in crestate form:

Some wildflowers, but a weak year for them:

Or if you are in a hot enough spot, with south facing hillside you can see a Senita Cactus at the far northern reaches of its range (actually in Organ Pipe Cactus Park)

You can see Cactus Wren nests in nasty chainfruit cholla:

Or nursery trees, like the Palo Verde, this one was "nursing" 13 young Saguaro cactii:

Sometimes you see odd stuff, like a golfball resting on top of a saguaro, or a dying cactus that reminded me of the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz.

You can never get enough of the beautiful desert sunsets (taken from our campsite).

Now, 50 miles east of Tucson, we're heading toward the Chihuahuan Desert:  Quite a different look:

More agave, century plant, and yucca:

More non-native grass here:

Lots of evidence of mining:

A few deer:

Pink pincushion cactus:

Evidence of ancient human activity, like these grinding holes worn in smooth rock from grinding mesquite seed into flour:

Amazing variety!

Securing a Porous Border

February 24, 2016 - Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson Mountain Park, near Tucson, AZ

We came across more of the southern Arizona desert yesterday from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  All along our southern AZ border with Mexico there is a huge Border Patrol presence.  We've seen many patrol vehicles, vans, pickups, 4-wheelers, etc. and have been stopped at numerous checkpoints.  It's not easy patrolling a porous border, and in the Organ Pipe National Monument, they continue to make almost 4,000 arrests each year.

Most of the border has very little fence, or it might have fencing designed to prevent vehicle traffic like this:

Occasionally we saw substantial (15 ft high) fencing to prevent human crossing.  But the costs are enormous.

We visited an outstanding Oasis/spring, called Quitobaquito spring, that has been used for thousands of years and his home to some wildlife found nowhere else on the planet, including these little Quitobaquito desert pupfish, they taste surprisingly like chicken!

Our last night at Organ Pipe we participated in a cool little nighttime Full Moon hike.

Now on to new adventures in the Tucson area, in one of our favorite parks here.

Gorgeous desert flora in the Sonoran Desert

January 21, 2016 - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - near Ajo, AZ

We've been hiking and taking guided Ranger Tours here at Organ Pipe and have extended our stay!  Lots of beautiful desert cacti and other plant life here in the Sonoran desert.

Here's our campsite #89 with gorgeous desert sunrises and sunsets.

This area features the northernmost range of the Organpipe Cactus, which are particularly susceptible to freezes.

Then you've got your fishhook barrel cactus, prickly pear and the majestic Saguaro.

They have 7 varieties of Cholla cactus in the park, here are a few:

Braided, or chain-fruit Cholla

Pencil Cholla (about the diameter of a #2)

Teddy Bear Cholla

Other typical desert flora include Ocotillo

Pincushion cactus

Palo Verde

Pink flowering, Fairy Dusters

And the mountains in the park are pretty interesting including some rock arches in the Ajo Mountains:

And there is a mining and ranching cultural history to the area.  We hiked to the Lost Cabin Mine this morning (an 8+ mile hike).

Now on to the next adventure!