Week ending Jan 31, 2019 Ajo, Arizona

Saturday, we had heard that there was a reprieve in the federal gov funding issue.  We drove up to the Cabeza Prieta visitor centre, but it was still closed.  We figured that we could head down to Organ Pipe to do the Alamo Canyon trail from the campground there.  However, the area closed sign was in the middle of the road, so we decided not to proceed.  Instead, we returned to the area just south of New Cornelia Mine, on Darby Wells road.  We found a place to park off the road near Locomotive Rock.  We hiked along a BLM road past a few boondockers to the base of the rock.  Then we carried on past it and noticed a red post.   The post was labelled SAMM LOCATION MONUMENT.   We couldn't find any reference to it on the internet.

Locomotive Rock

Sunday we started on the Roller Coaster, which parallels the mine property on the south side, near where we have been hiking.  The first half of the 1.5 mi was fairly flat but the rest lived up to the name.  Near the  end, we started seeing a lot of little open pits.  At the end, we crossed Alley Rd to go on another section called Piece of Pie, to distinguish it from the Cowpie Loop.  There we had a chat with a couple from the San Juan Islands near Victoria.  They had seen a lot of coyote tracks, and even some mountain lion tracks at a mud hole. North of the Cowpie, we climbed a large flattened out pile of rocks, which didn't have a mine shaft on it.  However, we watched a little orange butterfly for a while.

the Cowpie

We cut the Piece of Pie route in half, heading south to the main cross road.  On our way across, we saw a hare coming up the road a distance ahead.  Then we watched it run up the hill above us.

Monday, we walked over to the visitor center to pick up a cap for John, since the sun is starting to get higher, and we might be doing longer hikes.  Then we walked up to the mine overlook again and had a bit of a chat with the couple hosting it.   He had worked at the mine most of his life, and now opens the overlook center for about 3 hours every day except Sunday.

Tuesday was an overcast day.  We did another hike of about 4 miles from the scenic loop road to Valentine Well.   Along the way we came to a fairly large cemetery in the middle of the desert with a raw stone engraved marking it as the Darby Wells Cemetery. 

Darby Well's Cemetery

Then we continued to Valentine Well.  It had what was at one time a well fenced corral.

Valentine Well corral, windmill and tank

Valentine Well pool

Wednesday, we did the mile walk to the grocery store for a few items.  The rest of the day we got prepared for heading to Yuma on Thursday. 

Thursday, we headed to Yuma.   On our way north from Ajo to Gila Bend, we went through another Border Patrol immigration checkpoint.  The officer asked the usual question about whether we were American citizens.  When we said no, we are Canadian, he asked us 'what is the best coffee in the world '.   When we replied 'Tim Hortons', he waved us on.
We arrived at  Southern Mesa RV Park in about 8 miles south of I-8 in Yuma.  We paid for a month here, but at $220 a month for first time visitors plus electricity (regular $299), if we only stay for two weeks, it is still a decent rate.

Week ending Jan 24, 2019 Ajo, Arizona

For pictures from our previous visit, just driving through Ajo see our blog entry.

Friday morning, we called for a tracking number for our credit cards.  Contrary to the info yesterday, they said it still hadn't gone to a courier, so there would be no tracking number until Saturday, or maybe Monday.   We headed south to Organ Pipe National Monuments Twin Peaks Campground to do the Victoria Mine Trail.  The trail heads westerly across several ridges, before meeting up with the trail to Senita Basin, where it turned left to the mine.   2.2 miles each way. 

Victoria Mine store

When we got back to the highway, we headed to Lukeville, on the Mexican border to see what was there.  The only thing we saw was the Gringo Pass RV Park, a gas station, and the border crossing.  Then we returned toward Ajo, stopping at the Ajo Mountain wayside tables.  Here we read the signs regarding the fact that this area is one of 47 United Nations Biosphere Reserves in the USA, 621 in the world .

hills west of Organ Pipe

Further north we stopped at the WhyNot Travel Center in Why, about 10 miles south of Ajo, and picked up treats.  Joan had her usual drumstick, but John noticed a rum raisin flavored frozen Coolstix.  It was a bit of a challenge to open the tight plastic wrapper.  Fortunately the cashier had given us napkins, so we could hold it while John ripped the top of with his teeth enough that the treat could be squeezed upward.  Surprisingly, it had a decent rum raisin flavor.

Saturday, we walked down to the market at the historic plaza, where we bought a nice loaf of wheat bread.  Then we walked north along the east edge of town, past the cemetery before we got to a cross road.  It didn't go far enough west  to the highway, so we retraced our route back a bit.  Back at the highway, we couldn't see the IGA where the web said it was, so we looked in a couple of dollar stores for our iced coffee brand, with no luck.   Back at the trailer, we chatted with the host, who told us the IGA had been moved about a mile north, so after lunch, we walked there.  We did find one of the flavors of our brand. 

Sunday morning we walked about a mile up the hill beside the RV park, to the beginning of the scenic loop road around the mine, which we had done the last time we were here, on a day trip.

rescue burro

On the way back we chatted with a fellow from Idaho, who was working in his yard.  He had bought two lots with old houses on them with the intention of razing them, and building.  However, he found that one of them had a solid foundation and good frame, so he had taken out the inside walls, and redone the electric and plumbing. 
The rest of the day we watched curling from Vegas, NFL playoffs and some tennis. 
We saw the 'blood' moon eclipse about 10:30 PM .

We got out early Monday morning to drive the scenic loop route to a spot near the Cowpie Rocks.  From there, we followed BLM roads on a route called 'Old Faithful', just over 3 miles.  Along the way we saw a water tank, a couple of small rodents scampering across the road, a hummingbird sipping on octolli flowers.  There are lots of people boondocking in this area south of town, and west of the mine.

On Tuesday, we walked over to a little town park with about 4 pieces of basic fitness equipment.  The signs describing the equipment were in better shape than the equipment.  From there, we walked over to the Cabeza Prieta Visitor Center, which is closed due to the Fed Gov budget issue.  We walked around the center, and read the signs outside.


Wednesday, the manager phoned us to say our credit cards had arrived.   After picking them up and getting the cards activated, we drove out to the Ajo Regional Park northeast of town to check out a campground next to an equestrian center, i.e. rodeo ground.  There is no water or sewer, and no charge, very large level sites so it wouldn't be a bad place to dry camp. 
  
In the afternoon, we walked the mile and a bit north to the Ajo Historical Society Museum.   A pretty good museum for a place this size. 

Ajo Historical Society Museum

Then we headed over to the New Cornelia Mine Overlook, arriving just as the folks were closing up at 2:30.  We were able to take a few pictures through the camera openings in the overlook fence, but weren't able to go into the visitor center.  We got the 5 phrase summary of the mine statistics at the gate on the way out.   The pit is about 300 meters deep, not including about 40 meters of water in the bottom.  There were about 400 miles of railroad track to move the copper ore out of the mine.  The tailings 'dam' around the mine is largest dam structure in the country by its volume of 7.4 billion cubic feet.   It is exceeded by the Syncrude tailings dam at 540 million cubic meters.   From World's 18 strangest Dams

New Cornelia Mine pit

We saw this brightly colored mobile home back near the RV park.

colorful decorating

There is an interesting mural on the office for the RV park. Click on it so you can read the signs.

Ajo or Bust mural

Thursday we returned to the same place we parked on Monday, to do a counter-clockwise loop around North Ajo Peak, a 5.3 mile trail on BLM roads.

North Ajo Peak from the north side

We saw more birds than usual on this trail, and actually got a few pictures.  One of a vermillion flycatcher was only focused enough to identify it.   The phainopeplas weren't as shy as usual, letting us get a bit closer.

phainopepla

There were also quite a few butterflies, some monarchs, some white ones with black markings around the edge and some light yellow ones.  These guys keep moving all the time, not pausing for a photo.   We saw an weather station on the west side of the mountain.  On the south side of the peak, we came to a large green tank.   This is here to provide some water for animals.

flower on staghorn cholla

little purple flowers

Week ending Jan 17, 2019 Tucson to Ajo

On Friday, we got away early, returning to La Posta Quemada Ranch to go north on the AZ Trail.  The trail in this direction climbs above the south side of the 'creek' beside the ranch, but stays below the trail which heads south.  It then works its way back down the the creek area on the east side of the ranch before heading northeast around a hill, then climbs north over the shoulder of he hill into Posta Quemada Canyon.  Lots of cottonwoods along the bottom of the canyon, indicating there must be a good supply of water.

 Then it works its way along the a ledge above the canyon floor past El Bosquecito (the Forest) Picnic Area below the Colossal Cave visitor center.   The trail continues along until it gets down into the canyon.   There is supposed to be the Heavy Boy Mine location close to this point.  We figure it was behind a locked gate,

and perhaps a fenced in area warning about sinkholes.   This was our turnaround point, so we headed across the wash to a little campground that was built as part of the CCC effort at Colossal Cave in the late 30's, that is quite nice.

table

tent area and fire pit

We ate granola bars in the sun at one of the tables.  We decided not to take the long loop back (we were at 2.8 mi by this point), and take the road through the park.  When we got back, we found this would have taken us 1.4 mi.  However, we came to a trail marked Link to Posta Quemada Ranch.  This was a relatively direct and flat 0.8 mi route along the Canyon back to the ranch.  Along this trail, there was a crested saguaro.

Later in the day, we noticed that another Titanium trailer had arrived.  We went over to see how they liked their trailer.  They were a nice couple from la belle province who have been traveling to Arizona and California for 33 years.  Since he has an irrigation company, and her work is flexible, they can travel for 3 months in the winter. 

Saturday, we watched football and curling most of the day.  Before lunch, we did a walk around the fitness route in the park, ending up back at the La Mesa RV dealer's units that had been brought over to the fairgrounds for a one dealer RV show.  We checked out a couple of motorcoaches, a few smallish trailers, a few 35+ foot ones, and a few toy haulers.  Despite some interesting features, we still like the layout and storage of our trailer as well as any of them, and better than most.  We don't have the bells and whistles like automatic levelers, awnings and satellite TV but doing that work ourselves is part of the experience.  And, we would prefer spending money on extra travel than on leather furniture, granite countertops, kitchen islands that drive up some of the prices as high as US$500,000.  After looking through the units, John had a hot dog lunch courtesy of La Mesa.

Sunday was more football and curling.

Monday, we picked up our generator, all tuned up, from Musselman Honda.  The price ,about C$200, was pretty close to their estimate, so we were happy with that.  They also showed us how to drain the carburetor when we aren't planning on running it for a while.   Since we were on the west side of the city, we headed to the trailhead for Gould Mine and King Canyon Trails.  This trailhead is located a few hundred yards past the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, which we visited a couple of years ago.  It goes into the south end of the west unit of Saguaro National Park.  They had signage explaining that there was no maintenance, garbage removal, etc being done during the current partial US government shutdown.  The hike up to Gould Mine was pretty good.  There is one large shaft which is well fenced and covered, and one stone building about 9ft by 12 feet.

view west from the mine

From there we continued on a cross-trail to the east toward the King Canyon Trail.  Near the King Canyon Trail, there is a picnic area on a high point, with concrete picnic tables and benches, some of them under a ramada for shade.  We enjoyed the view while we ate our sandwiches.  We were told by some people down at the King Canyon trail that there were petroglyphs on the walls of the canyon, but they were hard to see.  We saw a few that may have been petroglyphs, but they weren't real distinct.

The King Canyon trail at this point is road width, so easy walking.  Going back to the trailhead, it does climb along a ridge above the wash before descending to the trailhead.     We saw a few rare little flowers in bloom.

flower

In preparation for a two week stay in Ajo, west of Tucson, we needed to pick up a few groceries that we can only find at Walmart.  When Joan dug into her purse to pay, she discovered that her card holder was missing, as well as our passports.  When we go hiking, she transfers them to her fanny pack, and leaves her purse in the truck.   She realized that when we got back to the trailhead, she had dug them out of her pack and set them on the tonneau cover on the truck while John dug her purse out of the truck.  She usually gets the purse herself and carries it and the pack around to the passenger side to transfer the stuff back to her purse.  Since this was a change in process, the wallet and passports were left on the tonneau cover.  She was sick with worry, particularly since we need the passports, even to go to Ajo, since we go through a border patrol inspection station on the way.  We drove back to the trailhead, looking for the card holder and passports along the way, with no success.  After looking all over the trailhead, we decided to cancel our credit cards.  We started with Scotia.  When they asked where they could send replacement cards, we explained we were only in Tucson for a few more days, and weren't sure where we would be next due to the missing passports.   They told us that the credit cards were cancelled, and the debit card blocked.  If we found the debit card by the end of the day, we could get it unblocked.   Then we phoned BMO to report those cards lost.  While we were on the line with them, we were surprised to get a call from Trever, so we told them not to proceed and we would call them back if necessary.   We didn't get to Trev's call, but he texted us that he had received a call from Byron, who had found the card holder, and gave us his number.  We called his number, which showed up as a Chicago number.  He and a friend were biking and had noticed the card holder, and picked up all the cards they could find, which were scattered around a pull-out along the road. He texted his address to us for the GPS.  We told him we were going to slowly work back from the trailhead to where he told us they found the card holder, so it might take a while to get there.   We really lucked out, noticing the passports on the side of the road, still in their ziploc bag along with a spare camera battery.   We headed to Byron's place, where he was waiting outside as we came up.  They told us that it looked like a car had run over the card holder, as the credit cards where bent almost to broken.   They told us that there was no cash in the holder.  Joan assured them that she didn't carry cash in it.  Byron said it was really smart that we had 'in case of emergency' information in the holder, so he was able to call Trever to let him know he had found the 'wallet'.  Joan noticed that the Scotia debit card and medipac card for our travel insurance were missing. We got them to explain as well as possible where they found the cards, so we could go back before dark (about an hour away) and see if we could find them.   After thanking them profusely, we headed back and worked our way south from about the halfway point on our return trip through Tucson Mountain Park, since they had found the cards near the south end of the park.  We checked each turnout on the west side until we got past the point they had indicated.   A bit further down, we noticed a scrap of white at another pullout.  It had our US phone number on it, so we knew we had found the right place.  We found the debit card, on the opposite side of the road under a bush.   Somehow, it was the only card that had wound up on that side.   We were thrilled that we had located everything we needed except the medipac card, which isn't as critical.    We couldn't believe how far the card holder had gone before it fell off the truck.   The passports were 2.3 miles south of the trailhead but the card holder was 5.3 miles south of the trailhead.  

As we were driving back to the park in the dusk, we got a call from Rupert.  He was concerned as he had noticed us leave the park early, and we hadn't returned yet.  We rarely stay out that late.   We assured him we were fine, and would tell him our tale when we got back, which we did.  He and Helen were surprised we had so much luck getting our stuff back.    

On Tuesday morning, Joan called Medipac to report the last insurance card.  They assured her that no one could use the card without proper id, and verification with security questions.  Since we have copies of the insurance on our email, we don't need to get a new card sent.   Then she called BMO to ensure that those credit cards were still active since automatic payments for truck insurance, phone and satellite are paid automatically with them. Glad we weren't paying them on the Scotia cards that we reported lost before we found out the cards had been located.

After sorting all that out, we drove back to the Colossal Cave picnic area to the next section of the Arizona Trail going north toward Saguaro Park.  We overlapped about half a mile because  we parked at the south picnic area, which we had seen on our previous trip on the trail.  The trail going south from here follows a plateau above the main north south wash going through this area.  It is fairly level.  From here, we could see that the road from the locked gate did go up to an excavation, perhaps Heavy Boy Mine.   There wasn't a significant debris pile below the excavation, so there couldn't have much here.   In about a mile, the trail went back down to the main wash at La Selvilla picnic area, which has a bunch of tables, and a restroom building. We were passed by one cyclist before we got to this location.  The trail then climbs back up to the plateau levels out again, only detouring along, then down across a couple of washes.  At about the 2 mile point, we came to a point where the wash turns northeast, but the trail crosses a low saddle into another valley looking north across Saguaro Park.

folds at the top of a hill

At 2.3 miles, we turned around and headed back.  Not too far from the picnic area, we were passed by two cyclists, the second one with a young black labrador running alongside.  We stopped to eat apples at the picnic there.  While we were there, another cyclist caught up with her partner.   Two other cyclists went by.  Interesting that in the over two hours we were out, 5 cyclists came by in about 15 minutes.    On this trip, we came across a section with a bunch of bushes that we don't remember seeing before.  We couldn't find out what they are.  Click on the picture to get a better view of the leaves.

bush

From the picnic area, we took the road back to the other picnic area.  It was the same distance but an easier walk.   We discovered that the sinkholes were on the road route. Now the road detours into the wash below that spot.

sinkhole area where the road used to be

Wednesday, we did some cleanup and other prep work for leaving Tucson.  We also went back to look for some 'nice-to-have' cards we had lost, but didn't get lucky this time.  Then we picked up a few items at Costco, and stopped for diesel.  It turned out that John's Scotia credit card as well, so we used our BMO card, which fortunately hadn't been cancelled before we found out the cards were found.   After we got back to the park, we visited with Rupert, Helen and Kerri.  

Thursday, we got all packed up, said good-bye to Rupert and Helen, and headed 150 miles west, through the Tohono O'odham Nation reserve to the town of Ajo, on highway 86 north of Organ Pipe Cactus National Park.   On the way across we came up behind an oversized road that took a lane and a half.   For the first while, it made good time, because there were good shoulders.  Lead cars were getting on-coming traffic to pull right over and stop on the opposite shoulder.  Then the load slowed down since the shoulders were gone, and on-coming traffic had to find a place where they could pull off the highway.   Fortunately, they came to a side road with a turning lane so the load could be pulled over far enough to let the following traffic get past.

After checking in and arranging with the RV office to receive our credit cards we phoned the bank to get them 'rushed' to us.

Week ending Jan 10, 2019 Tucson

On Thursday, Joan and Helen found out that the little cantina / bar and grill on the fairgrounds was open for the cutting horse weekend, so late Friday  afternoon we popped over for a meal after Helen and Rupert got back from getting some warranty work done on their trailer.   This is the first time that it has been open in the 3 stays we have been here.  It is convenient to be able to walk over for a meal, but the menu is pretty basic.  They must be converting from a cantina to a grill, as there were no Mexican items, except for margaritas.   

On Saturday, we drove south on highway 83 to do the next section of the Arizona Trail in that direction.   We parked on a small area beside a road running out to an area in the hills with some acreages.

 We headed north on the trail until we got to the point we had reached from Suhuarita Rd last week.   It is handy to have the Garmin Etrex so we can tell how far we had come in the other direction.   After returning to the truck, we headed across the road on the trail going south from there.   Along the way we went through an area that looked like it had been a little oasis at one time, perhaps from being dammed sometime ago.  

We continued for about a mile on this side of the road before returning.

Hedgehog cacti

Sunday John watched a couple of NFL playoff games.

Monday we did a walk around the fairgrounds.  La Mesa RV was rolling in a fortune in trailers and motorhomes for their 'RV Show' this weekend. 

Tuesday morning, John decided to drain the gas from the generator and change the oil, to see if that would fix the problem with the generator starting.   While he was doing that, Joan found a youtube video about cleaning the fuel filter and the spark arrestor (which keeps sparks from lighting grass on fire).   Two of the three nuts on the exhaust manifold were rusted, and one of them wouldn't loosen.  The fuel filter replacement looked finicky, so since John didn't want to tackle that, we decided that we would need a professional to do the job.   

On Tuesday afternoon, we returned to the Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead, and did a couple of miles north from this point.  The trail heads down into Davidson Canyon this time instead of along the rim that we did going south.   We were surprised at the green stuff growing along the Cienega Creek in the Canyon.

We walked under a railway overpass, then climbed back on the east side of the canyon back up to the road.   After crossing the road, we went under a different set of railway tracks.   The other set of tracks goes under the other railway here as well.   As a convenience for hikers, a canopy was installed under the tracks to prevent rocks falling from above.  

Canopy under railway to protect hikers

There weren't a lot of rocks on the canopy, but one would hurt. 

We saw one train going west on the lower track, and three trains heading east on the upper one while we were on the trail.

We got a view of a house on a peak above this valley that you can see for a long stretch from the freeway east of Tucson.

Home on a hill

Staghorn cholla budding

Wednesday, we took the Honda generator into Musselman Honda to get some the generator fixed.  They are a dealer in Honda ATV's, motorcycles and generators.  

Thursday after lunch we headed to La Posta Quemada Ranch at Colossal Cave Mountain Park, to trailhead further north on the Arizona Trail.  There was nobody manning the entry gate, and a sign indicated that entry is free (due to the government shutdown?).  The gates are open from 8 to 5 daily, so we needed to complete our hike before the gates were closed.    In the parking area at the trailhead is 'The Cowboy' tribute by Buck McCain. 

The Cowboy

The AZ trail was well marked.  At this point, it is .25 mile spur to the stables across a wash.  Then the trail winds up a hill, and over a saddle into the next valley for about a mile.

 

View of Ranch

Trail Ride

Hills to the north

Agave

Once over the top we got a better view across the valley of the house on the top of the hill that we had seen on Tuesday.

From there the trail meanders downhill south until it gets to the main wash running down that side of the hill.  Near the bottom, we encountered a local hiker coming north.   We had a nice chat with him before returning to the ranch.   We arrived back at 4:00, so had plenty of time before the gates were closed.    We were not impressed with the road into the park, as it is full of potholes.

We were planning on going to Ajo today.  However, when we checked with the RV park there, they didn't have any space for us for the next two weeks, so we booked a spot starting next Thursday, and extended our stay in Tucson for another week. 

Week ending Jan 3, 2019 Tucson

Friday, we went to see if we could find the Arizona Trail at the corner of Suhuarita Rd and Highway 83, about 11 miles southeast of the fairgrounds. We parked on a area along 83 with about 5 other vehicles.  A short distance east, we saw a few cars parked on the south side of Suhuarita Road.  We found the trailhead behind them.  We obviously didn't look very hard when we checked for the trail here a few years ago. When we got to the gate through the fence, there was a sign indicating that the land was State Trust Land, and a permit was required to enter.  Fortunately there was a phone number for information.  We gave it a call, and explained to the receptionist that we wanted to hike on the Arizona Trail.  He told us that was no problem, as the Trail has an easement to go through State Trust Lands.  However, we were not permitted to go and investigate anything we saw that was off the trail.

We read the description of 'the Arizona National Scenic Trail'.  It runs for 800 miles from the Mexican border at Coronado Memorial, which we visited a few weeks ago, going north  through deserts, mountains, canyons, wilderness, historic points and communities. It gains and looses thousands of feet along the way, climbing over mountain ranges and the Mogollon Rim (near Flagstaff), and through the Grand Canyon, ending on the Utah border near the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument.

There are direction signs along the trail at points where there might be doubt about which way to go.  They are easier to read on the north side, as the sun has thoroughly faded the south sides.  The trail in this area is through a veritable cactus garden.  The variety of plants was impressive. There were more flowers here than we usually see in the desert, probably because of the recent rains.

Desert flowers

Fishhook barrel cactus budding

Joshua trees

flowering ocotillo

Interesting shape

We could see the snow on the top of the mountains around us. 

The trail is well defined, but is only one person wide.  From the tracks, it looks like it is primarily used by bicyclers.  We encountered a runner near the beginning of the trail, and had a bit of a chat with him.  We asked him if the road to Helvetia ghost town was open yet.  He said that there is a guard that turns vehicles back on the road. When we told him that we had checked out who was looking at reopening the mine and found they were a Canadian company, he asked us if they were the criminals they seemed.  We told him that they had applied for the water permits that they required, and had shelved the project when they were unsuccessful.

We followed the trail south on a gradual uphill slope to the 2.0 mile point, according to our GPS, before returning. Just before we turned back, we met a couple heading back.  Almost back at the trailhead, we met another couple with a pre-schooler just heading out.  

Saturday, we returned to parking area at Suhuarita Road. From there, the AZ trail goes south toward I-10 for about half a mile before going over a hiker cattle guard gate,

Hikers cattle guard

under an overpass on Highway 83 and back north about a quarter mile on the east side of the highway. From there the trail goes east across a cow pasture where a few cows watched us pass.

Cow keeping an eye on us

It then climbed up to a little trailhead on Old Sonoita Highway.  This section was about two miles.   We didn't encounter anybody on this section of the trail. 

On the drive back from the trailhead, we were waved down by a woman with a bicycle.  She asked if we had cables to give her truck a boost.  They only had half a set of cables, with a connector to plug in the other half.  Weird.  We checked the bin in the box of the truck where we used to have our cables, but they weren't there.  She thanked us for stopping, and said she would try to get someone else.  The next truck behind us stopped too, so hopefully they were able to get the truck started.  A few days later, Joan noticed the cables in the back seat of the truck.

Sunday, we drove to the little parking area, big enough for one, maybe two, vehicles, where the AZ Trail crosses Old Sonoita Highway.

Trailhead

The trail wanders down across a wash toward a rise on the east side.  We saw more evidence of bicyclers on this section.  A fellow coming up behind us startled us, as he was quite close before he warned us he was coming.  We saw a few ATV's on ATV trails nearby.  Our 2 mile point turned out to be past two powerlines to a location looking down toward the freeway.  On the way back, a couple of bicyclers gave us more notice they were coming.  We can't hear them coming on the hard packed trail, and obviously weren't looking back often enough.  When we thanked them for giving us lots of notice, and mentioned getting startled, they apologized on behalf of mountain bikers for those who weren't as polite.   Both sets of bikers went by us again before we got back to the truck. 

Monday, we were surprised to see warning messages about ice and snow on the freeway as we drove to the Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead. The trailhead is a memorial to the shooting in Tucson of congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford and 18 other people.  There is a trail from here to the Cienega Creek Wildlife Area.  A free permit is required to go there, presumably to limit the number of people.  Our trip for the day was a 2 mile section of the AZ Trail heading south to the location at which we turned around the previous day.  A couple with a dog headed off ahead us.  We never saw them again, so they must have gone much further.  We met a woman with a pit bull, under tight control.  She had moved off the trail to let the couple go by, and then again for us.  The dog was wearing a 'coat' to keep warm.   The trail follows along the top ridge of the Davidson Wash, which is deep enough to actually have a name.  There is a big bridge on I-10 across the wash.  However, only the horse traffic is directed on this route.  Hikers and bikers head west to a smaller wash with a concrete tunnel going under the freeway. 

snakes mouth tunnel entry

The tunnel is quite long as the freeway is 3 lanes in each direction at this point.  There is a bit of slogging through the loose sand that has pile up in the downstream end of the tunnel. 

The trail wandered up from the tunnel, maintaining a reasonable grade as it went around the top end of washes where it could, rather than crossing them.  We continued until we got to the location we had stopped on the previous day.   On the way back, we met about 5 cyclers on their way up.  Then we saw a couple of dirt bikers going along a maintenance road next to a cable line.

Tuesday morning our satellite reception was low, not good enough for the high-def channels.  It turned out we had a winter storm overnight that left about .5 in of wet snow on everything except bare ground.  We just had to clear the snow off the dish.   The snow was already melting on the vehicles and buildings.  

Wednesday morning, we had even more snow.

unusual snowfall

The park started to fill up with horse trailers with living quarters, a pen full of cattle and a bunch of cutting horse competitors.

Thursday was one of the coldest mornings we have seen here, since it cleared off late Wednesday, so we did a bit of shopping and a short walk around the park, where we caught up with Rupert and Helen who were doing the same.