February 28 -- A Visit By Mr. Cooper's, And A Walk Along Foothills Road

As I've mentioned here before, my morning routine is to go out to the backyard bird feeders before sunrise -- heck, I'm up and about for about 4 hours prior to that, anyway -- fill them and the water features, then watch the show while I'm having breakfast. Pine Siskins, small energetic birds that hang out in flocks, are hanging onto my feed sock full of nyger, a food for finches, and all the morning action  can be an enticing buffet for any raptors that might come along --

So when I looked out the back door and saw the feeders were empty, when they were thronging with birds seconds before, I thought "raptor!" and sure enough, there "he" was --

 I'd hate to be at the other end of this intense stare --

He was quite a sly devil, too. First he was out in the open, then he went into the mesquite bushes and hid, probably hoping to pounce on any unsuspecting bird that thought it's safe to come out --

He was there for a good 10 minutes, then finally flew off, empty, er, handed. My birds have lucked out in all the raptor visits I've seen so far, though there's always that chance of "Nature Red In Tooth And Claw"...

It was a "what shall I do today?" day. There are things that should get done soon, like planting the artemisia and pyracantha plants that are still in pots on the back deck, but my excuse for holding off on that chore is I don't want to disturb the birds in the back. I check the well house to see how the mothballs are doing in keeping the mice out -- no new droppings, YES! -- then say to myself, "how about a walk down Foothills Road from Faranuf?" It's early morning, temps in the low 70s, no wind, cloudless skies -- and still winter! -- so I laced up my new Merrill hiking boots, grabbed a Clif Bar, headed down Faranuf Trail aka my driveway, closed the gate, and headed north up Foothills. 

At the intersection of Foothills and Portal Roads; Rodeo is in New Mexico.

 A waning moon over Silver Peak

Cave Creek crosses Foothills Road; when it's raining, the road can be impassable.

Cave Creek Canyon, the high Chiricahuas still with snow, and a yucca.

Yucca, cacti and agave along the road. In the center distance is Cochise Head, so named because it looks it looks like the Chiricahua Indian chiefs profile lying in repose. 

Foothills, a primitive road? It can be. And its around 20 miles from here before it turns back into pavement, near the town of San Simon and the intersection with Interstate 10. Foothills runs along the east side of the Chiricahuas. 

An old street sign along Foothills, with what looks like a Native American figure on it. This is looking east, into New Mexico and the Peloncillo Mountains. 

Also looking to the east, with Hwy 80 as the straight strip in the distance, going through Granite Gap. The white domes on the right are part of Sky Village, where you can buy a house with attached observatory. Astronomers and other celestial experts live in this light pollution-free area; the night skies here are a wonder. 

From the desert to the mountains, all within a distance of about 15 miles. It's one of the many things that make the Chiricahuas such a unique place. 

Home. 

February 26 -- An "Uncommon" Bird, And I Order A Stealth Camera

Sunrise and sunset times have been cloudless lately, which folks who've lived here for awhile say is the norm. But I still go out before sunrise to refill the feeders and the water features; some of the birds are already up so fly away from I go in the back, and so does the one cottontail rabbit that seems to be left of the three that were here last year. (Hopefully they moved on and weren't snagged by, say, a raptor.) I saw a hole in the ground a few weeks back and assumed it was the Patch-nosed snake coming out of hibernation, but the hole was closed up shortly after that, and the snakes still seem to be in the ground. After breakfast, I go out and check the well house to see if the mothballs did the trick for the mouse problem; they did, as the Zip-locs I put them in hadn't moved from where I'd placed them the day before. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed...Though I'd originally planned to relax today, I had to accomplish SOMEthing, so I decided to weed-whack with my Stihl trimmer. The grass around Faranuf and the driveway had grown, and since the snakes were still underground I figured this would be a good time to do some clearance. Before that, though, I sat out on my back deck and watched the birds for awhile. I'd put out a nyger feeder "sock" for the finches, and soon the Pine Siskin and later some Lesser Goldfinches had discovered it. I'd also put some peanut butter on a dead tree limb that my friend Peg and I had collected for possible photogenic bird perches, and as the peanut butter was gone in the morning I was curious as to what had eaten it. A woodpecker? Mexican Jay? Cactus Wren? These had eaten the peanut butter over at Mark and Lori's place, which I was taking care of while they were gallivanting through India. So it was much to my surprise when I saw a White-crowned Sparrow hop up on the branch and munch away at the peanut butter. As I'd mentioned, I have quite a few finches at my feeders -- House and Lesser Goldfinches, along with the Pine Siskins. I was watching the action through my binoculars when I saw...hmmm....it LOOKS like a male House Finch but there's something different about it. Its bill seems to be larger and more pointed, it has facial patterns, its wings are darker, and its tail is notched -- all things that a House Finch lacks. I check my Bird Bible for the area, "Birds of Southeastern Arizona" by Rick Taylor, who lives about 10 miles to the north in Whitetail Canyon, look up finches -- and it's a Cassin's Finch. Rick lists the bird as "uncommon" in winter, and "accidental" in summer -- on other words, a fairly rare bird for our area. And I've only seen one Cassin's Finch previously, in the eastern Sierra. Yahoo!  And Mr. Cassin's stayed for most of the day. I took good photos for ID purposes --

You can see the differences I mentioned above between a House Finch and this Cassin's.; you sometimes have to be a Sherlock Holmes to piece together the puzzle. Fun stuff!  And the spring migration hasn't even begun yet, though I've had 2 hummingbirds so far, a female Broad-billed and what I believe to be a female Rufous; the Broad-billed was what is called the "FOS" (First Of Season) hummingbird for me. 

OK, I couldn't put it off for any longer...I brought out my string trimmer and tried to remember how to start it up. I put more gas in the reservoir, then remembered afterward that it was supposed to be a mixture of oil and gas,  not just gas by itself -- DOH! Next time, read the manual first...But it worked fine, though it was hard to start. I didn't wear my snake guards as I figured (hoped) there were none around. I trimmed most of the driveway and a "defensible area" just south of the garage, and left a bit to do  the next day. 

I've always been curious as to what wanders into my back yard at night. I know I've had Gray Fox and skunk, probably Striped but we have 4 species of skunk here, and I'm sure javelina and deer, both Coues (which I saw yesterday; its white tail went up, which is a signal for the others to flee) and Mule, pass through, too. Maybe even mountain lion and black bear, if I'm "lucky". So I purchased something online that will help determine what's back there during the night -- a "stealth cam". I checked out what's available online, and found a good one available on eBay for $30 less than the same model on Amazon. The Amazon link to it is here. It has HD video with sound; I'm excited as to the possibilities of videotaping what might be out there. 

I'd mentioned in yesterday's post about Green Chef and Blue Apron, two online sites that deliver prepackaged dinners that you prepare. The ingredients come individually packed in dry ice and are color-coded -- there are 3 separate dinners -- so you know which ingredient goes to which dinner. Each dinner comes with a step-by-step menu, and even tells you what "tools" you'll need. And even how long it will take to prepare, though for me add at least 30 minutes to the time on the card. Here's what I decided to have that night -- 

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It's called "Cumin-spiced steak". Of course, it didn't turn out looking like this, but it was pretty close. And as it serves 2, I have the leftovers for the next evening. Who said we live in the boonies? I'm eating better here than I did living near a Von's in San Pedro. And that, my friends, is the end of another Fantastic Friday...

February 25 -- The Javelina Return, And What Would I Do Without Amazon And UPS?

They're ba-aaack...

The Javelina Horde (as I like to call them; a group of Javelina is actually called a herd) returned to Faranuf's back yard. They walked in slowly, taking their time, seemingly unconcerned. As with birds, if you don't do any quick, fast movements, they seem to stay quite calm. When I saw them from inside the house, I slowly made my way to the back deck, which is at least 4 feet off the ground, and watched them vacuum up the bird seed that I'd placed on the ground and on tree stumps. They also sniffed at the higher feeders, too, but thankfully didn't try to pull them down. I have friends on Facebook who cautioned me not to get too close as they can be dangerous -- DUH!  What am I going to do, go amongst them and try to be Javelina Man, like Grizzly Man? (Grizzly Man, a real person, thought he could be among the grizzlies and sort of "be one" with them until one day he was attacked while in his tent and half-eaten. His girlfriend that was with him died, too. His time with the grizzlies was made into a documentary by Werner Herzog.) Of course I'm going to stay away from Javelina; I'm no dummy. They depend on their acute sense of smell, rather than their bad eyesight, to sense things. And I hear their odor is pretty pungent, but I guess I've never been downwind from them as I've never noticed it. The were about 10 of them wandering around -- including this baby, who was following his mother VERY closely -- 

While the adults may not be the prettiest things you've seen, the babies are, like kittens and puppies, cute if not quite adorable -- 

Mom used the water feature, and her little one was nursing ---

Now come on -- how can you not go "awwww!" when you see this? --

"Will you STOP goosing me?" Just kidding, of course; he's still nursing -- 

Here Mom is sniffing at the bird seed, which she "Hoovered" up -- 

I certainly wouldn't want to get among them, though folks have related instances of javelina coming up to them (one woman said she felt something on her leg, looked down, and it was a baby javelina that was nosing her.) But there is a sense of "peaceful co-existence" here; there has to be as you really have no choice. Sure, I could get an electrified fence to keep them out, but then I would keep ALL of the critters out, and I certainly don't want that. In fact, I'm thinking of setting up a "critter cam" at my water feature, to see what comes there during the night. And right after the javelina left, a mule deer and her two young ones also came in to use the water feature,  It's all part of the unique Faranuf experiences. 

I received the mothballs from Amazon, so I opened up the package -- stinky! -- put holes in the bags they're in, and put them in a Zip-loc. I went out to the well house, opened up the door -- and there was more mouse droppings, the cotton balls with peppermint oil were scattered around inside -- and one of the two jar tops holding the cotton balls was missing. Along with cotton balls. Now how the HECK did that happen? It's not anywhere in the well house, or outside. What kind of mutant mice do I have in there? First they eat the Irish Spring bars, or take them to their hidey-holes, and now they haul off the cotton balls. So I replace them with the mothballs, and hope for the best. 

Speaking of Amazon...I think I've mentioned before that I really don't know if I would have moved out to a somewhat out-of-the-way area like Portal if I didn't have the convenience of ordering things online. I've been with Amazon since 2000 (so it says on "Steve's Amazon") and am also a Prime member. Though having Prime out here isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you're in a town or city, it's free shipping and delivery in 2 days; out here it's still free shipping, but takes 4 to 5 days, and it says that on the product pages. I suppose it's no big deal, but you have to wonder as Prime membership has now gone up to $100 a year. But it's SO convenient, as you can buy literally anything on Amazon -- well, except for packaged dinners. But are websites even for that -- Blue Apron and Green Chef, among others. My friend Lori turned me on to those -- 3 dinners for 2 people, maybe 3 if you're not big eaters, that arrive in a huge box filled with dry ice to keep them cold. And they're not just Swanson-type frozen dinners that you used to eat on a TV tray (whatever happened to those?) ; these are gourmet dinners made with fresh produce, and pretty exotic stuff, too, certainly things I would never buy on my own. The only drawback is they're kinda expensive -- about $85 for the 3 meals. And though everything is pre-packaged and detailed directions for each meal are included, it's still somewhat of a challenge to actually put everything together into something that resembles a meal -- a least for me. And there are food preparation terms that I don't understand, or don't have the right cooking utensils. Though if the former  happens, I go on the computer and Google it; again, what would  I, or anyone else for that matter, do without the computer and its instant access? But the directions are simple, and even include photos of how each step in the preparation is supposed to look once you've done them. And both Green Chef and Blue Apron orders come by FedEx, and you know what day it will arrive but not the time, though out here it's usually around 5:30pm with the last deliveries. And the UPS and FedEx trucks (DHL is not a viable option out here, or so my friends who've used them tell me) are either vans, or smaller vehicles than what you'd see in the city; they're the rural route carriers. For instance, the UPS truck came by yesterday to deliver the large frame for the Cactus Wren giclee sent by Bobby Goldsboro (it looks good hanging up in my living room). It a combination of truck and van, and when I talked to the delivery guy he said it's one of only 2 in the entire state. I looked in the back, and there were only about 4 packages inside, including mine. And my delivery wasn't his last stop; he came by around 12:30pm. I told him I should take a photo of his vehicle and put it on my Facebook page. But it's another convenience that makes life out here so much easier. And ordering from Amazon -- sheesh, I got sealant for Discovery II that I would have had a hard time to get even if I went into Douglas, the nearest large town!  I probably would have had to drive to Tucson, nearly 200 miles to the west, to even have a chance of picking it up at a "bricks and mortar" store. So everything is pretty much available online. I needed hubcaps for Tundra II as one had broken off. I wanted it to be an original Toyota product if possible, which back in the city would have cost at least $100, or so my repair shop back in Harbor City said. So I went online on Ebay, and found an "OEM" Toyota Tundra hubcap -- for $17. So I got 2. I also bought windshield wiper blades on Ebay, too, which should be arriving any day now and went on YouTube to view a video on how to install them on the wiper handles; it's not as easy as might think. So life out here, while perhaps not a piece of cake, is certainly made easier by the computer and the Internet. And it's kinda like Christmas when you receive a package -- even if you are paying for it yourself. 

February 24 -- Day Two At The Visitor Information Center

I'm having a lot of fun doing this -- really. I mean, how many people can say that they have this for their working environment? -- 

That's the Cave Creek Canyon Visitor Center, or "VIC" for short, sitting between the soaring walls of the canyon, as seen from the parking lot entrance. It's cold this morning, as during this time of the year the sun doesn't reach the VIC until around 9am. There are certain tasks to do before opening up -- clean the public bathroom, especially making sure there are no cobwebs or mouse droppings inside (and that goes for the VIC too); dust, mop, and sweep wherever and whenever they're needed; turn on the radio, computer and WiFi, the latter being available to visitors during opening hours; open up the video room and get the video ready to play -- the name of the video is "Chiricahuas: Mountain Islands in the Desert", an excellent overview of the area and its critters, though it dates to before the Horseshoe II Fire and Hurricane Odile; put the flags out that indicated we're open; unlock the front door -- and wait for the throngs of visitors to come pouring in. OK, so that's a slight exaggeration, b but I do get nearly 30 people coming through the front door today, which isn't bad considering it's still the off-season. Here are a few of the things to be found in the VIC. There are informative displays of some of the more "exotic" creatures to be found here, including this one -- 

Though I have yet to see a Gila Monster, it's just a matter of time before it happens. Same with rattlesnakes, which I also have yet to come across. Those sightings are when it's useful to have a 500mm lens, as you don't need to get close to them to take a quality photo. And speaking of getting close --

These display cases are for the aforementioned gila monsters and rattlesnakes. Alive. They'll be put there once the season starts. My friend Ron, the only paid staffer here who's worked at the VIC for 5 years, asked if I'd like to feed them when I'm there; I graciously declined. And he gave me the cheery thought of being greeting by the rattle of rattlesnakes when I open in the morning -- charming. Actually, I don't mind, but let's see if I still say that once the critters are put into their glass cases...

The center of the main room has a hand-carved relief display of the Chiricahuas, complete with contours, elevations, and road routes. It's really quite unique, and as the plaque below says was created in 1940 -

We use it to orient visitors to the landmarks here and the roads in relation to the terrain. It's quite a useful tool and really is a work of art -- but don't touch it! There are printed signs all around it saying that, but of course people still do.

So what's a typical encounter with a visitor like? Let's take a couple from Alaska as an example. (Quite a few people who drop in are from there.) I say "Howdy! (Ok, I don't say that). Can you sign in the guest book, please? What's your interest in the Cave Creek Canyon -- hiking, birdwatching, just  driving through for the day?" They then tell me more about Alaska than I tell them about the Chiricahuas. But I don't mind, because I'm taking Discovery II up the Alaska Highway starting in August, and I'm still working on an itinerary. Then I steer them back to why what they'd like to do while they're here. "We'd like to do a hike." "OK, then here's one I really recommend. because you get a view of Winn Falls, one of the longest in Arizona, with a drop of nearly 400 feet." THAT gets them interested. "But unless you know where it is, it's hard to see as it's in shadow most of the time. Do you have binoculars?" If they don't, I suggest they go to Vista Point first, which is a 200-yard hike to a vantage point above Cave Creek Canyon's forest canopy; you can see the drainages of South Fork and Cave Creek, and if you know the general direction of where to look you can use the telescope  there to spot Winn Falls. I think Cathedral Vista, as the viewpoint is called, is one of the greatest scenic vistas in all of the desert Southwest, indeed all of the United States, and it's a great way to orient yourself to this section of the Chiricahuas. Now they know how to get closer to Winn Falls, and in the process see a much smaller waterfall, but in many ways just as impressive -- the falls at the Herb Martyr dam, photos of which were in an earlier post. How to get there? "You take the paved road, which turns to dirt right after the bridge, to the Southwest Research Station,where you'll see a brown sign on your right saying "Herb Martyr, 2 miles". Take that road going to the left, and as you drive along it you'll see periodic views of Winn Falls. Where is its location? You'll see a pyramid-shaped mountain; that's Spencer Peak. And just to the right of that, and below, is Winn Falls, though it's in shadow. It was nearly all frozen 2 weeks ago, when I did a hike in the area, but now it's in pretty much full flow, and looks like a thin ribbon very reminiscent of a Yosemite Valley waterfall dropping from the top of a canyon wall." "Can you get to it?" "Only by hiking and bushwhacking. There is an overlook along the Greenhouse Trail, where you're looking down at it, but to get there the trail goes along the north face of a mountain where there's still snow, so the footing is kinda dicey. Your best bet would be to go to the end of Herb Martyr road, where you'll get about as close to the falls as you can on a road, and there's also a short hike from there down to the falls at Herb Martyr dam. It's a great spot to spend the afternoon." They take some trail brochures, tell me a little more about Alaska ("we live in Juneau, where there aren't as many mosquitos as there are in the interior") then head on out to what I hope will be a pleasant day's outing. Except for some slack times, the day goes by quickly, and at 3pm (well, more like 3:30 because there are always those last visitors who like to talk, but I don't mind too much as I'm just going back to Faranuf) I close up and head out. I find myself learning a little more about this area every time I man the visitor center, and it's not really a job -- because I like what I'm doing. And that makes all the difference in the world. 

February 23 -- Where The Heck Is My RV Canopy? And Those Darn Mice In The Well House...

It was another windy day yesterday, though not as bad as the day before when a friend had clocked winds as high as 50mph. (I still don't understand how my backyard birds on the ground didn't get blown away.) So I decided to stick close to Faranuf and get "schtuff" done, schtuff being things that you've put off for probably too long. I have a RV canopy for Discovery on order, and it's been nearly 3 months now since I originally placed it. Since then, the company was bought out by another one, and when someone from the new company called about 2 months ago, she didn't know anything, only that they'd honor my order. (Why, THANK you! That was the least I expected.) She said she'd call back in early February to let me know that status. So I gave her until nearly the end of February to call -- and she didn't. So I called her, and got a new person on the line. She said they're trying to get the factory in New Mexico up and running; they make their own materials. She took down my phone numbers and said she'd call me back later in the day to let me know the status of the factory. She didn't, (Do we see a pattern here?) At this point, all I ask is that I have Discovery's canopy installed during my lifetime. But a fellow down in Rodeo who'd also purchased a canopy said it took him 6 months before they installed his. Meanwhile, Discovery II bakes in the intense Arizona sun... Though only on one side, and I'm keeping awing out to protect that side during the day. As long as it's not windy, of course...

I've been checking daily on the status of the mouse issue in the well house. The Irish Spring bars that I put inside at the corners worked for about a month, then the boxes containing the bars were gnawed, and some bars mysteriously disappeared. So I checked online for alternate methods and saw that peppermint oil worked to keep out bugs and mice, so I soaked some cotton balls with it (I had a bottle as it's also supposed to keep bees and wasps off the hummingbird feeders, but decided not to use it as I didn't want to take the chance of their getting sick from it), put them in jar tops, and set a few where I saw mouse droppings and possible entrance holes along the walls. When I went to check the next day, one of them was still in place, but the other was slightly pushed away from where I'd put it -- and there were more mouse droppings there. These mice are tenacious!  So I pushed it back to its spot, and checked the following day. Now the jar lid with the cotton balls soaked with peppermint oil was in the middle of the well house!  And there were more mouse droppings on the floor. OK, that didn't work. Then I remembered that Fabian, the guy who came to service the water softeners last week, mentioned he uses mothballs hanging in a bag with holes, and hangs them where he thinks the mice are entering, and that works for him. So I checked online again (reviews at Amazon, which is my source for reading reviews, then purchasing, most of the things I buy for Faranuf) and saw that, besides the smell, which is the reason why the mice stay away but is pretty strong, it's worked for people. So I ordered some from Amazon, and am crossing my fingers that this will do it. Otherwise, it's back to the Irish Spring bars...

Sorry, but some days here are more glamorous than others; this wasn't one of them. And the sunset didn't pan out, either, but the lengthening shadows over the landscape were quite pretty --

And the evening's clouds were putting on a bit of a show, before they disappeared -- 

So today I'll again be staffing the Visitor Information Center here at Cave Creek Canyon, and I'll fill you in on the adventures tomorrow... 

February 22 -- Water, Water Everywhere -- A Hike To Ash Springs

Well, maybe not everywhere -- but it sure seemed like it. The snowmelt from the higher elevations are making the creeks run clear, cold and full, and this is probably the best time to be here if you want to see the creeks and waterfalls without all the bugs of the monsoons, with its summer rains. The forecast for the day was for 25mph-plus winds, so I headed out early and figured that if the winds did pan out,  I'd be somewhat protected in the canyons -- and I was. I knew where I wanted to go that day -- Ash Springs. I've done the hike many times before, but usually from the Greenhouse trailhead, approaching it from the other side. I tried the trail from the Herb Martyr trailhead last November, but it was blocked by a dead tree. Another reason I wanted to go to Ash Springs was to see the condition of Winn Falls. Two weeks ago it was a frozen sculpture, but it's been consistently warm so I figured it was "defrosted" by now. You can get faraway views of it while driving the road to Herb Martyr, but it's tough to see without binoculars and if you don't know where it is. Can you see it in this photo?

It's up there somewhere...It's at the top center in shadow, to the right and below the pyramid-shaped Spencer Peak. The grand scenery is impressive from here, but not the falls. I'd brought my 100-400 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter just in case there were any good birds, and to get closeup photos of the falls, one of the longest in Arizona with a 365-foot drop. So here is Winn Falls a bit closer -- 

You can just make it out in the center shadows.  A little closer --

And closer still --

Wow. Yes, I'd definitely say it's "defrosted"!  It's thin and ribbon-like, not thunderous. Airy, lacy and wraith-like. How's that for a description? However you want to describe it, it's beautiful. And somewhat unexpected here in the desert Southwest. But then, many things are unexpected here in the Chirichahuas. 

I reached the end of the road at Herb Martyr, strapped on my trusty ol' Mountainsmith fanny pack (it must be at least 15 years old, and still going strong), and took off in the direction of Ash Springs. 

I was planning on doing the loop back to Herb Martyr, a distance of only 2.5 miles. There was no wind yet, and the trail went through a mix of oak and pine trees interspersed with yucca -- a reminder that the Chiricahuas are a meeting place of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. Not far up the trail is a pedestrian gate -- 

It has a bolt on it where the orange string is -- and it was jammed; I couldn't open the gate.  So I threw my pack to the other side, and climbed over. As I continued up the trail I could tell that water has rushed down it, cutting it deeper into the ground --

I'm always on the lookout for animal tracks as, well, I want to see what, if anything, might be nearby. I still whistle or cough while hiking, just so I don't surprise a critter around the corner. Hmmm, these tracks are...

Probably a dog's, as it turns out. And I'd seen horse poop further down the trail. My friend Helen said people take their horses up the Ash Springs trail, sometimes accompanied by their dogs. The print was old, anyway, as it was in the dried mud. I was both relieved and disappointed -- but I went on coughing and whistling. The views to the east opened up between the trees -- 

The trail goes into two drainages, with the first one being dry. Then it goes around a corner -- and you enter the Cima Creek drainage. It's a magical and somewhat unique place as it's a good example of a "microclimate"; it's protected and cooler than the surrounding land, so it has trees that you'd ordinarily see about 2000 feet above in the high Chiricahuas. This is looking up the trail; Cima Creek is below it, to the right in the drainage --

And this is looking back --

You can get some good birds in here; during past hikes I've seen Painted Redstart, House Wrens that are a Mexican subspecies, and head the hooting of an owl. The trail then dips and comes to the crossing of Cima Creek -- 

Absolutely gorgeous. And also, since it's running fast and a bit high, somewhat dicey to cross. As I'm hiking solo, I don't like to take chances, and those rocks look awfully slippery... So I take off my pack and take photos of Cima Creek.  I don't like to drag a tripod with me on hikes, and I'm getting pretty good at handholding my camera so I can use a lower shutter speed. And if I can find a tree or rock to further steady it, so much the better. This shot was taken at a shutter speed of 1 second --

I take one more look for the possibilities of crossing the creek. Nah, can't do it, so I head back. Have you ever noticed on an "out and back" hike that the "back" one always seems shorter than the one going "out"? All of a sudden, I'm back to the pedestrian gate. It's a bit harder to vault over as I got my leg into an awkward position. But everything's ok, and since I have time I head up the Herb Martyr Trail to Cave Creek --

It too has a somewhat dicey crossing, so I go back to the parking lot, stow my pack in Tundra, and visit Herb Martyr Dam and falls. 

It's a favorite spot of many visitors and residents -- and one can see why, especially when it's running so full. I experiment with shutter speeds and finally setting on 7/10ths of a second as the one that looks the best --

Here's looking down the canyon --

After having lunch at the dam, I head back down the road, come to the Southwest Research Station, and take a photo of another fork of Cave Creek that crosses the road --

Water, water everywhere...Here's the trans-Chiricahua road eventually going up and over to the west. Right now it's only open to the intersection with the road going to the tiny burg of Paradise (full-time population: about 3) --

I'd timed the hike perfectly; the wind begins to howl shortly after a return to Faranuf. The birds in the back yard seem to have glue on their feet; how can they stay on the exposed ground without getting blown away? You can see the dirt in the air as even Cave Creek Canyon looks hazy. It's a good time to stay inside and edit photos from my Ash Spring hike...