Monday, January 30, 2012

The Ascent

You can click once on a picture to enlarge it and click just off it to continue in the blog. 

We have been enjoying the sight of the Catalina Mountains from the desert valley that Tucson occupies for 2 seasons now.  Yesterday we decided to take a drive up to the highest peak of these mountains that are just north of Tucson: Mount Lemmon. The altitude here is 9,157 feet.  This area is part of the Coronado National Forest.  The hour long journey ascending the "Sky Island Parkway"is one of the most beautiful scenic drives.  Along the way are many "vistas" where you can stop and drink in the fabulous scenery.  The temperature in the valley was mid 70's F but by the time we reached the summit it was mid 40's with substantial snow patches.  Enough for the ski hill to be open! 





Tucson from the first Vista.  When you look up from Tucson the Catalinas look barren and shallow. But once up here It is amazing how much vegetation there is and how it changes as you climb.  There are many more canyons than you would think. 
















The first part of the drive was through the low scrub vegetation and Saguaros typical of the desert around Tucson.  But once you reach a certain elevation the Saguaros disappear and pines become more dominant.
Giant Saguaros dominate the lower elevations

John is feeling brave! 

John and Tom check out one of the many crevasses

Tom and Bernie: Oregonian friends we met here last season. 

As we travelled and stopped it was fun to look up and back to see the winding road where we had been and where we would go!  This road is used by serious cyclists to train.  It is remarkable to see them making the climb and then whizzing down.  Surely they must burn out their brakes.  We even saw a jogger or two.  Motorcyclists love this road as well.  


Windy Point was one the most spectacular vistas.   Huge boulders were perched precariously and as far as the eye can see are layers of mountain ranges, their depth and numbers more evident from up here than from Tucson below.  


Don't back up!! 

We saw several rock climbers enjoying the day but this was all I could handle.  John is edgy about edges so he lets me pose while he takes the pictures!


Hoodoos!!  Erosion and wind blow around making hoodoo formations.  

The San Pedro River Valley is a spectacular sight from this vista.  At this point I felt like I was in an airplane. We are nearing the top!  



Yup!  This is snow he's stepping on!  As we drove through the pine forest near the summit we could see families with their children sledding where ever they could find large patches of snow!
The ski hill is at the top and I have to say it is very strange leaving the desert and arriving at a ski hill in about an hour!  When the ski hill is closed tourists  can take the chair lift to the top but they are open right now.  I had no desire to boot up and go for the swish!!
Lots of snow in some spots.  While looking out from this and similar vistas you get the strange feeling of sticking your head in a refrigerator.  Cold air wafts your face while the heat of the desert sun warms your back. 

Just below the ski hill is a town called Summerhaven.  It is small but picturesque and I realize now that many of the cabins and chalets looked new because of a huge and destructive fire in 2003.  This fire, named Aspen Fire destroyed 325 of the 450 structures in this town!  Many of these homes are summer residences but there are a few people who live there permanently.  It is a strange reversal of snowbirding!  People here go north in the summer to escape the heat.  (desertbirding?)

Monday, January 23, 2012

Whitewater Draw




 After leaving Bisbee we drove north on remote roads to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area near Wilcox in Cochise County.  After a bit of guess work we turned on a "primitive" road heading in the right direction.  This is a large area of marsh land in the middle of a desert valley!  The cranes feed in the surrounding grain fields and come back to roost.
The water is very low right now but thousands of birds roost here including sandhill cranes which we had grown so fond of in Florida.  We were a little disappointed that the cranes here were smaller.  Apparently they are "Lesser" sandhill cranes.  Still it was an impressive sight  to see them and to hear their prehistoric call!

We had learned that thousands of cranes were in this area and that it was a spectacular sight especially if you caught them flying in or out.


Although they were roosting and doing little flying while we were there it was still a great experience to see this large of a flock!  As the sun lowered in the late afternoon some cranes began circling in small groups but we did not witness the spectacular arrival or take off of all of them.  Maybe another time.  Here is a youtube video of the event however that is worth watching.  If it won't open here copy and paste it in your browser or google sandhill crane youtube in southeast arizona.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt6tnFqg53M

There were two wily coyotes pouncing in a nearby field maybe catching mice or other rodents?  We also saw many types of ducks, moor hens and hawks.  I couldn't help being reminded of Florida...minus the gators however!

Wally has his cousin with him these days to share the adventures.  The views were spectacular from this vantage point.  Sandhills as far as the eye could see and the ear could hear!
A few in flight.

What a peaceful venue. 


You can check the website below for more information on this special place.


http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/NewsMedia/A-record-40-499-sandhill-cranes-counted-in-southern-Arizona.shtml

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Bisbee

(to enlarge a picture click on it once, then click outside it to return to the blog)

Sandy, Richard, John and I headed out early one morning to Bisbee.  This town has been on our list to tour since last season.  Bisbee is a little over an hour south east of Tuscon and there is not much between here and there except beautiful desert views, mountains and of course Tombstone.  Our first view of  Bisbee did not disappoint us.  Colourful homes and businesses perch on the hillsides reminding me of California and Sandy of France, but with the quirks of Arizona.  We stopped first at the old Copper Queen Mine to find out when the next tour would be since that was high on our list of things to do.  Next tour; high noon...so we went for a walk to pass an hour.


As we walked uphill through what seemed to be the "main" street we were drawn to many interesting window displays.  As with many Arizona mining towns the stores are filled with art and artifacts that I am realizing are unique.  It is as though time stopped and then moved along on its own windy path in another respect.


Metal art and designs are common here in the southwest and Bisbee had it's fair share.  Some of these cost as much as $500!  But that is nothing compared to the prices we have seen in Tubac.
This colourful hotel is at the base of Castle Rock and is so named.  We thought we might have lunch there later but ended up elsewhere.


This crazy menagerie in a shop window made me think of Alice in Wonderland, or perhaps a bizarre nightmare! 
He is filled with excited anticipation! 
After our stroll through town and a pitt stop at a quaint cafe (delicious coffee) we headed over to the old Copper Queen Mine. We got suited up with hardhat, flashlight and rain coat.  When I asked if we were going to get wet I was told it was for protection in case we touched a wall or something!  There was no water down below but it was cold.  So the coat helped.
I was a bit nervous about the "in case we hit a wall" comment and became a little more so when I saw our train.  We straddled this measly bench and headed through a narrow doorway to begin the descent 1500 ft. down into the mine, towed by a strange little engine with our guide driving.  Once we got going my trepidation left and I really enjoyed the tour and all the information despite the dark and close quarters.
I can't tell you the name of our tour guide since I couldn't understand it.  I should have asked him to repeat it.  He was a retired mine worker who had worked this mine for 27 years.  He had a great sense of humour and was extremely knowledgeable.  There are over 2500 miles of tunnels in this mine and the deepest shaft goes down 3500 feet!  Thank goodness we didn't traverse all of them.  We spent an hour and a quarter down below and that was enough to make me realize what a hard life the miners had!




They took out 8 billion pounds of copper in the life of this mine.  The Copper Queen  is now open for tours only but significant copper is still mined all over Arizona in huge pitt operations.  We toured the Pima Mine south of Tucson last year, a huge operational mine.  Check back in the blog if you are interested.

In the early 1900's Bisbee was one of the richest mineral sites in the world.  As a result the town grew to a population of over 20,000 and became a cultural centre and the county seat.  The less savoury side of a mining town was evident as well in the notorious "Brewery Gulch" with it's saloons and "shady ladies."  By the 1970's the mine had become unprofitable.  "Artistic free spirits" moved into the town resulting in the  galleries, restaurants and unique shops we see there today.  The architecture of the mining town has been preserved and a museum documents the history of Bisbee.



If you look closely you will see that this is the commode!  It was a two seater and was on rails.  Our guide told us  he didn't get the reason for the two seats since in his 27 years he never saw 2 people use it at once.  No kidding! 

After surfacing from the mine we were cold and hungry.  We headed over to the Copper Queen Hotel for a brew and lunch.   While we were enjoying the sun on the patio a persistent bee kept pestering us and of course my brain went off on a tangent wondering why BisBEE was so named.  I have since learned that it was named for Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the Copper Queen Mine.
Now a driving tour of the areas we didn't see while on foot was in order.
A view from the Copper Queen



Evidence of Artistic Free Spirits! 

Bisbee reminded me of Jerome, a mining town we visited in Northern AZ last year.  Not only is it perched precariously on the mountain sides full of windy roads: it had also been taken over by artists in the 1970's after the mine closed.   This phenomenon makes for very colourful scenery, not to mention colourful characters! Check out the website below for more on Bisbee.

http://www.discoverbisbee.com/about_hist.htm

Saturday, January 21, 2012

BootHill Graveyard

On the way to Bisbee we stopped at Tombstone for a quick look at BootHill Graveyard, the famous cemetery where nefarious characters from the gunslinger days are buried.  We took a quick walk around the cemetery and saw some very interesting inscriptions on the stones.  Someone had a sense of humour?

Apparently the original BootHill is in Kansas.  When the Tombstone cemetery was "refurbished" it was renamed BootHill for dramatic effect.  The Earps, Clantons and other famous cowboys are actually buried here however.  That is not fiction.  Many tombstones are dated 1882 which must have been an exciting year in the wild west!    Mining towns in the west were not for the faint hearted.  


Sandy loving AZ

Each tombstone actually stated the cause of death!  As morbid as this seems it was actually quite funny.

What a lovely inscription!  

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