We left Rehoboth about 9 a.m. and drove south to Quemado Lake, arriving in time to hike the trail along the lake and then up to the overview. We expected the hike to be two miles...but that was just one way...so it ended up to be a little bit over four miles...two hours up and less than an hour down.
Quemado Lake with peak that we planned to hike to in the distance.
Large alligator juniper along the trail
Volcanic ash balls found along the trail
Selfie taken at the peak overlooking Quemado Lake
From Quemado Lake we drove two and a half hours to Silver City where we planned to stay for a couple of nights. Silver City is an eclectic town full of hippies from the 60's...lots of gray-haired pony tails. There are a lot of antique and art shops downtown full of unique treasures...all closed so we only window shopped. We saw an ad in our New Mexico Magazine featuring a local brewery festival happening in Silver City on March 29. It was called "Toad Fest" hosted by Silver City's Little Toad Creek Brewery. They featured twenty New Mexican beers on tap for one night. We thought we would check it out. We had a great time and were invited by a couple of local artists to join them at their table. See Little Toad Creek's facebook page to see proof that we were there.
We had a great time getting to know them and hope to stop by their ceramic tile shop to see them create their beautiful tiles on Monday morning before we leave Silver City.
Jack and Cindy sharing in the fun at the "Toad Fest"
Day 2~
After breakfast at our motel we packed a lunch and snacks and drove into the Gila Wilderness--specifically the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. The drive in the Gila Wilderness takes two hours to go less than 40 miles. The road goes up and down several canyons before you arrive at the visitors' center. We bought our Senior Pass that entitles Jack and three other guests to get into all National Parks and Federal Recreation areas for free for the rest of our lives! We spent the next two hours getting a guided tour of the cliff dwellings. It was an amazing tour. We loved being able to hike to and through the ruins of the Mogollon peoples.
The four pictures below are taken from the Gila Cliff Dwellings:
A petroglyph in one of the canyons
We wanted to do this hike, but it requires shoes that you're willing to get wet. (Observe the cairn on one side of the river leading to the cairn in the distance on the other side of the river.)
View from the road of one of the many canyons in Gila Wilderness
On our way back to Silver City we took an alternate route that took us
through the ghost town Pinos Altos that dates back to 1860.
Pinos Altos Opera House
Pinos Altos Buckhorn Saloon
Day 3~
We began the day with waffles at our motel to get us ready for all the hiking that we had planned. But first we stopped at Syzygy http://www.syzygytile.com/ and got a tour from Patrick and met Dan who had shared their table with us at Toad Fest. Seeing the process of making tiles was really interesting and the end results...beautiful!
The clay from cylinder flattened to sheet
"cookie cutting" out tile pieces
We left Syzygy and headed to Chiricahua National Monument. We decided to do the Echo Canyon Loop, a 3.5 mile loop through beautiful natural rock formations. It's a vast array of pinnacles, spires, columns and balanced rocks. We did the hike counter-clockwise so that we did the steepest part down and the more gradual part up. It has made one of our best hikes ever list.
Day 4~
We had a few things planned for our fourth day--two hikes and a museum. The weather continues to be good for hiking, 60s-70s and a bit breezy which keeps us cooled off when we're hiking up steep hills.
We gained an hour coming from NM to AZ. We stayed at a comfortable motel in Sierra Vista, Arizona, we had lined up through booking.com. After a good night's sleep and good breakfast, we headed to Ramsey Canyon for a 3 mile hike but found out when we got there that it was closed. So we went to Brown Ranch Canyon down the road. It was a nice hike but nothing compared to what we've been doing the last couple of days. The hike starts at the Brown Ranch homestead which was surprisingly unlocked with signs telling you to come on in and leave things as you found it when you're done. We went for a self guided tour and were impressed with the artifacts and photographs showing what life was like at the Brown Ranch 100 years ago. We knew that the trail went much further than we planned to go, so when we got to 1.5 miles we turned around and headed back.
the Brown Ranch House
view on the Brown Ranch hike
When we got back to the car, we decided to Coronado National Memorial Park. We drove twenty miles farther south and were surprised at the rugged mountains that we encountered. We went to the visitor center to get advice which trails we should consider. We decided to start with the Coronado Cave Trail but were told by the ranger that we needed a flashlight to go into the cave. Since the cave sounded worth going into, we coughed up $10.99 for a flashlight. It's less than a mile up to the cave but quite a steep trail. We have seen lots of caves, but have never been in one alone. It was interesting to navigate it by ourselves and to explore as much as we could. It was very dirty, dusty, dry, and dark. We got to what we thought was the end, and found a little tunnel to fit through and came upon another entrance/exit that sent a shaft of light down to where we were. We realized that there was a grate over the opening, so decided it wasn't a good idea to try to get out there.
The view of the peak that we were heading for
The opening to the cave in the middle of the rocks
Jack entering the cave
Jack inside the cave...lots of strange formations to watch out for
...and lots of tight squeezes
Jack checking out the ceiling
the dust in the air showing up in the flash
stalactites
Jack next to stalagmite
stalactites and stalagmites
finding the entry again
looking back into the cave at the end of our exploring
Jack at the entrance after the hike
Cindy climbing out of the cave
view on the hike down from the cave
After leaving Coronado's Memorial Park we headed to Fort Huachuca. In the distance we could see the U.S/Mexico border.
It's a long brown fence that you see in the middle of this picture.
The Fort Huachuca Museum features the telling of the history of the Buffalo Soldier battalions. We had to have our ID checked as we drove into the fort. We had a hard time finding the museum, but finally followed the signs and appreciated learning more about the all black battalions that were trained in Ft Huachuca. To learn more go to:
It's a fascinating history. We were able to see all the exhibits in the hour that we had there.
The original buildings built at Ft Huachuca now house the museum
Day 5~
We left our motel in Sierra Vista and headed southwest to Nogales to see the fence on the border.
We saw how easy it was for us "legals" to cross the border, so we parked the car and walked across. Then we saw the looooooong line to get back into the U.S. We decided to walk around Nogales, Mexico to see what we could see...lots of pharmacies and other shops. As we headed back to get in line, a man approached us and said that if we were over 60, we could go to the head of the line...so we did. We went through security by having our driver's licenses scanned. The security guard asked if we didn't have passports, we said that we didn't have them along. He just shrugged and let us back through. Next time we'll get more information before we just cross a border without having documentation.
up close view of the border fence from the Mexico side
another view on the U.S. side
From Nogales we took the road towards Tucson and decided to hike in Sabino Canyon north east of Tucson. We had heard rave reviews that this was a spot that we had to see. We took the shuttle ride to the end of the canyon and then started hiking back from there. We did the 4.4 mile hike up the mountain and then along a ridge to the beginning of the canyon where the creek begins. It was a beautiful hike with perfect skies and a nice breeze.
Day 6~
Now that we're in Tucson, staying with Cindy's aunt and uncle, we're going to all the beautiful places that they suggested that we see.
We got up fairly early so that we could arrive at the Sonoran Desert Museum early enough in the day to beat the crowds and to see the animals in their most active time of the day.
The museum had both indoor as well as outdoor exhibits. We decided to see the outdoor exhibits first while it was still a bit cool. It's a beautiful display of all the cactus, plants and animals that you find naturally in the Sonoran desert. It's a great time of year to be here since so much of the desert is in bloom.
Rare "Crested Saguaro"
Barn owl
Great Blue Heron
Hedgehog cactus
deer
Great horned owl
Bobcat
Cactus Wren in her nest
humans
Hummingbird on her nest
Hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbird in flight
bug on flower
Century Plant
The ribs left of a "dead" saguaro
Foxtail Cactus
Aunt Pat and Uncle Carroll
Yucca Plant
Desert Primrose
Barrel Cactus
Prickly Pear
Later in the evening we decided to try another hike. We headed to Catalina State Park in time to get a 2.3 mile loop in before the sun set. It was a beautiful time of day to enjoy the desert and the mountains.
Ocotillo cactus along the trail
"Selfie" taken with the sunset glow on the mountains
Mountain reflection in the stream at the bottom of the hike
Saguaro along the hike
Day 7~
We had a relaxed morning since we knew that the San Xavier del Bac Mission would not be open until 10 a.m. When we arrived, there was a mass taking place so we walked around the grounds to take outside pictures before going in. The mission is located south of Tucson on the Tohono O'ohdam Indian Reservation. It was begun in 1692 by Father Kino. It is now used as a church and school run by the Franciscan Sisters.
From there we went downtown Tucson to see The St Augustine Cathedral which was constructed in 1868. We were able to go inside to see the fresco paintings.
painting of Mother Theresa
Another fresco depicting Father Kino
While we were downtown, Pat and Carroll took us to their favorite Mexican restaurant, El Charro Cafe.
Here's the view at the bottom of the trail
view of the saguaros on the way up to the peak
balancing rock along the path
Ocotillo and chollo cactus along the path
Tomorrow we plan to drive through the White Mountains and Salt River Canyon...maybe we'll have time to get in one more hike along the way before our Spring Break is over.
Day 8~
We left Pat and Carroll's after 9 a.m. for our trip back to Rehoboth. We planned to take the route that would take us through Salt River Canyon. We had been through there once before many years ago and remembered how spectacular it was. We were not disappointed. Most of the pictures were taken while we were driving tho we did stop at a couple of pull-out sights.
We saw that there was a hiking trail just south of Show Low, AZ and decided to get in one more hike. It was called the Mogollon Rim loop. It was only a mile long, but it felt good to get out and stretch our legs. It was an easy but pleasant hike with some nice views.
We arrived back at our apartment in Rehoboth about 6:30 p.m. after stopping for groceries. It was a great spring break, but we're glad to be back "home".
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