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.
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
We spent several days in Salt Lake City waiting out a snowstorm that made travel south impossible. Maria and I made the best of it by visiting some old coffee friends and trying out several recommended coffee shops for the first time. Traveling to Hurricane, Ut and then on to Valley of Fire in Nevada. (001,002,003)
Pictured below in our final post is a sample of various forms of art we experienced during our first adventure. Thanks for following along on our maiden voyage in the Beast. We spent time in thirteen states and logged almost 8,400 miles over 90 days. To say the least, we had a blast, saw many beautful places and met a lot of really nice and very interesting people along the way.
We welcome any feedback, thoughts or suggestions you may have in regard to the blog.
After departing Moab we ventured into the northern portion of the San Rafael Swell. The Swell is a rugged and undeveloped wilderness managed by the BLM. As is the case with most BLM public lands, there is unrestricted access for camping, hiking, driving and other activities. We followed the Buckhorn Draw Road which is unpaved but was dry and in good condition during our trip. The Swell is canyon country with many of the canyon walls reaching up to 500 feet. A number of the canyon walls also have pictographs and petroglyphs which were created about 2000 years ago by Barrier Canyon Indians.
The Swell was at one time a source of uranium but those mines are largely played out. The only other use of the land in the Swell is for grazing cattle. There are also a fair number of wild horses and burros roaming through the Swell.
The Swell is a starkly beautiful, undeveloped area and we hope that the BLM continues to keep it that way.
On our way north from Arizona to Utah we ventured into the Valley of the Gods. This valley was part of the Bears Ears NM until President Trump reduced the size of the NM. Fortunately, the valley is still protected for environmental concerns and remains under the management of the BLM.
While the valley is off the beaten path we found the trip to be more than worthwhile as the valley has a significant number of striking buttes, mesas, towers and mushroom rocks. There is a 17 mile road that winds through the valley and provides close up views for many of the formations. The road is unpaved but in good condition for the most part. 0085
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 