Well our time in Patagonia and SE AZ are coming to an end. We are now trying to rush in all those things we wanted to do but have not done YET! We have been truly blessed by this opportunity at the Patagonia-Sonita Creek Preserve! BJ has become an accomplished entry level birder and has really developed a love for it. I have enjoyed some fantastic off-roading in our Jeep that has taken us to some beautiful locations with memorable views.
The Patagonia Mountains soar over the town of Patagonia and Red Mountain is, at 6300 feet, about 2100 feet above the town and the major peak in the majestic range to the south.
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| Red Mountain Foods with Red Mt behind it! |
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| From top of Red Mt looking down on Red Mt Foods and rest of Patagonia! |
To the northeast, the Santa Rita mountains dominate the region with Mt Wrightson at nearly 10,000 feet. Mt Hopkins is just about as tall and has an observatory with three different telescopes on top plus a geocache I will have to get next time we are here!!
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| Mt Wrightson in the Santa Ritas! |
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| Santa Rita mountains in background |
We drove thru Box Canyon to the north side of the Santa Ritas one day. Box Canyon Road was a gravel road carved into the side of the mountain. On one side you had a cliff raising above you and on the other side a cliff dropped away to the creek about 300 feet below. The alternate route going around the west end of the Santa Ritas was nearly twice as far, approximately 70 miles rather then nearly 40 miles to Madeira Canyon and was not nearly as scenic!
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| Box Canyon Road |
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| More Box Canyon Road |
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| Box Canyon at night - only those reflictors between you and the bottom! |
On the other side of the Santa Ritas was Florida Canyon and Florida Workcamp. Except I have learned while out here that all my life I have been mispronouncing my home state – it is pronounced FLO-REE-DA. Duh, who woulda known! The Florida Trail climbs thru Florida Canyon by MT Wrightson and eventually to Madera Canyon which is an especially beautiful canyon that we visited several times and will do again when we return to SE AZ.
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| That is pronounced FLO-REE-DA |
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| Well marked trail. |
We hiked up the Florida Trail for aways, BJ was looking for birds and I was just looking for views. Green Valley was out in front of us and on the other side was I-19 that runs between Tucson and Nogales.
We got excited when we saw a large body of water on the other side of the valley and I-19. We were envisioning a great rec area and some kayaking opportunities. We wondered why we had not heard of this apparently large
lake. Well we eventually found out it was water from a mining operation and was not open or safe for use. Apparently remediation of the problem is under way for some undetermined amount of time!
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| The view of Green Valley from about half way up the Florida Trail. |
Of course we have bird pictures on top of bird pictures. BJ has become a real birder while we have been here. She has i-bird loaded on her i-phone to help her identify birds by their songs, She has books and lists and pictures and descriptions and great fun with bird searching! If any visiting birders ask me too much I tell them I am a parrot – I can repeat what I have heard but don't ask me any questions and I refer them to BJ.
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| A hawk on her nest! |
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| The Vermilion Flycatcher can be spotted easily with its bright red colors and black mask! |
Our 3 month tour ends next week and we are looking forward to resuming our travels but our time here has been some of the best since we hit the road. We will definitely return to AZ and most certainly to SE AZ! It is a magical place full of beauty and dramatic views.
We may even buy a place to stop and spend some time if we decide to slow down on the travelling!
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| A fixer upper for us - just need to add a carport for the RV! |
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