Cave Creek Canyon, a sense of place

Cave Creek Canyon is one of the premier birding places in the states. But here we are and we found it also is a place of passionate devotees, people who love the canyon, the wildlife, the Chiricahua Mountains; astronomers, herpetologists, artists, and conservationists. 

Friends of Cave Creek Canyon have just published Cave Creek Canyon, revealing the Heart of Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains, a book with 42 contributing authors. It's fascinating reading. 

The canyon's towering cliffs overlook a lush diversity in plant and animal life. 

Years ago, When we traveled here with all four kids, we sat on rocks in cave creek and read Narnia aloud before hiking up the trail. A recent flood (caused by a previous fire that devastated the vegetation) wrecked havock with the stream, the roads, the accessibility to the canyon. 

It's back to running clear and merrily. 

Some fellow hikers pointed out a path to an overhang with petroglyphs. We would never have noticed. 

Historic bunkhouse. 

Helen

Sky Palette.

Montana should not be the only state to claim itself as Big Sky Country. Yesterday's skies at Whitewater Draw, Arizona were achingly beautiful. 

Helen

Patagonia Lake State Park

Don't plan to camp on a weekend unless you have a reservation. Two years ago we had no problem getting campsites, but the weather was cold that year. This year it's nice, and the campers, birders, hikers, and folks who fish filled all  the sites. So we paid for day use and did a bird walk. 

The willows along the lake's edges are in bloom, and the bees were busy. There was a continual buzzing hum. Lovely. 

The recent rains redirected the flow of Sonoita Creek. 

Plants and reflections in the creek. 

Cow patties litter the birding area. The wet, trampled low areas smelled like a barnyard. 

Helen

Room for one more?

Sabino Canyon must be the most used National Recreation Area in the US. We, along with 4 friends, arrived in time to take the first shuttle to the end of the road up the canyon, and already there were folks walking, hiking, running, jogging, pushing baby strollers. . . . 

Phoneline Trail ascended rapidly. 

Norm led the way, here he is walking with Doug. 

A few flowers were blooming earlier than usual. 

Fairy Duster blossom. 

From the trail high above the stream we could at times see down the canyon to Tucson. 

Sharon and Bruce cross a side canyon. 

And how do they find sustenance in such small crevices?

Helen

Mt. Lemmon

We went up Mt. Lemmon with Joyce and Jep. It was a lovely sunny day, and a fabulous place. 

We climbed around the rocks at Windy Point.  From the look out we could see the road descending below. 

Before going up the mountain we stopped by the DeGrazie gallery. DeGrazie is one of Joyce's favorite artists. 

Jep and Joyce stand by the gallery entrance. 

The gallery had many paintings and enamels, plus prints and copies for sale.

The southwest beam and adobe structure is the perfect setting to display the art. 

Helen

How can it be?

We spent a bit more time at the gem and mineral show, this time in the minerals and fossils section. I am amazed at the beautiful, marvelous, spectacular variety of God's creation. 

How can there be this many amethyst geodes?  And so large?

And last night we camped beside an ocotillo in full leaf, starting to bud. That is unusual, for most are still winter dormant. 

Helen

Birds at Madera Canyon, Arizona

We had a total of 17 species of birds at our campsite over the 5 days we were at Madera. It was one of the "birdiest" campsites ever for us. Here are a few...

Arizona Woodpecker

Adult male Magnificent Hummingbird

Townsend's Warbler

Magnificent Hummingbird

Dark-eyed Junco with rufous on the head

Mexican Jay

Storybook house

(By appearances anyway)

Kubo B&B in Madera Canyon

Helen

Madera Canyon

The oaks and junipers are our current environment, quite a change from the cacti and ironwood of the desert. 

We hiked two days, The Dutch John Spring trail one day, and the Madera Canyon trail the other. 

Dutch John Spring Trail. It was a 1.2 mile steep uphill climb, but the descent was more taxing. 

Madera Creek flowed merrily along.        

Sycamores grew all along the creek. 

  

Our campsite had a large rock with a small puddle from which many birds came to drink. It was a joy to sit in the sun and watch their activities. 

Helen

Brown Mountain Trail

We saw the fulll moon rise over the mountains the evening before the hike. 

The Brown Mountain Trail is a loop going along the ridge of a few small peaks and then it returns though the lower undulations at their base. 

From the top we could see the ponds of recycled water that are intended to replenish the underground aquafer. 

Bruce on one of the ridge peaks. 

Along the lower trail was one of the tallest Saguaros we've seen.

Helen