Wilderness Area & Wildlife Experience

What is a sky island?  It is an isolated mountain range rising above the surrounding grassland sea.  The meadows have the usual desert cactus but the mesquite trees begin to fill with sycamore, juniper and oak trees.  Not your everyday kind of vista when you are in the Arizona desert.  Further  up in elevation are the cypress, pine and fir woodlands which are normal for this part of the Southwest wilderness known as The Chiricahua National Monument.

After leaving Hot Well Dunes we drove 18 miles south to Bowie to spend the night at Mountain View RV Park so that we could dump, take on water and top off our propane supply before we venture down the road.  The next morning we headed west on I-10 to Wilcox going SE for about 40 miles to see some big rocks.

The Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924 to preserve and protect the pinnacles, called “standing up rocks”; what the ancient Chiricahua Apache called them.  The layers of gray rock called rhyolite began 27 million years ago when ash erupted from the Turkey Creek Volcano creating joints and cracks in the rock.  Years or weathering by ice and water erosion enlarged the cracks with weaker material being washed away - leaving the variety of spires, balanced rocks and other shapes that you see within the park’s 11,985 acres of wilderness.   Geologists estimate that the Turkey Creek eruption was 1,000 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens in Washington.  Pretty amazing when you think of it.
In 1934 the Civilian Conversation Corps – referred to as the CCC (also nicknamed the Tree Army) – enlisted young men who were hit hard by the Great Depression to help with road access throughout this area.  The amount of rock that was moved to carve out these roads was unbelievable.  Bonita Canyon Drive reaches a mighty 6,870 ft. to the summit.

We did had some challenges with our 38 ft. motorhome as nothing longer than 29 feet is allowed on the eight mile scenic drive to the summit at Massai Point. A lack of proper signage and insufficient parking at the Visitor’s Center had us quickly improvise and park in the area set up for people with horses and their horse trailers.  That worked for us!  We unhooked the jeep and ventured to the top before returning for some lunch, and then once again hooked up the jeep to investigate where we were going to spend the night.

		Chiricahua National Monument VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

In the distance, you can see the head of Cochise laying down. It is written that Cochise was a powerful leader of a band of Chiricahua Apache, probably born around 1810.  He was generous to his people, courageous in battle and had a commanding presence.  He died in 1874 of natural causes.

This peach and green house – named Faraway Ranch - was the home of Swedish immigrants Neil & Emma Erickson who settled here in 1888.  The homestead turned into a guest ranch from 1917 until 1973 for visitors to come and relax, and horseback in the hills. This family lived on the land, shaped the land, and lobbied for the area’s protection.  Our thanks to these individuals for their love of nature and preserving it for generations to come.

Wilderness. . .wildlife. . .they kind of go hand and hand in this part of the country.  Finding a place to stay for the night was our next priority after leaving the rock pinnacles in Chiricahua country.  With our paper directions in hand from our Day’s End boon docking information we didn’t have too far to travel to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area where we could park free for three days.  This 1,500 acre wildlife parcel is owned by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and is touted as the best viewing site in Arizona - and major roost site - for the sandhill cranes; 20,000+ at the height of the crane-watching season (October-March 15).  What we did see was enough to give you goose bumps, as we witnessed the crane numbers changing each day as more of them took flight to new destinations.

Located within the Chihuahuan Desert in the area known as Sulphur Springs Valley, this grassland habitat consists of extensive open-water areas, marshlands and mudflats.  Quite the site to attract the birds throughout the winter, spring and fall seasons.  Walking trails, interpretive signs and viewing decks with scopes added to our enjoyment during our stay here.

We parked in the designated area for limited camping, with the Mule Mountains in the background. New friends from Montana, Bob and Marie, were heading out that next day but we did have the chance to chat with them.  Very nice people.  Marie loves to paint and came to this area to be “inspired”, as she says.

What’s pretty amazing is the daily agenda of the sandhill cranes during this time.  They spend the night standing in the shallow waters to evade predators and then fly out each morning to feed and socialize in the surrounding area.  They return in the afternoon and evening after grazing on corn available in harvested grain field.



In addition to sandhill cranes, this area’s waters attracts many types of birds:  Whiskered Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owls, Northern Shoveler, Greater Roadrunner, Cooper’s Hawk, Vermillion Flycatcher and Cinnamon Teal to name a few.  If you can identify them from these next pictures, you get a gold star!

		Feathered Friends VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We also had to keep our eyes open for the four footed mammals using these grasslands as a source of food, water and shelter.  It was so awesome to spot the coyotes and desert cottontail but missed the bobcat who came out in the early morning. 

These are bat houses.  We did not see any bats during this visit.  There are suppose to be 11 species that are likely to visit at any one time.  The little brown bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquitos in an hour.  Way to go little guy! Another interesting fact is that bats send out as many as 500 pulses (high-pitched sounds) per second that they use to navigate and to track moving objects such as the mosquitos or moths.  This is called echolocation (bat sonar) which is effective up to a nine-foot radius and can detect objects as small as a human hair.  Bats fly with their mouths  open to echolocate.

Each stop brings something entirely new for us.   It’s time to take a walk into the past as we now travel to the areas of Tombstone and Bisbee, Arizona.

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”  ~ John Muir, Naturalist and Author

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