Our 2019 Adventures

Brown Canyon It is set in the Baboquivari mountains.   This is a beautiful sycamore-shaded canyon. The habitat is very diverse Its elements are what makes this canyon a sky island ecosystem . The only way to enter the canyon, is by appointment. Volunteers give guided tours to the public (for a slight fee) every other Saturday; and give private tours on alternating weekends. (for a higher fee, of course). Arrow above shows canyon location.  Guide meets the hikers at the foot of the canyon (see sign!)  A 30 minute drive by “high” clearance vehicle required to get to the trail-head at the EEC. See below. Environmental Education Center Final rest area and use of facilities before commencing hike.  Approximately a little over 4 miles round trip of rough terrain, creek crossings and mostly all going uphill. When the land was obtained from its previous owners, one the major stipulations was to protect the canyon; provide guided tours to prevent p...

Buenos Aires NWR First a little history of this area, the following is a summary, directly from the Buenos Aires website: In the 1800's, the Altar Valley was an open grassland teeming with large herds of pronghorn. Masked bobwhite quail calls filled the early morning summer air. The grasslands blanketed the landscape, uninterrupted as far as the eye could see. Pedro Aguirre, Jr. came to this location and started a stagecoach and freight line that would connect Tucson and the mining towns of Arivaca, Arizona, and the town of Altar in Sonora, Mexico. He built a homestead here in 1864 and named it Buenos Ayres, or "good air," because of the constant winds found there.   Aguirre was the first person to develop artificial sources. He began by constructing a large reservoir near the head of the watershed at the confluence of the Lopez and Compartidero washes. With water in place, cattle industry exploded.   But the cattle industry suffered a setback. A severe drough...

Saguaro National Park During our week stay in Tucson, AZ, we visited Saguaro National Park (pronounced “Suaro”).  The Saguaro is the name of the tall cacti.  Unbeknownst to us at the time, there is a Saguaro East (which we visited) and a Saguaro West.  We will have to visit this west park on a future visit to Arizona. The Park is beautiful, quiet (at least during this time of year), and full of many new to us, species of birds.  The Park consists of a 10 mile drive that takes you to different elevations Centennial Saguaro That is our Mustang with top down on the left.   With another of the few visitors this day in late November

Our Drive into Arizona After what seemed like weeks, we finally left Texas in our rearview mirror.   The landscape changed almost instantly.   We left the rolling hills of central & western Texas and began seeing more of a desert environment as we entered New Mexico. This was a very short stay and saw very little of the state as we continued our trek southwesterly into Arizona.   Welcome to the Sonoran Desert! Our first stop, Rincon West RV Resort.   A 55+ Community with a mix of RVs and park models (mobile homes).   A beautiful, well-manicured community with enough activities to keep anyone busy.   If you get bored here is because you wanted to. After a few days, our Mustang arrived and some serious exploration of the city began That is the driver in the Mustang while yours truly is operating the controls to lower the ramp with the car on it.   The truck driver was providing instruct...