Saguaro NP- AZ Sonoran Desert Museum-Mark Visits

After finishing up with LOW on Friday about noon Kim Mark & I decided to check out the Desert Museum.

Located only about 15 minutes from Tucson, the Museum was a real treat, exposing us to many aspects of the desert and surrounding area in the natural environment. Interpretive exhibits, films and guides were around every corner providing a great opportunity to learn more about this unique part of our planet.

http://www.desertmuseum.org/ http://www.nps.gov/sagu/

Just the drive over the nearby mountains provided insite into what was to come. The spectacular Saguaro "forest" in this area is unique, and unlike anything else I've seen. I had been to Phoenix many times for Honeywell, but the size and numbers of cacti these do not begin to compare with this area.

It was obvious from the overall plantlife and numbers that the Tucson area must get considerably more rainfall than surrounding areas.

First stop at the museum was the reptile area...hey this is great, we can look at these venomous creatures without danger of being bit!

Of course, the reptiles were housed in part of the "dark cave area"....I guess we just never grow up, we crawled around in there with the kids for quite some time. I thought we'd lost Mark, but one scream about a snake being loose in there produced a quick exit!

And reptiles aren't the only creatures living within the Museum. How often do you get to come face-to-face with a codi mundi?

Another surprise was the enormous height of some of the saguaros. Best I could tell, some reached as high as 35 feet. They say these giants don't start growing their first "arm" until 50 years old, so I guess the big ones have been around for hundreds of years...

After dropping Mark off at the Tucson Airport on Saturday, we joined our friends Alan & Michele on a hike in the Eastern section of the Park (Tucson is literally surrounded on both sides by the Saguaro National Park!). This side of the park gets even more rainfall, as evidenced by the amount of green plants and the huge amounts of flowers!

Alan & Michele hike this area twice a week, with a local group of friends. Pretty neat to have this kind of National Park environment 10 minutes from your house!

Another interesting aspect of the area is the contrast between the living and the dead. Most striking is the strange knarled look that the Saguaro trunk takes on after the cactus has died, and all that is left is this ghostly skeleton of that once beautiful plant.

As we ambled along, I couldn't help but notice the many small flowers in bloom on this side...a definite contrast to the plant growth on the West.

Well, as they say in show business, we save the best for last. Every now & then, us amateur photographers catch the late evening light at just the right angle, and something magical happens. So I'll close with one of those shots for you to enjoy....

Tucson - Life on Wheels Conference

As full-timers we decided to attend LOW (Life on Wheels) to learn a bit more about this lifestyle and all it has to offer. They do a great job with the classes, and the tips & knowledge you pick up from other attendees over the few days of being there together is invaluable.
http://www.lifeonwheels.com/

The second evening was "open house" allowing all to take a look at some of the various types of rigs that others including many of the instructors had chosen for their "home". Being for Louisiana, that provided the perfect excuse for cooking a triple-batch jambalaya right there in the back lot for all to smell & enjoy! With Cajun & Zydeco music in the background it was quite a feast....enjoyed by all, including our friendly canine neighbor...

Speaking of Cajun music and Louisiana, we had two nice surprises while here. Mark, my youngest Son flew out for a few days (it was Spring Break for LSU), and...some new Zydeco-loving friends I had met in Lafayette, LA back in January, Alan & Michele, live right there in Tucson and were able to join us for the cookout!

Mark enjoyed exploring the nearby UA campus on bicycle while we were in class on Thursday.

Friday afternoon, the three of us headed west of the city to the Sonora Desert Museum, which is located within the Saguaro National Park. The city is blessed to be sitting between two beautiful mountain ranges that encompass the Park on both sides! But That's a story for the next post!

Madera Pass & Madera Canyon

Our plan was to spend a single night at Madera Canyon to do some birding before moving on to Life on Wheels conference in Tucson. Kim insisted we could save some time by cutting across the mountains through the "pass road".

I guess I should have known better when we approached all the warning signs, about being narrow and dropoffs. We get on this 4wd trail and it starts sleeting & snowing....which is AMAZING! since we just left short-sleeve weather a few hours before in Tombstone!

The road is very narrow, winding around the mountains with 100 to 400 foot shear drops off to my left. After what felt like hours, we arrive at the Canyon, only to be greeted by more snow and ice.

It was pretty certain that no birding was to be had at the site, so after attempting (unsucessfully) to back our trailer up the steep, icey campsite we decided to just move on to Tucson....

Tombstone - The Town too Tough to Die!

Well that's what the town motto is, and I guess it's true. The would be gold mine town of the 1800's that's best known for the famous gunfight between the Earp brothers and the "Clanton-Cowboy" gang is till there today....as a major tourist attraction!

We were able to overlook the "commercial" aspects of the place and enjoy the rustic flavor....

most interesting was the visit to Boot Hill Graveyard, well the famous still lie!

for those interested in learning more about the shootout at the OK Corral, watch the 1993 Kirt Russell movie "Tombstone", we did the night before.....

Oh, and remember to allways pack your .44

Whitewater Draw AZ

What a great tip from Reed & Elaine, new birding friends we met on the backpack in the Chiricahuas! The major attraction here is the enormous quantity of Sandhill Cranes that visit every year in Feb & Mar. These magnificant birds began arriving around 1PM in large flocks soaring gracefully in towards the far end of the shallow desert lake.

Each group, wave after wave, filling the clear blue sky with silhouettes and the continual sounds of their haunting railing.

A midafternoon stroll around the lake revealed the site played host to many smaller and familiar feathered friends......of course, the many smaller prey bring in the big hawks...........

Then on the far end of a group of willows we discover the Barn Owl roost. The area was "off limits", but a quick count from the outside of the thicket puts the numbers near a couple dozen.

Walking back towards our trailer later in the afternoon, I stopped under a large shelter to get a moment's break from fierce winds, looked up and discovered a pair of penetrating eyes in the dark confines of the canopy's upper bracing. A closer look through the binoculars confirmed another majestic owl ..... the Great Horned!

As the sun sank low into the western sky, graceful wings of the last few Sandhills danced across distant mountains....

finally leaving only the massive rocks bathed by the soft light of a desert dusk.....

The winds continued to howl well into the night, shaking the trailer and bringing with them a brisk twenty-five degree awakening. The view to the East at sunrise this morning was a pure delight!

Chiricahua Mountain Backpack

We decided that the trip to this area would not be complete without an overnight in these beautiful mountains. We bought the trailer to Sunny Flats and were lucky to get site 3 which had an awesome backdrop of the mountains! The spot also was the hangout for some beautiful birds, like the Acorn Woodpecker and the Magnificant Hummingbird.

While hiking into the Maple Camp area, we enjoyed the diverse terrain, flowers and more unique birds, like this Painted Redstart.

Just before reaching Maple Camp, we met "Kevin" alocal who had moved here two years ago from New Orleans, where he had been the Curator for Reptiles at Audubon Zoo. After exchanging Katina stories, Kevin went on to tell us how it may be unsafe camping vernite in the Mountains due to the heavy illegal alien and drug traffic at night. He told serveral stories of encounters with up to 20 such individuals "hold up" in the Chiricahuas.

We found a nice spot for camp, just across the Creek from the trail, perhaps a hundred yards away. Our new Big Agnes Seedhouse 3 tent went up quickly, giving us time to enjoy a "hot toddy" in front of a warm fire.

Just about 5 minutes after dousing the fire & crawling in the tent, we were startled by the sound of quick, pounding footsteps on the trail. Paying careful attetion to the noise, we counted at least a dozen distinct pairs of feet passing by! No other sounds were heard, and they just passed quickly by, probably just as afraid of being discovered as us....

Well the night passed peacefully and uneventfully, and the passing of the Mexicans wasn't verified until we were on the trail this morning, when Kim first found a shred of bandelero, and then we discovered another tied to an abandoned water jug, obviously used as a shoulder strap.

The rest of the hike was more pleasant than the walk in, due to the wonderlful morning sunlight illuminating the steep canyon walls. We spotted the elusive Mexican Chickadee, too shy to pose for the camera though.....

I paused for a moment at the small waterfall to enjoy the gurglling sounds of the clear stream.

It was a great backpack, even down the back forrest road which led us back to home, our trailer, where Kim enoyed some more of those beautiful backdrop views, and I sat patiently awaiting the return of the hummingbirds.