A RETURN TO THE CHIRICAHUA MONUMENT

THE TRAIL JUST GOING UP & UP & UP

I WILL SPACE TODAY’S HIKING PHOTOS OUT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS

When I saw the cloud cover first thing this morning I thought we were going to be in for a cool day.  By 9, warming sunlight began making it’s way through the overcast & we were off & running with another big bright & warm sunny day.

  

Decided it was a good day to head on back to the Chiricahua Monument & strap us on another mountain trail.  We had heard from friends the ‘Natural Bridge Trail’ was a scenic 4.8 mile round trip moderate hike through some very picturesque territory.

MUCH OF THIS TRAIL WAS FORESTED

We rolled through the Park’s gate at 11:30 a.m. & had our boots on the Natural Bridge Trail 10 minutes later.  Right from the beginning of the trail head we were immediately into a steady climbing ascent.  The first quarter of the trail sapped a big chunk of energy out of us right off the bat.   The rocky trail seemed to climb forever through a heavy forest of Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, Apache Pine, Yucca’s, Sotol, Agave & Prickly Pear Cactus.  We had dressed too warm again & it wasn’t long before we were shedding jackets, folding up pant legs & rolling up sleeves.  Our long steady climb  leveled out for a short time about 40 minutes into the hike.  Felt good to give our burning legs a break, but it was short lived.

We began a rocky switchback descent into a second canyon complete with toe stubbing rocks & loose gravel on the path.  Proper hiking boots are imperative on these kinds of hikes because twisted ankles, scrapes & falls are around every corner if a person is not paying attention. 

 

Soon we were back down into the tree line  steadily descending to the Canyon floor through many towering & aged trees, boulders, & waving grasses.  This is truly a scenic trail with many photo opportunities.  And, for us Ontario folks with the still spongy legs, it is truly a long trail.  We began to wonder if we would ever reach the end of it.

A WELCOME FLAT STRETCH ATOP THE RIDGE

 

But, reach the end of it we finally did.  Try as we did we could not seem to locate the Natural Bridge though.  Kelly had packed a lunch of egg salad sandwiches but they were in a bit of messy mess from being  bounced around in her back pack.  Lesson learned!!  Do not take egg salad sandwiches on bumpy trail hikes.

     

A young Mom & Dad with a couple small children in tow arrived at the end of the trail as we were leaving & the Mom was able to point out the Natural Bridge across the canyon.  Had she not pointed it out we would have never seen it.  Guess we were spoiled by the large natural bridges in the Arches up in Moab, Utah.

  

THE NATURAL BRIDGE

The hike from the parking lot to the end of the trail had taken us an hour & a half.  The hike back down the trail to the parking lot took us an hour & fifteen minutes.  We generally always do the return trips faster because we figure the sooner we can get back, the sooner we can get our sore feet & legs off the ground & our tired Tushes into a couple of comfortable Jeep seats:))  And, what a great feeling that always is as we drive our way merrily & restfully home.  Another great day in the wild & wooly American Southwest……………. 10-4:))

  

SOOOO GLAD TO BE BACK AT THE JEEP

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And, in the word’s of Rodney Dangerfield…….

• I was such an ugly kid...When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up.
• I could tell my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.
• I was such an ugly baby...My mother never breast fed me. She told me that she only liked me as a friend.
• I'm so ugly...My father carries around a picture of the kid who came with his wallet.
• When I was born, the doctor came into the waiting room and said to my father, "I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but he pulled through."
• I'm so ugly...My mother had morning sickness, after I was born.

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

IF OUR DAYS GET ANY SLOWER WE WILL BE GOING BACKWARDS:((

SUNSET OVER THE MULE MOUNTAINS

The temps dropped to 23F in McNeal last night & our outside thermometer probe told us we were down to 10F.  We are a little higher up in elevation east of Elfrida.  Being in an RV with these kinds of temps is a bit different than being in a sticks & bricks house.  Our Motor Home does not retain the heat inside like a well insulated house so on really cold mornings we use the rig’s furnace as well as our Legacy Blue Flame heater to keep the icicles from forming in my moustache.  I am not a cold weather person!!!!

Found out later this afternoon that these low temps are unusual for this time of year & Bisbee recorded it’s coldest Thanksgiving ever.  Fortunately, temps are coming up over the next few days with tonight not being as cold & tomorrow maybe hitting 70F

GOOD EXAMPLE OF GRUMPY FACE & HAPPY FACE

We ended up not going anywhere again to day.  Just kinda rested & soaked up a lot nice warm sunshine in our outside lounger chairs.  Jeannie & Ray from the ranch dropped in to see if we had survived the cold night & thawed out OK. 

I finished my ‘Chasing Rainbows’ book that ED had left at the ranch for me.  What a great book it was & a big thanks goes out to Ed.  Chasing Rainbows is not likely to end up on any best sellers lists or bring the author any great recognition aside for a few nods & smiles from some of the local folks in the area.  This book was written in a style I much prefer to read nowadays.  Written by a local fellow about local events of day’s gone by.  Down to earth writing, down to earth honesty with no twisty twiney plots & undue drama mixed in to drag the reader from one side of the cerebral cortex to the other.  I was a voracious reader many years ago & read tons of books but finally lost interest in all things fictional.  It’s curious that I don’t read anything at all when I am back home in Bayfield but when we get to the Southwest each winter my reading interest returns & I enjoy reading about events of the past in the various areas we are traveling.  Must be that little kid in me still wide eyed by tales of the old West. 

Tomorrow morning we’ll swing on down into Elfrida & pick up another local book at the Library called, ‘The Cowman’s Wife.’  Actually I think we have a round-about photography connection to this book.

As per the Vet’s instructions we are applying hot compresses 3 times a day to Cora’s (Motormouse) external Cyst which is about the size of a Cherry.  It is not causing her any discomfort & she is not in any kind of pain.  She is her usual Clown self everyday.  Vet says to do this for 5 days & then call him.

        

I don’t have a whole lot to write about tonight simply because we didn’t do a whole lot today & I don’t really have too many new pics so I may as well keep the blog short.  Nice change from my long winded posts eh:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  It was visitor's  day at the asylum.   All the inmates were standing in the courtyard singing "Ave Maria" and singing it beautifully.  Oddly, each of them was holding a red apple in one hand and tapping it rhythmically with a pencil.  A visitor listened in wonderment to the performance and then approached the choir director. "I am a retired choir director," he said. "This is one of the best choirs I have ever heard."  Yes, I'm very proud of them," said the director.  "You should take them on tour!" said the visitor."What are they called"?  "Surely that must be obvious," replied the director.....

"They are the Moron Tapanapple Choir."

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

COLD OUTSIDE SO WE STAYED WARM…INSIDE!!

We sort of had it in our heads to maybe head back to the Chiricahua Monument today for another trail hike this morning.  For whatever reason we couldn’t seen to summon up enough mental energy to kick start our bodies into gear so we ended up spending a quiet day around the rig.  An increasing cloud cover made the already cool North wind feel colder & also served to drop the temperatures today.  Sunny skies Friday so that may make for warmer air in the mountains.

BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW WE CHOSE OUR JEEP’S COLOR TO MATCH OUR HIKING BOOTS:))

Gathered up some more dead Yucca stocks over in the Swisshelm mountains a couple days ago.  They are great for getting campfires going & burn well.  By being the camera man I get myself out of a lot of work:))  Actually, I used to use my camera to hide behind years ago at social activities like dances, wedding receptions & stuff.  Always had a camera in my hand taking pictures of folks & if anybody asked me to dance or something I would always use the excuse that I was busy taking pictures.  Shy people just gotta do what they gotta do sometimes!!  Never cared much for that dancing stuff anyway.  Professional dancers are nice to watch but at the local dances I always figured watching two people dancing was akin to watching a vertical wrestling match!!

  

We have a busy few days coming up next week.  We’re heading off to meet Eve at the GRAPEVINE CANYON RANCH on Tuesday morning.  She is one of the folks in our blog’s right hand column under, ‘Blogs We Follow.’  Wednesday is a Jeep tour with some friends in the Dragoon Mountains & the next two days will be spent helping load a truck with all the belongings from the house where we are located right now.  But, more about all that next week.

 

  

WITH CACTUS AROUND IT’S ALWAYS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOUR NEXT STEP IS GOING TO BE

The more time we spend at this location a few miles east of Elfrida the more it makes us wish we had a similar type of place to live.  There are no cars going by, no human sounds of any kind.  No lights to pollute the night sky,  & no train whistles in the night.  Only sounds are the wind & the birds.  The curving laneway leads to a dirt road we can’t see & we have a fenced in acre of land with a locked gate.  Sure makes me want to do something about our present location back in Canada, that’s for sure.

  

KELLY IS SLIM ENOUGH TO FIT THROUGH THE GATES BUT ME, THE BULBOUS ONE, HAS TO LUMBER UP ONE SIDE OF THE GATE & CRASH INTO A JELLO-Y HEAP ON THE OTHER

At one point in the Swisshelm’s the other day Kelly called me over to look at what she called, ‘the spooky looking fog on the ground.’  Turns out the cottony looking fog was coming from what I think looks like a Desert Broom plant.

  

And again I would just like to mention how pleased we are with this Cradlepoint Router set up we now have up & running.  I have finally been able to get some of my backlogged email correspondence off the back burner & out the front door. 

I SEE A HOODED MEGA MONK HERE

    

ALL THESE PHOTOS ARE FROM OUR SWISSHELM MOUNTAIN DRIVE A COUPLE DAYS AGO

Someone asked what the Mortero’s are.  I did look on Google for an explanation but didn’t find one so I’ll attempt to explain what it is.  On a flat rock surface a person will place some seeds & then with another rock (pestle) they will grind those seeds into a powder to be used in cooking.  After repeated grindings the pestle begins to slowly create an indentation in the rock.  Over a period of daily use these indentation soon begin to wear themselves into actual holes in the rock.  This is an advantage because now more seeds can be dumped into the hole without the fear of them blowing away in the wind or being scattered by the grinding process.  We have seen Morteros a foot deep so you can imagine the hard work & time spent on grinding seeds with a rock on a bigger rock to actually wear a hole in the rock itself that deep. (Morteros are in left photo below)

  

I SUSPECT THERE WAS AN INDIAN VILLAGE ON THIS FLAT GROUND YEARS AGO BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE ALL THE MORTERO GRINDING HOLES ARE

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THERE ARE NOT ALWAYS SMOOTH PATHWAYS WHERE WE WALK

Had a question about the map we, & many others have on our blogsites with all the States & Provinces colored in showing where people have traveled.  I cannot remember where I got that from so wondered if someone out there could email us or leave a comment where to get that type of map.  I will put that info into the next blog.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And how about a little pun-able fun with some fellow bloggers:))

Did you know that JANNA  once fell into her upholstery machine and is now completely recovered.

RETIRED ROD sent RICK some dead batteries the other day – free of charge.

DONNA is known around her town of Sandwich as quite a recycler.
Yesterday she rode her bike twice.

BIG DAWG & FREEWAY said they knew a fellow who quit dating the telephone operator because he felt disconnected. Besides, she had too many hangups.

WANDERING WILLY stole a calendar once. He got twelve months but emailed his friends to say, I grew herbs and worked in the jail’s kitchen where I served my thyme.

JOHN B. over in Texas stretched out in his chair & thought to himself, I'm inclined to be laid back.

THE WANDERING WISHNIES came to the conclusion that the mechanic at the local transmission shop seemed a little shifty.

MIKE & GERRI a few weeks ago said the lights were too bright at the Chinese restaurant so the manager decided to dim sum.

FROGGI DONNA brought it to our attention about a new type of broom that has come out, it is sweeping the nation.

Folks over at THE MOHO figured the ankle was an arch enemy of the heel because the heel had a sole that could neither toe the line nor keep instep.

DOUG figures the triangular computer monitor business was just a big pyramid screen.

LOREE tells us she used to do rock climbing as a youth, but  was much boulder back then.

And JOHN says if you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you’d be in Seine

GYPSY dropped a big tub of margarine in the kitchen of her new Lance camper…now she has a Parkay floor.

IVAN couldn’t be on-line this afternoon because he’s on his way to visit some old girlfriends in Cuba. I hope he’s Havana good time.

LAURIE out in Sacramento says if you believe restaurants always overcook steaks, then you probably order them rarely.

WAYNE & ROBERTA knew a bowler who preferred to enter and exit his apartment via the fire escape because it was right down his alley.

JUDY says, show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I’ll show you A-flat minor.

And RANDY said, it wasn’t school he disliked, it was just the principal of it.

Did you know JENNIFER nearly married a TV repair tech once. The reception would have been great!

ED signed up to be an organ donor; he really put his heart into it.

CHUCK & ANNEKE wondered if we had heard about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

SAM wanted to run an on-line origami school, but it folded.

On the track team, JERRY had a fear of hurdles, but he got over it.

SANDRA up there in cold old Canada tells us about a dog that gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

And MIKE tells us of the two silk worms that had a race up at North Ranch. They ended up in a tie.

And KAREN said, once her & Stevio were sitting in their kayak & became chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too.

Did you hear about AL who sent more than ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.