After extending our stay in both San Diego and San Clemente, we are back on the road. Our first stop was at JTNP where the wildflower “super bloom” is at its peak.
JTNP is one of a limited number of National Parks that allows access to back country high clearance 4WD trails. Many of these trails exist due to the significant number of mines (300) that at various times operated in the area which is now JTNP. We took advantage of the opportunity by spending an afternoon traveling through Pinkham Canyon and were treated to spectacular scenery and solitude.
There are a number of great hiking trails within the park. Because this is the busy season at the park we chose several hikes that we thought would be less crowded including Mastodon Peak and 49 Palms Oasis.
An interesting aspect of the park is that portions of both the Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert are within its boundaries. While the park is named after the Joshua Tree there are no Joshua Trees in the Colorado Desert area of the park; they are only found in the Mojave Desert area of the park.
JTNP is extremely beautiful at this time of the year and the temperatures are reasonable for hiking. But as this is a true desert environment we would recommend you that you visit between late fall and early spring before high temperatures go into the triple digits!
49 Palms Oasis – 49 Palms Canyon, JTNPBLM Joshua Tree North Dispersed Camping
Pinkham Canyon 4WD TrailRattle Snake at Mastodon Peak
We have been enjoying the “Super Bloom” ( desert wildflowers benefiting from a wet winter) in the Colorado Desert located within the Anza Borrego State Park, California. The weather and scenery here is so idyllic that we keeping extending our stay here – moving every couple of days to a new spot in the desert to camp.
Great hiking and exploring – temperatures averaging 75F during the day and bottoming out at 50F overnight. We have met a number of Connecticut transplants of late – fortunately all Red Sox fans.
Nothing profound from our end at the moment. Extended periods of time without connectivity is good for the soul. We are feeling very content all in all. Over and out!
Boondocking in Arroyo Saleda – Borrego Badlands
Seventeen Palms Oasis – Borrego BadlandsSanta Rosa Mountains
After a two day pit stop in Yuma (warning – no legit coffee!) we drove north for our final Arizona segment. We camped in the Kofa NWR in the shadow of Castle Dome Peak and then journeyed overland via McPherson Pass. As we came across the pass and began our descent into the King Valley we were treated to a panoramic view of the Kofa Mountain Range. The Kofa Mountains are named after the King of Arizona gold mine (K of A) which operated in the King Valley during the very late 1800’s.
A storm moved through during the night bringing cold temperature, high winds and rain. However, we consider that a small price to pay for the solitude and beauty that we experienced while in the refuge, and of course the exhilaration of a 4WD overland adventure.
After three days in the Dragoon Mountains we ventured east to hike and camp in the Chirachua Mountains. The Chirachua are about twice the size of the Dragoon Mountains, 35 miles long and 21 miles wide. Chirachua Peak, at 9800 feet, is the tallest peak in the range. The Chirachua Mountain range is an officially designated Sky Island.
Chirachua National Monument, which is managed by the NPS, sits at the northern end of the range. It contains numerous rugged canyons with a spectacular array of pinnacles, hoodoos, capstones and balance rocks. The hiking is strenuous but the payoff of dramatic scenery and vistas is well worth the effort.
The majority of the mountain range lies within the Coronado National Forest giving us access to dispersed camping close to the trails in the national monument.
We left from our campsite via Forest Road 42, traversing through the range exiting in Portal, Arizona. We were treated to stunning vistas as we wound our way up through the range and down the western slope toward New Mexico.
We traveled further east in Southern Arizona to venture into the rugged Dragoon Mountains for three days of hiking and camping. We were fortunate that the Middlemarch Road was in good shape depsite the recent snowstorm, allowing us to traverse the southern portion of the Dragoons through the Middlemarch Pass before proceeding north to an area of the mountains known as Cochise Stronghold.
This mountain range is storied in that while range is only about 15 miles long by eight miles wide it served as the base of operation for Apache Chief Cochise and his band of approximately 1000. Cochise and his band fought a guerilla style war against the both the Confederate Army and the U.S. Cavalry in an ongoing conflict that started in 1861 and ended in 1872 when Cochise agreed to cease fighting. He died shortly afterwards and is buried somewhere within the Dragoons. However, only his blood brother Thomas Jeffords (long since deceased) knew the location which he never divulged.
The hiking in the Cochise Stronghold is excellent. The hikes generally follow the winding canyons, traverse the many streams running through the canyons and gain elevation to provide fantastic views. The solitude factor here is very high as relatively few folks find their way into these mountains to hike or camp.
A beautiful day hiking in the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. Sabino Canyon is understandably very popular with local folks due to its proximity to Tucson and the breathtaking scenery. We opted to head from the visitors center out to Bird Canyon which crosses out of Sabino into the Coronado NF and provided us with relative solitude in addition to the beautiful scenery.
Maria unfortunately picked up a number of cactus spines on her right leg during this hike (always a risk in this part of the world). Post tweezer phase, we are at the gauze and glue phase of removal.
This area of canyons and wilderness stands out in an area with abundant beauty. While it can be crowded we would definitely recommend a hike here when you visit Tucson.
The Southern Arizona landscape is dominated by cacti. However, we never realized until we began exploring in this area that there are more than two dozen species of cactus living here. The most well recognized is the Saguaro. This species can live to be 200 years old, grow to 50 feet in height and weigh six tons. We have identified six species during our hikes: saguaro, barrel, teddy bear, ocotillo, prickly pear and cane cholla.
Saguaro National Park + Tucson Mountains
We hiked Kings Canyon Trail to Wasson Peak loop trail. Wasson Peak is the highest peak in the Tucson Mountains and provided us with tremendous vistas. We were able to clearly see Mt Lemmon, Mt Wrightson, Kitt and Picacho Peaks as well as the city of Tucson. This hike is a bit on the strenous side at eight miles with an elevation gain of over 1600 feet but well worth the effort. In addition to the views the trail was awash with wild flowers.
Catalina Mountains
Looking to rest our legs between hikes we spent an afternoon making the drive from Tucson up to Mt Lemmon and the village of Summerhaven via the Sky Island Scenic Byway. The road winds up through the Catalina Mounatains with an elevation gain of more than 6000 feet. As you leave Tucson you are in the desert and by the time you reach Mt Lemmon we found ourselves driving through connifer forests. The temperature drop was more than 30 degrees. Picture below is a view of the San Pedro River Valley from an elevation of apx. 8000 feet above sea level. This byway is a beautifully engineered road with incredible views and scenery. The general store is Summerhaven can provide you with ice cream and fudge as an added incentive to go all the way to the end of the drive.
Picacho Peak
Picacho Peak State Park was our base of operation for six nights. This location provided easy access to Tucson proper (coffee and tea!) and plenty of hiking in Saguaro NP and the Coronado NF. The added bonus was that Picacho Peak presented us with several challenging hikes without needing to leave the park. We photos below are from our hike on the Sunset Vista Trail.
Pima Air + Space
As we are both aviation buffs we kicked off our stay in the Tucson area with a visit to the Pima Air & Space Museum. Pima has a large collection of primarily military aircraft. We were able to see two aircraft (pictured below) that we had never seen in person previously. The Convair B58 Husler (left below) was the first USAF bomber capable of Mach 2 flight and was operational with SAC during the 1960s. On the top right is the Boeing B36 Peacemaker. The B36 was used from 1949 until 1959. It was the largest piston engined plane ever built. It was powered by six pusher props and four jet engines and had a wingspan of 230 feet. It is ugly but could travel 10,000 miles without refueling and carry 87,000 pounds of nuclear bombs. Two rare aircraft that we were pleased to have the opportunity to see in person.
We also took a tour of the “boneyard” located within Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The boneyard is home to more than 3000 military aircraft not currently needed operationally. A portion of the aircraft staged to be ready to operate within 24 hours while others are being cannabilized for parts to keep active models of the same aircraft flying.
C5A Galaxy
Our next stop is Kartchner Caverns State Park located at the base of the Whetstone Mountains, located about 50 miles southeast of Tucson.
Lastly, please continue to follow the coffee and tea adventures of our good friends @fikawithfiona on Instagram.
After driving just four hours south of Salt Lake City we are in a very different environment – sunshine and daytime temperatures in the 60 degree range. We spent one night in Sand Hollow SP in Hurricane, UT and were treated to a hot air balloon festival with balloons launching all around our campsite.
From Hurricane we traveled further south into Nevada where we camped and hiked at Valley of Fire SP. VFSP consists of 40,000 acres of land dominated by Aztec sandstone and limestone which combined creates spectacular scenery across the entire park. There are a number of petroglyphs in the park dating back apx. 2500 years. The state of Nevada has done a terrific job maintaining and conserving this land. The hiking trails are relatively short but offer great payoffs in regard to the views and wildlife viewing. We also found a number of narrow side canyons that provided solitude and great views. (004,005,006)
Fire Canyon
Wave Rock
White Dome, Valley of FireHot Air Balloons, Hurricane, UT
Traveled from Blanding to Moab as we make our way back to Salt Lake City. While in Moab we hiked the Hidden Valley Trail out to Hidden Pass on a perfect fall day. Stopping over in Moab also provided the opportunity to spend time at long time favorite Moab Coffee Roasters.
Moab was a down and out former mining town (uranium) of about 1500 people. More recently, like Sedona,it has experienced significant growth as a tourist destination for both Americanand international tourists.The growing popularity of mountain biking and off roading combined with two national parks has dramatically revitalized Moab’s economy and brought new people into the area.
The scenery in Sedona is just as breathtaking as we remembered from our last visit many years ago. The town itself has grown substantially and become a major tourist destination. None the less we had a great time here as we found solitude while we hiked in the Red Rocks and boondocked under the stars in the Coconino NF.
The coffee scene was limited so we are not posting any highlights in that regard.
Departing for the Valley of the Gods in the morning. 0081,0082,0083,0084
Boynton CanyonBoynton Vista
Munds Wilderness from Submarine RockWilson Mountain from Brins Mesa Trail
ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen 