The daytime temperatures have been ranging from the mid-70s to the low 50s these past few days, along with clear skies and cloudy with a dusting of snow on the peaks. As proof, here's the predawn sky on Monday, with the waning crescent moon and Venus over the Peloncillos --
And about 24 hours later, when a storm that pretty much wimped out came through --
The snow seen here on Silver Peak was gone about an hour later. On Monday some friends from Canada dropped on by, so after lunch at the Portal Cafe I gave them a short tour. We went to see Winn Falls, which is in full flow now from the melting snow --
Then I took them to Vista Point. When I'm volunteering at the Cave Creek Canyon Visitor Center here, I always recommend visitors, especially the first-time ones, to take the easy, 200-yard hike which ends at Cathedral View and has a telescope for zooming in on features. As you can see, Vista Point is above the thick forest canopy, so you can see the drainages of South Fork to the left, and Cave Creek to the right. Can you believe this is in the "desert" southwest? --
And if you know where to look -- and this is when the telescope comes in handy -- you can see Winn Falls in the distance to the right; it's in one of the shadows to the right of the snow-covered mountain. Coming up to this spectacular vista is a great way to orient visitors as to what there is to see here. Then I took my friends back to Faranuf, where we watched and photographed the back yard birds.
And now, for something completely different... People say we're isolated here, "back of the beyond" stuff. I suppose it's true to a certain extent. For instance, Hidalgo County in New Mexico, which is partly in the San Simon Valley here, has a population density of 1.4 persons per square mile -- one of the lowest in the country. There are 3 "towns" in the immediate area, Animas, Rodeo and Portal. Animas, 25 miles to the east of Portal in New Mexico and is the closest place to get gas, has a population of 1,063 -- a boom town. Rodeo, "New Mexico's Most Western Town", has 101 people, and in the Portal area there are perhaps 300 at most. When I look out of my kitchen window at night, there are only 3 lights to the east. And all 3 communities are unincorporated, meaning there are no county services such as fire and police here; it's all volunteer. So there's a real sense of the word "community", where its meaning is a feeling of fellowship with others who live here. For instance, when we need to buy groceries, the closest grocery store is in Douglas, 50-plus miles to the south, so we call up our friends and ask them if they need anything. And when disaster strikes, well, we help out, even if we don't know that person. There was a resident of Animas, Sterling Talley, who died in his home there when his space heater caught on fire and trapped him inside. He left behind 4 children and 8 grandchildren who must suddenly figure out how to pay for funeral and other expenses. So thanks to the miracle of the Internet, we can donate online (click on that word to get to the "GoFundMe" web page for Sterling). We all pull together out here; back in southern California, I didn't even know the name of my condo neighbor, much less someone I didn't know who lived 25 miles away from me. But it's that sense of community that was one of the reasons I moved out here. Isolated? Perhaps. Strangers? Only if you want to be...
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