On Tuesday morning this week I ventured down to Patagonia Lake State Park. From Tucson I was on the lake in my tiny vessel in an hour and a half. It’s a pleasant drive and this time of year the weather is gorgeous, the fishin’ is good, and it’s not congested like in the summer.

If you subscribe (FREE) to SouthernArizonaGuide.com, you have already received our weekly email newsletter with my slideshow featuring images and comments about my morning adventures around the Lake. If not, click HERE.

Certainly you can camp here, but if you prefer a room with a good bed, check out the Duquesne House B&B (say “Hi” to Nancy, the proprietor) or the Stage Stop Inn (say “Hi” to Cenovia, the innkeeper) in Patagonia just 8 miles north on Hwy 82. About 2 miles from “downtown” Patagonia is the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve. A very fine natural place to hike and spot rare birds. Best to inquire at the visitor center to see if their resident mountain lion has eaten any hikers lately.

At the Stage Stop Inn is their dining room that,until Tuesday PM, has for years been the Home Plate Restaurant. I had an excellent prime rib sandwich for lunch there. And the fries were great, crispy just like I like ‘em. So, you ask, what happened Tuesday afternoon to the Home Plate?

I was informed that as of 3 PM, it would become the Wild Horse Restaurant. I’m sure there’s a story here but my waitress seemed unsure as to why the name change.

On the back road from Sonoita to Ft. Huachuca. This is a perfect road for touring bikes.

The Back Road From Sonoita To Fort Huachuca
Later in the afternoon, I drove the back road from Sonoita to Fort Huachuca’s west entrance. T’was a delightful tour of the rolling hills and grasslands southeast of the Sonoita-Elgin wine country. My quest was Garden Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains on the south portion of the Fort. In particular, I was interested in the petroglyphs in the Canyon most likely created by Apaches in the 18th century for ritual purposes. Archeologist have not found any sign of  long-term American Indian settlement here.

In a few days, I’ll post the Garden Canyon slideshow. Next Sunday, I think Ms. Karen & I will head out to Redington Pass and up to Oracle State Park. Also, I have a couple of restaurant and lodging reviews to post from my trip to Patagonia and Sonoita. So stay tuned.

As some of you already know, Ms. Karen & I have set aside each Sunday to venture into the unknown … at least not previously known to us. Saturdays, on the other hand, are reserved for tending Ms. Karen’s many gardens.

Ms. Karen & Neighbor Roy in King Canyon Wash near the Desert Museum.

Yesterday, she & I, along with Neighbor Roy, spent a delightful early morning at the Desert Museum’s new aquarium on a Behind The Scenes Tour. More on that manana. Afterwards, we drove a few hundred yards west of the Desert Museum entrance and parked at the King Canyon trailhead (K-24). Our modest goal was to find and photograph petroglyphs.

Ms. Karen had hiked King Canyon from the summit of Mt. Wasson a year ago with relatives from Colorado so she knew (about) where to find the petroglyphs. Back then, I couldn’t walk a city block, let alone hike up a mountain. But following my surgery last November, I’ve been walking a little more each day and got up to 1.5 miles last Friday.

Ms. Karen told me that from Kinney Road, our goal was only about a mile up a wash, so I started out feeling confident that I could make it. Of course, having hardly walked at all for years, the muscles in my lower extremities have atrophied. After a quarter mile or so of walking in sand and gravel, my legs and hips were burning. Fortunately, getting to the petroglyphs was not a timed event, and I sat and rested several times on the way up. Here are a few photos of what we saw.

I don’t know what the paleo-Indians who carved these figures were trying to communicate, except perhaps that we should know they were once here.

Why do you suppose a pre-historic American Indian would feel the need to draw a rattlesnake on a cliff wall?

After our King Canyon hike, we went back to the Desert Museum to have lunch at the Ocotillo Cafe, one of our favorite Southern Arizona restaurants. Excellent, as always! You can find our 2012 List of the Best Restaurants In Southern Arizona by category on our website: SouthernArizonaGuide.com.

A Magnificent Mata Ortiz Pot

Following lunch we walked over to the exhibit called: The Women Potters of Mata Ortiz. Sunday was the last day of this exhibit and we were very glad we had not missed it. Not only is their pottery masterful works of art, but we also met some of the women potters who were at a table working on their next piece. Because some of the patterns on the pots are so tiny and precise, I assumed without thinking that they were machine-made.  That is until I witnessed one of the potters creating a very intricate pattern by dipping a single strand of hair in dye and painstakingly applying it one stroke at a time. And not just any hair would do. So tiny are the lines in the pattern that she used the ultra-fine hair from a baby. Extraordinary indeed!

Dan Starr in full hiking regalia.

Dan Starr is a music teacher and avid hiker who lives in Tucson. As I cannot yet walk more than .3 miles, I asked Dan to share his experience hiking along the San Pedro River, one of the last remaining year-round, free-flowing rivers in Arizona. A few dedicated conservationists known as Friends of the San Pedro River have managed to preserve 57,000 acres for the rest of us to enjoy. Here you will find myriad trails, dozens of bird species, a ghost town, and archeological sites.

The photographs of this riparian area are by Francie Hills, a retired teacher from New Hampshire now living in Sierra Vista. We will have a slideshow of some of her other photos on SouthernArizonaGuide.com in a few days.

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During the last month of 2012 I stayed a few nights in Sierra Vista. I had two reasons for going: (1) to figure out how I could teach music to more students and (2) check out that area. Naturally in order to achieve my second purpose I took a full day trip to the San Pedro River.

My first stop was “The San Pedro House” at the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. Travel on Arizona Highway 90 from Sierra Vista a few miles and you’ll see it just before you cross the San Pedro River. I arrived early and the visitor center was just opening. Nevertheless, I was invited by a nice docent to go along with a tour group at 9 AM. Being more of a solitary person (and hoping to get in some valuable “thinking time”) I declined but was able to stock up on free maps and literature. I gave myself what one of my sheets called a “Self-Guided Tour.”

There are many, many trails around this part of the world. I specifically asked my new friend about “illegal activity” and was told there wasn’t much at that point. I surely didn’t want a confrontation! Being reassured, I took a trail down to the water and then headed farther into the US along the river itself. Each point of interest was posted and agreed fully with the numbers on my “self-guided tour” map.

While I was hiking, I was reading some other flyers and discovered something else interesting nearby – The Murray Springs Clovis Site. Archeology and anthropology have always interested me so when my hike was done, I got back into my vehicle and went closer to Sierra Vista and then turned north onto Moson Road to this site. I loved this place, complete with the varying trails and explanatory plaques.  I also trekked along the old railroad bed quite a ways.
Getting back in my truck, I took Moson Road further north to it’s intersection with the Charleston Road, turned right and drove a few miles ‘till I got back to the San Pedro River. Armed with my knowledge from my San Pedro House visit, I knew where to go to get to the trailhead. This trail doesn’t actually go to Charleston. That is on the west side of the river and it’s “discouraged” by the BLM. Instead, the trail goes to two places, down to some fairly decent (remember I’m from Tucson and have seen much better) rock art and also to the mills that supported Charleston. Unfortunately, there is not much left of these other than walls, but there are some great explanatory plaques.

I hiked both trails and checked out what there was to see at each. I knew from other readings that Charleston was essentially leveled by a huge earthquake in 1887 (the last such around these parts, luckily!). Personally, I was much more interested in the rock art. Of course, I just had to go down to the river and found a seldom used trail to do that. Along the river I came across a site where some intrepid camper had created a lean-to and obviously lived on the river bank.

Well, my day was done. I had started early and the sun was already descending.  I had covered quite a few miles and headed back to the Sierra Vista motel in my truck.

Every since we moved to Tucson, Ms. Karen has wanted to hike to the top of Mt. Wasson from the trailhead at the end of Camino del Cerro on the east slope of the Tucson Mountains. The trail would take her over the ridge and down the west slope of the Tucson Mountains to the Desert Museum. She finally got the opportunity when family from Colorado came to visit last weekend (February 20, President’s Day 2012).

The hikers included Ms. Karen, who is  both my bride and web designer, her cousins, Kathy & Judy, and Judy’s husband, Ray. All physically fit and experienced hikers. Their plan is to hike over the mountain to the Desert Museum where they will have a late lunch.

My assignment was to pick them up at the Desert Museum and haul them back to where they left their car in the parking lot at the Sweetwater Trailhead at the very end of Camino del Cerro. Once back to our home in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, we will all relax, enjoy Peanut Time on the main patio, watch the sun set over Mt. Wasson from the viewing deck, then BBQ a pork loin for dinner.

Mt. Wasson is the highest peak in the Tucson Mountains at 4687 feet elevation, about half the elevation of Mt. Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains. Horses are allowed on these trails, but not Fido. Go figure.

The Sweetwater Trail, to the ridge where you can see both Tucson below in the east and the Avra Valley to the west is 3.4 miles, plus another 1.2 miles to the top of Mt. Wasson. Taking the King Canyon Trail from the ridge to its trailhead across from the Desert Museum is 2.3 miles.

Here’s Ms. Karen’s report.

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The head of the Sweetwater Trail is about a tenth of a mile up hill from the parking lot. Even this early in the season, we came across wildflowers. Lupine, poppies, desert chicory, to mention a few. From the registration sign and fence that marks public land, the Thunderbird trail heads north past some long-abandoned mines to Picture Rocks Road. This is an easy 4.5 mile hike.

Our trail, the Sweetwater, heads south from this “T” in the road. Ray read somewhere that at one time the original trail was south of the existing trail, but residents would not grant permission for hikers to pass through their property. So a parking lot was created at the end of Camino del Cerro.

Once underway, we could make out old mining roads and some other signs of our pioneers’ handiwork. The trail is rocky but well worn. It took us a couple hours to hike uphill the 3.4 miles to reach the ridge where we could look down both sides of the mountain. Metropolitan Tucson is laid out below us to the east and the Catalina and Rincon Mountains serve as a majestic backgrounds.

The Sweetwater Trail is what true hikers might call moderate. It starts out easy, undulating past giant saguaros, including a rare crested one. Be sure to take plenty of water and go early if the day will be warm. This was mid-February. It seemed the wildflowers were appearing early due to the rains we had last fall. It was too early in the year to see Gila Monsters or Rattlesnakes along the way.

At the top of the ridge, Kathy and Ray stopped to take pictures of the Avra Valley far below as it fans out to the west. As the day heated up to a little less than 70 degrees,  the Mexican Gold Poppies began to open and display their awesome yellow-orange carpet. Here we stopped for our picnic lunch.

I, counting on lunch at the desert museum, brought a granola bar and  2 Honey Crisp apples, which I consider the best, their sweet juiciness, a delight after a thirsty hike. I had brought 2 pints of water, and for a time thought it might not be enough. I made it down with a pint to spare. Judy brought a picnic lunch. So, our plans changed slightly.  Just dessert when we reach the Desert Museum.

None of us were too excited to take on the summit, even though it was only another 1.3 miles. Although we all joked that if  my Uncle Jim, Kathy and Judy’s father, a retired geologist, were here, he would goad us on to the top.

We headed down the west side of the mountain where the sign said nothing about King Canyon, but did indicate the Ma-ma gah picnic area, named after a Tohono Indian Chief. From the ridge, looking down, there never was a sign indicating King Canyon Trail until we reached the point were it ends across the highway from the Desert Museum.

Wildflowers carpeted the trail and hawks flew in the breeze, a welcome relief as there was no shade anywhere.

At the Mam-A Gah picnic area, which was a hundred yards above our trail, we found a stone house, formerly restrooms, it would appear. Looks like a perfect hideout for snakes and other critters. Their are no restroom facilities along any of these trails or the picnic area. It’s a ‘He / She Bush’ or nothing.

Below the picnic area, in the wash down about 50 yards or so, is a natural dam and many petroglyphs. We were excited. It felt as though we were the first to discover them. This was not at all like the short hike to the Signal Hill petroglyphs that most local hikers know about and have seen. These appeared to be just waiting to be discovered.

While poking around these rocks, we came upon an old timer who said he had spent the last 16 winters here. He told us of some grinding holes up the way a bit that the Indians used to grind maze into flour. I heard ‘matata’, like in the Lion King. ‘Metate’ is the word. I imagine that the wash was probably 10-20 feet lower 800 years ago due to silting. If so, these metate would have been above any water flowing downstream.

We headed back up to the trail perhaps 50 yards and down .9 miles to the parking lot across from the Desert Museum. If we had just taken the wash, we would have ended up in the same place.

Watch for cars as you cross the highway to the Desert Museum parking lot. President’s Day, a beautiful sunny winter day, was the most crowded that I have ever seen the museum. But by 1:30 the line was fairly short. I renewed my DM membership. The price has gone up since we first visited 10 years ago. It’s now $65 with only 3 guest passes. Luckily, I only had three guests.

We stopped for a respite at the museum snack shop before heading off to the Harris’ Hawk show at 2:00pm. The Raptor Free Flight Show had spread out since the last time I had been, taking up the three tiers to Cat Canyon. A handler stood atop one of the tiers and invited a hawk to perch.

Then off we went to the hummingbird aviary where the little critters were nesting their babies. No less than 6 nests did I see. Mamas all sitting on eggs or feeding babies. If you go, go early or during the week. Seeing those little critters is a treat.

Afterwards, we headed out, it being happy hour and dog-feeding time. WE called hubby, your fearless blogger, to come fetch us from the other side of the hill. We waited in the warmth of the sun of the Avra Valley. Good hike. Good weather. Good company. Life is good.  kr