I was to report to the Cave Creek Canyon Visitor Information Center at 9am -- so of course I headed there at 7:30 as I wanted to make sure all the chores were done before opening. I dropped by our post office, picked up my mail -- I'll have to take a photo of the inside sometime -- and put up two more photos on the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon bulletin board outside of the PO. (I'm in charge of supplying, and changing, the pictures; they're mainly for the benefit of visitors to our area.) Then I headed to "work". The scenery isn't too bad along the way --
That's my favorite view of Cave Creek Canyon, especially with the agave plant in the frame. And the wispy clouds add to the spectacular landscape. The first task I have -- or that I've given myself to do; you don't have to do it -- is go to the main campground here, Sunny Flat, to see how many campsites are open. It's information we relay to visitors in case they're thinking of camping there (it's first-come, first-served; no reservations). I check, and it's full; not one unoccupied site. I head back to the VIC and start doing the chores: open the visitor bathrooms and make sure it's clean, no cobwebs, mouse droppings, or snakes (Ron, the veteran staffer there for the past 5 years, said he opened the door to the men's bathroom one day and found a baby rattler inside -- YIKES!) ; dust the inside, sweep the floor, turn on the video in the video room (the DVD is "Chiricahuas: Mountain Islands in the Desert, available for viewing at YouTube): turn on the computer and Wi-Fi, turn on the radio for calls between the VIC and Forest Service; sweep the porch; put out the "OPEN" flags -- then we're in business. It's quiet for about the first hour, so I go outside and take some photos; here's the VIC, with Silver Peak in the background along with a waning moon --
And there are deer in the parking lot; I believe they're Mule --
It's a busy day; I get nearly 30 visitors. Most of them are looking to hike or do some birdwatching. We have plenty of brochures to hand out, and also use the Internet to get more info if needed. The computer and WiFi are fairly new, and paid for by Friends of Cave Creek Canyon; the Forest Service doesn't seem to have money for anything these days. The visitors are from all over -- Alaska, Illinois, Wisconsin -- and the last ones come from Wiltshire in England! Most of them say they didn't know the Chiricahuas were so beautiful, and many know very little about it, and how unique it is. One bit of knowledge we have to be current on is the state of the roads; except for Forest Road 42, the main road through the canyon, they're dirt. We especially have to know if the trans-Chiricahua road, up and over to the west side and the Chiricahua National Monument, is drivable as it's still winter, though the temps have been in the upper 70s for the past few weeks. Near closing time, Armando, who works for the Forest Service, drops on by and reports that the road up and over is officially open, but the spur road to Rustler and Barfoot Parks, "42 D as in delta", is still closed due to snow. But the road up to the top in the Monument is only open to the visitor center and campground; the rest is closed, and in calling the Monument to let them know the status of our roads, I find out that the opening date has been pushed back from March 7 to the end of the month; such things are of course important to relay to the visitors. And along with info on the road conditions is helping folks when they encounter a "problem". A woman came over to the VIC and said the combination to the lock at the Portal Bunkhouse next door isn't working. The bunkhouse, which used to be the ranger station, can be rented out to visitors, but they can't get in. Thankfully there is a cell phone signal in the area of the VIC -- but not further up the canyon -- so she calls the number she was given if they had any problems, and of course it went to a voice mail. I check online and find another phone number, she calls that one, and they try to get ahold of the cleaning lady who cleans the bunkhouse who would know the correct combination. Well, as it turns out, there's something you have to do with the combination lock to get it open. They're dialing the combination, then trying to pull out the hasp; you're supposed to put in the combination, push the hasp in, THEN pull it out. Once they find out that bit of info from a Forest Service person via the cell, everything is fine. Then, this being their first time here, they want to know the best place to hike. As I tell other visitors, go to Vista Point first. It's a trail that's only 200 yards long, and it leads to a view point ("Cathedral View" that goes above the thick forest canopy and gives you spectacular, all-encompassing view of the drainages of South Fork and Cave Creek canyons. I consider it to be one of the greatest vistas in the entire country, and it never fails to impress the viewer, especially the first-timers. Then, as mentioned above, the last people to drop by the VIC are a couple from Wiltshire in England, near the market town of Marlborough, Salisbury and Stonehenge. After chatting with them for about a half hour, they hand me their business card as they run a bed-and-breakfast at their farm. Delightful people, as is everyone I've met so far while manning the VIC. I'll be there Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I leave at 3pm (more like 3:30, as the British couple are quite the chatters) and head back to Faranuf. The backyard birds, of course, are waiting for me to refill the feeders and water features -- and are probably a little miffed to boot -- but it's not long before everyone is content once again. The evening skies have clouds, so I go to my new favorite spot to view the sunsets -- the roof of my trailer Discovery. On the previous Discovery, there was no built-in ladder to get on top; thankfully, Discovery II has one. So I climb up, sit down, and wait for the darkness to descend. Here's my perch, looking to the east and the Peloncillo Mountains in New Mexico; they're the eastern side of the San Simon Valley here --
That rectangular thing is one of two solar panels for Discovery. The clouds look promising, and I wasn't disappointed; this is looking west, with the classic silhouette of Cave Creek Canyon --
The best thing about my new vantage point is I don't have to be running back and forth from the front of the house to the back yard to see the views to the east and west -- I just turn around. So it was another eventful day in Paradise -- though I like to say the actual Paradise is up the road about 6 miles, a small "hamlet" with a full-time population of 3 -- at most.
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