We packed up for our move to Benson, Arizona. It didn’t take us long to get here. We went to the SKP’s park but the office was closed on Sunday and we were going to have to dry camp today. It was quite hot (in the 90’s) and we didn’t want to be without the air conditioner. We decided to go on to Kartchner Caverns State Park. They had plenty of room. We had lunch then headed to the cavern and took the tour. It was very nice, we enjoyed it.
May 10 - We got up quite early (5:30). It starts getting light about 4:15 a.m.!! We headed out to the Chiricahua National Monument. We had been here about 8 years ago but didn’t hike any of the trails and had always wanted to come back. The morning was very cool and windy. Very nice hiking weather. We decided to hike the Echo Canyon Loop Trail. It’s 3.3 miles and consists of Echo Canyon, Hailstone and Ed Riggs Trails. The trail winds through spectacular rock formations.
We heard a raven overhead making a lot of noise. We looked down into the canyon and saw him mobbing a Golden Eagle! We watched for quite a while before the eagle had enough and took off.
After dinner we walked over to the Cavern’s visitor center. It was closed so there wasn’t anyone around, which we really enjoyed. There is a very nice hummingbird garden where we saw a Costa’s Hummingbird!
May 11 - We got up at 5:30 and drove into Sierra Vista to go to Miller Canyon to Beatty’s place. He has put a lot of work into the place since we were here last. We sat up at the hummingbird feeders for a while and saw Berylline, Broad-billed, Blue-throated, Magnificent, Black-chinned, Anna’s, White-eared and Broad-tailed. We walked up the canyon to see the spotted owl. He was quite close to the trail and we got very good looks.
May 12 - We went to San Pedro House this morning. We got there at 7:00- right when a bird walk was starting. There were only 3 people so we decided to go too. It was a 4 hour walk. We saw a great horned owl, Abert’s Towhee, gopher snake. It was a very pleasant, cool morning.
May 13 - We decided to hike the loop trail around Kartchner Caverns. It was a great hike. The trail went around the mountain that the cavern is in. There was a look-out trail that was pretty strenuous. I pooped out about half way up but Mark went all the way to the top. We saw several pretty lizards!
May 14 - We drove out to Fort Huachuca this morning, drove up Garden Canyon to Sawmill Canyon. We saw Cassin’s Vireo (a lifer, our 2nd one this trip), heard some turkeys, saw a Cooper’s Hawk nest.
May 15 - We drove down to the French Joe Canyon. The road into the canyon was very rough. It took about 45 minutes to go 2 ½ miles! It was nice in the canyon. Lots of trees and a little bit of water trickling down.
Photos: Arizona State Line, Mark standing on a Hoodoo (Chiricahua National Monument), Spotted Owl, Collard Lizard, French Joe Canyon.
Wow, you guys did a lot of side trips from Kartchner Caverns State Park. We drove the 50 miles to Willcox yesterday. We went to Ft. Bowie today and will go to Chiricahua tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty hot in May, so we were getting up crazy early to beat the heat and still see birds before the sheltered for the day. You are definitely there at a better time!
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