Southern Arizona Continued - 2003 (Re-run)

 Part of Coronada National Forest, Sabino Canyon Recreation Area is one of the most popular outdoor attractions in Tucson.  With miles of trails, it offers the opportunity for multiple visits without repetition.  Some of the trails are paved and served by a tram system.  Passengers can get off and back on at various stops along the way.  On this trip, we rode the tram to the top of Sabino Canyon, then elected to hike down the bottom of the canyon, knowing it would meet up with the paved trail about a mile downstream.  At first there was an actual defined trail and easy walking downhill.  Before long the trail disappeared, leaving us to bushwhack through the cacti and other desert plants.  Then we began to encounter boulders, beautiful big rocks that required some effort to climb and to get off on the other side.  The lovely stream made the effort worthwhile, but it was a relief to reach the tram path and catch a ride the rest of the way.

Of course, the most popular outdoor attraction in Tucson is Saguaro National Park.  The park is special because saguaros grow only in the Sonoran desert that surrounds the city.  The park has two sections, an East and a West, and draws about a million visitors each year.  The giant saguaros grow slowly, but can live as much as 200 years and grow to be some 60 feet tall.  Some plants grow arms starting around age 75, then may produce many of them.  Some saguaros never grow arms, probably due to soil, water or other conditions.  The saguaro bloom is Arizona's state flower.

 

Yuma is a city of about 100,000 people, with another 100,000 living in surrounding neighborhoods.  It has become extremely popular place for people from the North to spend Winters.  Many of these snowbirds travel in RVs, so Yuma has many RV resorts with full amenities.  Of any populated area in the U.S., it probably has the hottest and driest climate.  Located near the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers, it has a large agricultural presence that is now being replaced to an extent by solar farms.  Yuma was infamous as the home of the Arizona Territorial Prison, probably chosen because of its miserably hot Summers.

The borders with California and Mexico are very close.  Considered a gateway to Mexico, many Yuma visitors and residents travel across the border to Algodones  taking advantage of low cost, but high quality, medical and dental services.  Algodones is one of the nicest Mexican border towns I've seen.

 

Southern Arizona - 2003 (Re-run)

 My family and I made a hasty trip through Arizona in 1979, but this 2003 trip was the first thorough exploration of the southern part of the state.  Little did I know at that time that there would be many future visits, or that I would even be living here some day.  Many highlights of the area have been covered in fairly recent travelogues, so I'll skip over them for now.

Several weeks in the Tucson area allowed plenty of opportunity to get familiar with everything and check out places that would never be seen in a quick visit.  One of the more interesting days was spent at Biosphere 2, an earth science research facility located in Oracle, a small town north of Tucson.  Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe.   Originally built to be a closed system, it was built between 1987 and 1991.  It remains the largest closed system ever created. 

 The eight people chosen to live inside for a couple years were given comfortable living quarters and all the facilities needed to carry on an active lifestyle.  Growing areas were expected to not only provide food for the crew, but produce enough oxygen to sustain human life.

It turned out that there was insufficient oxygen, so an artificial "lung" had to be constructed.  This was a large dome-shaped structure with a rubber diaphragm operated by massive pumps.

 The first mission lasted for two years.  Originally thought to be a design that might enable space colonization, it was later learned that the occupants had found it necessary to sneak out for certain foods unavailable inside.  Also, group dynamics became an issue with the team splitting into two factions.  The second mission was more successful, including the fact that outside oxygen was not needed and all food was internally produced.  The original management company went under and Columbia University took charge.  Later, the University of Arizona assumed management and still uses the facility for research, although no totally enclosed missions have been made since.

Another high point in the Tucson area is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum, art gallery and botanical garden, all in one place. The museum is home to more than 230 animal species and 1,200 varieties of plants. It is open every day through the year, and hosts nearly 400,000 visitors annually, including visitors from abroad. 

Some animals that may be seen there include the chuckwalla (a large harmless lizard that lives in the desert), the bobcat, the javelina (another desert creature from the peccary family and is similar to a pig), and the coyote.  The museum also houses many birds, large and small.

Chuckwalla

Chuckwalla

Bobcat

Javelina

Coyote

 Many of the plants at the museum are varieties of cactus, many of which produce beautiful blooms.

Given the very hot summers in Tucson, a favorite place for locals to visit is Mount Lemmon, the highest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains (9159 feet).  The Catalina Highway is quite scenic and leads to a small village called Summerhaven, as well as a ski resort.  On our visit, we enjoyed a delicious slice of pie on the deck of a popular cafe there.  Unfortunately, about a month after our time there, a forest fire burned atop Mt. Lemmon for a month, destroying much of Summerhaven.  In 2014, I took the "back road" to Mt. Lemmon, the original route to the top and still unpaved.  Along this road, there was still lots of evidence of the 2003 fire.

 

New Mexico & Arizona - 2003 (Re-run)

 White Sands became a National Park in 2019.  During my 2003 and other visits, it was a National Monument.  Whatever its designation, it is a beautiful and interesting place to visit.  Truth is, however, there is no sand there.  The white dunes that cover 275 square miles are actually made of gypsum grains.  Thanks to the winds there, the dunes are constantly shifting so that every time one goes there, it looks a little different.  Paved roads must be scraped frequently because they are continuously being covered by the blowing grains of gypsum.  In fact, while parked in nearby Alamogorda, winds blew steadily all one day in excess of 60 MPH.  Even after closing all the slideouts in the motor home, it still felt like it could be overturned by the strong gusts.

La Mesilla is a small town, population around 2000, in the southern part of New Mexico.  Following the Mexican War, the border was established just south of the village of Dona Ana.  Some residents were unhappy being part of the U.S. and re-located below the border, forming La Mesilla.  However, a few years later the border was moved even farther south by the Gadsden Purchase.  La Mesilla was then the main town in the region.  When the railroad was to be built through the area, the people of La Mesilla demanded too much money for right of way.  In the small village of Las Cruces to the north, a landowner saw the potential value of the railroad and gave free land to the railroad.  La Mesilla stagnated while Las Cruces grew to more than 100,000 population.  Now a historic landmark, La Mesilla is a minor tourist attraction.  La Posta Restaurant was once a stop for the Butterfield Stage Line.

Fort Bowie was built in southeastern Arizona to fight the Apache Indians, led by Cochise and Geronimo.  Today, only foundations of the fort and a nearby Butterfield Stage stop remain, along with a small cemetery.  The remains of Army personnel were moved to San Francisco, leaving only civilians in the cemetery.

The Chiricahua Mountains, formed by volcanic activity more than 25 million years ago, were home to the Apache Indians for many years.  A small area of the mountains has been designated a National Monument due to its unusual rock formations.  Compressed ash and pumice from many eruptions created a thick layer of rock that has subsequently been eroded to form pinnacles and spires.  Miles of hiking trails through the formations attract a few visitors to this remote location.