And the view in back --
But the above is just a part of the view in back; here's a panorama of the back view, 7 photos put through a panorama stitching program --
The "T" -shaped structures are hangers for hummingbird feeders, and behind the one on the left you can see a "bird tray" to be filled with bird seed so birds can perch on the tray and eat it. The white structure on the right is the "pump house" for the water pump and well. The view is, well amazing; it looks down Cave Creek Canyon, what I consider to be one of the southwest's great scenics. I still can't believe I purchased this place. The house is a "manufactured home", but one of the highest-quality ones, built by Palm Harbor. More info on the house and Portal living as time goes on...
Water feature and bird trays
After taking these photos in the morning, I spent most of the day with my friend, wildlife biologist, raptor expert, my Portal mentor, and real estate agent extraordinaire, Helen Snyder, as I was giving back her Subaru that I had borrowed for a few days while AAA was figuring out the status of my Toyota Tundra (they later declared it "totaled") and we were to drive to Sierra Vista so I could pick up a rental car. It was really my first realization of how much driving is involved living here in Portal, along the Arizona-New Mexico border, when you want to do some shopping. As I said above, Douglas, along the US-Mexico border, is the closest town for shopping, with markets and a Wal-Mart, so Helen and I stopped by the Food City there, where you can buy bulk items for a price for the most part cheaper than at Wal-Mart, then headed to Sierra Vista via Hwy 90, driving through the picturesque historic downtown section of Bisbee, passing the San Pedro River and San Pedro House, run by Audubon, then to the Enterprise car rental office in Sierra Vista. My rental car is a Nissan Versa, a 4-door slightly bigger than a "compact", with a low undercarriage -- but then I'm used to 4-wheel-drive vehicles -- which should be "challenging" on the dirt roads here in the Chiricahuas. The drive back home (I have to get used to calling this area that) was scenic, especially along Hwy 80 south of the Chiricahuas, rolling grassland that Helen calls "the Serengeti of the southwest" and though I've never been to Africa I can see why -- lush, dotted with hills and mountains, and very little evidence of "civilization". It's a gorgeous area, and rich in birds such as Lark Buntings, and bluffs perfect as Peregrine Falcon aeries. This whole area invites exploration...I get back to The Cowboy Room after dusk, and prepare for the next day which will be spent on a day hike in the Chiricahuas...
WiFi, internet connection, and phone service can be spotty here at times. My ATT "dumb phone" is useless, so I bought a SmartPhone from Wal-Mart, and in the 3 days I've had it, it's been invaluable. I held off for so long from buying one -- stubbornness, I guess -- but I sure need it here...I pack up the Versa for the trip into the Chiricahuas; it's about 7:30am. As I'm putting things in the car, I hear this unearthly sound coming from across the street, in the fields; I should have recorded it, but it was high-pitched and what I can only describe as "yelping" and "yowling", coming from at least 10 animals. Some folks from Oregon staying at the Lodge were packing up to leave, so I asked the lady if she knew what the sounds were from. "Coyotes", she said. Wow. What a way to greet the morning... I really AM out in the "tules" (pronounced TOO-lees, meaning "boonies") -- and am loving it...I head up Portal Road and drive along Cave Creek, marveling once again at the beauty of the landscape here -- I don't think I will ever get over it -- and decided to do a short walk up to Vista Point with the cameras. There were small washes and normally-dry arroyos that filled with rushing water during Hurricane Odile's "visit" in mid-September, and debris and rocks from the floods are everywhere in evidence. I walk up to the end of the trail, and see this scene spread out in front of me --
The canyon of south fork Cave Creek is on the left; what's really impressive is the green forest canopy here, less than 100 miles from the Mexican border. The reddish-orange colors you see are from Arizona sycamores with fall foliage. The High Chiricahuas are being bathed in early-morning light in the distance in both creek drainages. Today I'm going up the right drainage, to the end of Herb Martyr Road. What you get glimpses of along that dirt road is Winn Falls, at 365 feet one of Arizona's tallest cascades. But what is interesting about it now, is that it is ICE. I took some photos with my 500 f/4 lens, and remarked that, well, the water wasn't MOVING, though it looked like a cascade. Well, my friend Helen Snyder said it's encased in ice right now; here's the closeup photo of Winn Falls, taken with my Canon 500 f/4 lens --
Amazing. This was taken along the trail to Ash Springs, which begins with Basin Trail at the end of Herb Martyr Road --
Though evidence of flood damage is in the creek beds and on the sides, thank goodness most of the trails are above the creeks, and still recognizable -- and the signage is still intact, at least on this trail.
The trail to Ash Springs...The views are to die for along here, reaching to Cave Creek canyon --
And the birds...I spot a Red-tailed Hawk way up high, but even higher than that was a smaller raptor, so I put my 500 f/4 on it and --
I believe it's a Sharp-shinned Hawk, but I sent the photo to raptor expert Helen Snyder, and am awaiting her verdict...I also see a Red-naped Sapsucker; they are known to winter here --
And Mexican Jays, with their raucous cries, are ubiquitous in the lower areas of the Chiricahuas --
Before Ash Springs there is a "cienega", an area of Arizona sycamores, pines and a creek, a "micro-climate" with trees usually seen at lower elevations; it's usually full of bird life but pretty quiet during this time of year. Still beautiful, though --
At Ash Springs, a little further on, there's a ruined "shack" near the springs --
One of the things I love about the Chiricahuas is the mixture of high-elevation trees along with, say, yucca, a desert plant --
There's a Western Bluebird here, fly-catching, perched on a snag in this open area --
Looking back along the trail, you can see the "ice" of Winn Falls to the right of, and below, the V-shaped peak in the left-center distance --
It's amazing how lush and green this area -- well, all of the Chiricahuas -- is, in the middle of November, but that's a testament to all the water the area was deluged with from Hurricane Odile, on top of an already-wet monsoon season. Looking southeast towards Cave Creek canyon again --
Basin Trail connects with Greenhouse Trail, which heads up to a mountain meadow on the way to its end in the High Chiricahuas. The evidence of the floods is obvious; I'd hiked Greenhouse Trail this April, and those rocks weren't there --
The trail crosses the creek, and winds up to a mountain meadow, where I see Hairy Woodpecker and hear a Flicker, and get a glimpse of a Sapsucker, possibly a Williamson's...
The Crest Trail in 4 miles -- well, that's for another day, and hike... I head back to the car; here's my hiking gear --
I stop by the Faranuf house (pronounced Far-enough, quite appropriate!) take a quick photo of the back of the house in the late afternoon sun --
then before heading to Rodeo and The Cowboy Room, drop by Bob Rodrigues' bird feeders in the Big Thicket, off Foothills Road (I'll be a neighbor of his) and meet Kathy, a birder from the west coast of Vancouver Island who spends winters here in Portal. The birds at the feeders are quiet until just before sunset, when the resident Mr and Mrs Cardinals come out --
Along with a Pyrrhuloxia, which I always thought sounded more like a disease of the gums --
What a great day. But that's the kind of place this can be, the Chiricahuas. And I'll be doing another day hike there today, stay tuned...
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