Davis Mountain State Park

We wound up at Davis Mountain S.P. today on our way to Big Bend National Park in southern Texas. This is a very nice campground in the Davis Mountains but we are in the midst of a cold snap that has moved through the south west. Fortunately we are west of all the rain that the Texas gulf coast has been getting and we had only a light rain this morning. The weather tops out at around 60 degrees and starting on Saturday is supposed to clear and get back in the seventies.
Our trip is going well and we are saddened that the weeks are rolling by so fast. We now have about seven weeks before we are back in Michigan for the summer.
Life is good!

Brantley Lake State Park and Carlsbad Caverns

We are staying at Brantley Lake S.P. just north of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Yesterday we took a ride to the National Park and walked through Carlsbad Caverns. I never cease to wonder at the beautiful formations in the cave here. The cavern is huge, and the Big Room eight hundred feet below the surface is bigger than two football fields.
We walked down the trail into the depths of the cavern and since the elevator has been out of commission for the past four months (government red tape and bureaucracy hinders getting it fixed), we walked the path back out to the top.
We were once again mesmerized by the huge stalagmites and stalactites and all of the beautiful formations on the floor, walls and ceilings of the cave.
Today the sky is threatening rain, if we get it it will be the first rain we have had since we were in San Antonio at the beginning of January (other than Maui, but it rains there all the time).

White Winged Dove at camp. This is the fourth species of dove we've seen this winter.

A jackrabbit at camp. Look at how long the legs are!

The gate at the Caverns

The big room eight hundred feet below the surface.

The formation s hanging here are called lions tails. Can you see why?

Hall of giants.

Huge stalagmite columns standing sixty feet tall!

Rock of ages

This calcified column was one of the biggest in the cavern.

 

Draperies

 

These were curtains of calcium that looked like drapes hanging from the ceiling and wall.

I could have taken pictures down here all day, but to truly appreciate this place you have to see it in person. Just like most of the amazing places we are seeing this winter.

On the Move

We only had two nights at Rockhound State Park, so we got our laundry done and some shopping on Friday, then some hikes in on Saturday morning. There is a second section of the State Park here called Spring Canyon and it is at the top of a valley heading into the mountains. We hiked there in the afternoon and ran into some hunters that were after Ibex there. The Ibex were brought in from Peru and released years ago to provide sport for hunters. No0w they are overpopulating and the state does what it can to encourage hunters to keep the numbers under control. We didn't see any Ibex, but one group of hunters were packing one out that they got at the upper reaches of the mountain.
Today we are moving to the Carlsbad Caverns area and will visit the caves again. We were here several years ago and were awed by the beautiful rock formations in the caverns.

Friday night sunset at Rockhound S.P.  We had a campsite at the top of the campground and a spectacular view into the valey and toward town. At night the valley was all lit up like diamonds in the sea!

A view towards camp while hiking the mountain behind the campground.

When I got higher up I took another picture towards camp.

Hope all are well back home.

Last Day at Roper Lake

Tomorrow we move a little further east again, but in the past two days we did some exploring. Yesterday we drove up Mt Graham to an elevation over eight thousand feet. We started from camp at just over three thousand so we gained a mile in elevation! They had a snow storm on January first and they still have the snow above eight thousand feet. The summit is 10,700 and they have an observatory at the top. We didn't want to go any further since the road was becoming questionable and we weren't sure if it was opened to the top.
After driving down the mountain we explored the town of Safford which is just north of the campground. This is an old western town that was geared toward agriculture in the Safford Valley. Safford is quite a bustling large city with lots of conveniences.
Today we drove over to Clifton which is northeast of the campground. This is an old late eighteen hundreds mining town that is still going even though a lot of the old buildings are decrepit and falling down. The neighborhoods are still going and the mine is still operational and appears to be thriving. We saw some bighorn sheep in the cliffs above town. They mine copper and gold here and the mine is eating up a mountain. This is the largest leeching mine in the world. They use water in the mining to sort and move the crushed rock that is produced. The open pit resembles a man made Grand Canyon as it is very deep into the mountain and several miles across and even more miles long. It's amazing how much rock has been moved here in the last hundred and fifty years! Driving to and from Clifton was through the Arizona wilderness and it was amazing to see so much undeveloped country.

A look at Mt Graham while hiking at the campground.

This was at about five thousand feet on  Mt Graham, half way to the top.

The summit at 10,700 feet. The snow is hanging on since the beginning of January.

Bighorn sheep in the cliffs above Clifton, the mining town to the northeast of Safford.

The tremendously huge open pit mine above Clifton. This reminded me of the Grand Canyon!

A burial site at the mine, presumably miners who died on the job and were buried on location. (This was within the huge mining area that is still very active today.

A Vermilion Flycatcher we saw while walking at Roper Lake.

Tuesday at Roper Lake State Park

We made the short move to Roper Lake today. We were on the road for just over two hours and part of that was because of a construction slow down and stop and go on US10. This is a small state park, with a forty acre lake and a natural hot tub that is at a constant 97 degrees!
We rode bikes around the park and checked out all of the facilities. We saw a truck from Page Springs Fish Hatchery dumping rainbow trout into the lake. They were so confused they kept swimming onto the shore, and we had to keep throwing them back in!
 I'm feeling much better today, and we are looking forward to some exploring in the area tomorrow.

Yellow Headed Blackbirds...I've never seen these before, but they are everywhere here. They are attracted by the cattails in the lake.

Eurasian Collared Doves. They look like lovebirds!

Did I mention that the blackbirds were everywhere?

Watching the sky light up over the lake at sunset.

And then it got better!

Peace and love to all!

Hot days in Arizona

We've had scorching sun and daytime temperatures in the mid eighties every day. We try to get our hikes in in the morning before the desert heats up. I came down with a sour stomach yesterday and am trying to recuperate so that I am not so lethargic. I'm still taking a morning hike with Nancy and we have had a couple of outings to take care of errands. But my stomach is constantly aching.
Tomorrow we move on to Roper Lake State park east of here but still in Arizona. The altitude is about the same as it is here so the weather should also be similar.
Yesterday we toured Suguaro National Park and marveled at the huge cactus forests growing in the foothills. The ancient people here believed that the cactus were people and were to be treated with respect. As you look across the desert you can imagine that there are people standing about with their arms stretched out.

Hiking into the wilderness in the Santa Catalina mountains. Dogs are not allowed in since they are re-introducing bighorn sheep to this area.

We met some cowboys and girls from Wisconsin along the trail.

 

A fishhook barrel cactus as tall as Nancy.

Purple Cholla taller than Nancy!

Desert Poppies were starting to bloom.

A soaptree yucca with it's plume shooting into the sky.

Our cousins the saguaro standing guard in the desert.

The indigenous people were very active here in this desert.

Indian art on the rocks. They etched their designs into the rocks, and they have remained for centuries!

A record of the hunt!

This is as close as we got to old Tucson. It appears that it's a tourist trap at $18 per head to go in and see the wild west sets for the old Hollywood westerns.

Oh, well, happy hour at camp turned out to be a better choice!

Catalina State Park just west of Tuscon

We are staying at Catalina S.P. for five nights. We are back in the desert and the weather is HOT. Eighty five in the afternoon but it does cool down at night. We went down to thirty seven last night, but it warms up as soon as the sun comes up.
We did a long hike up into the Santa Catalina mountains behind the park today and made it up to Romero Ponds about two and a half miles into the mountains. The water was nice and cool and we washed our faces and cooled our feet on the rocks. What a joy!
Tomorrow we will be going into old town Tucson where they have the old movie sets from the old Hollywood westerns.

The Santa Catalina mountains near Tucson

David and his girlfriend Sarah near Jerome, Arizona

Here we are hiking near Sedona at the Red Rocks

Nancy, David and Sarah on a big chocolate cake rock. (Look close on the top. They are the candles)!

Shopping for goodies at the gift shop.

Saying goodbye to David and Sarah

Our friend the roadrunner at Catalina. We didn't see Wily Coyote here.

Cooling our feet at Romero Ponds up in the mountain.