The Savage Traveler: Out West Adventure: Part 1--Patagonia Lake (Thu.-Fri.)

(Thursday) Before breakfast, we walked our coffee up to the gatehouse to register. Imagine our relief when the ranger said we could stay right where we were the whole time. Phew! Returning to the camper we made scrambled egg roll-ups and ate them with an orange for a hearty breakfast. While I browned hamburger and made chili to leave in the little Crockpot all day, Marv straightened up the back of the truck and gathered all the recycling stuff we had been saving the entire trip and deposited it in the bins at the park. When we were both finished we walked over to the Visitors Center where a helpful Volunteer answered all our questions and gave us plenty of information about the park. We signed up for an 11:30 pontoon boat ride on the lake Saturday when Barb and Joe Wohlfert will be with us. We also got two of the (only) thirty free passes given for the day to hike in the Sonoito Creek State Natural Area, just outside the park gate. Before walking back we took their guided plant walk around the Center to reacquaint ourselves with the Arizona desert plants. Then we put together our bikes and rode all around the campground loops and down to the picnic and beach area, a little over a mile. We could see that there are some sites we might have preferred, particularly if the campground fills over the weekend, but it’s still nice not to have to move. Back again at the camper, we made turkey wraps and veggies, packed them with a Diet Root Beer in a backpack, and drove to the Natural Area to hike. First we climbed 300ft. up Lookout Hill where we could see all around and over the entire reservoir that is Patagonia Lake. The hillside was covered with mesquite, fish hook barrel cactus, rainbow cactus, sotol, century plant, and, mostly, ocotillo. There were high clouds and it was breezy up there, and the temperature had risen from 34° overnight to the upper fifties. We were surrounded by many similar hills and several were topped by low, attractive homes, mostly in the Sante Fe style, and all with breathtaking views. We sat on a bench at the top and ate our lunch before returning to the parking lot. Then we hiked the other direction and down about 300ft. to the spillway (dry this time of year and especially because the lake is down about 2 feet from normal because of drought) and across the dam. It was interesting to stand on top of the earthen dam and look to the left at Sonoito Creek as it continues its journey about 100 feet lower than the lake level on the right. There are still vestiges of the old New Mexico and Arizona railroad that ran up the creek side and the remainder of the railroad now lies at the bottom of the Lake. There were only two boats that we could see on the lake and it was really peaceful and pretty out there. We could see cows grazing up the steep hill in front of us, which made me wonder who owns the cattle that are everywhere and how often they are rounded up. It must be quite a feat to find them in all the canyons and ravines in this wild, rolling landscape. On our way back to the truck we saw two white tail deer and tracks of what we are guessing were from the elusive but present mountain lion. We got a good picture which we will show to a ranger to see if that is indeed what it is. Altogether we hiked 3.3 miles but because of all the climbing it seemed longer. It was around 3:00 by then so we drove the 12 miles to Nogales to a McDonalds where we could use their WiFi to update the blog and do some needed communicating. There is hardly any phone or 3G signal at the campground. At a nearby Walgreens we printed some of our pictures to use as Post Cards and set out to find the Nogales Post Office to buy stamps and mail the cards. Our trip took us right down to the border crossing, where we saw for the first time the famous “Wall” that Arizona has constructed to cut down on illegal entries. I was surprised to see that, at least where we were, the wall is more of a high fence that one can see through to the Mexican side. When we found the Post Office we were disappointed to find that they had no lobby area where we could buy stamps after hours. We started to have the GPS take us to a Post Office a few miles away then decided to just return to the campground and get stamps tomorrow. That threw the GPS for a loop and it took us deeper and deeper into neighborhoods until we were on dirt roads in the dark that ended nowhere. We had to retrace our steps and finally found our way back to 82, which would take us back to the campground. The whole thing took about an hour but the good thing was that we had a strong signal for my phone so we listened to the second half of the MSU/Illinois Basketball game. As we turned off 82 we pulled over to the side so we could hear the final 30 seconds of what turned out to be a win for MSU. The chili was hot and ready for us and tasted really great since it was well after seven by then. We both slept very well that night!

View from Lookout Hill

Great Blue Heron

Wednesday evening sunset

Climbing Lookout Hill

Atop Lookout Hill

Rainbow Cactus

(Friday) The temperature got down to about 40° but with clear skies and a bright sun it warmed through the day to the mid-seventies. This is what we drove all the way to Arizona for! A quick bowl of cereal and a bit of coffee, sprucing up the camper and doing the dishes, all had us ready to bike over to the Bird Trail along Sonoito Creek for the 9:00 guided hike. Friends from Edgewood Church at home, Mary Ann and John Baumgartner, came down from Tubec, where they are staying for a week, to join us on the hike. John is past president of the Michigan Audubon Society and really knows his stuff, as does Mary Ann. It was a large group of 22 people from as far away as Maine and Alaska. Many were there in hopes of seeing the rare Elegant Trogon, which nests in the area and is often viewed. The weather warmed and we walked, stopping often to look for whatever birds we could see. Many of the people were quite skilled and knowledgeable so, although John, the guide, couldn’t get to everyone, it was easy to find an expert to point birds out to novices like Marv and me. Although we never did see the Elegant Trogon, we eventually identified about 35 different birds for our list, including a Screech Owl and several Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers. There was also a small hear of mule deer which we saw on our way out and on our way from the hike. With the Baumgartners, we went about half a mile further after the group turned back. We got back to the camper about 1:00 where they ate their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Marv and I enjoyed turkey wraps sitting at our picnic table, chatting and filling out our check list for birds sighted, with John’s help. Then the four of us went to Visitors Center, down to the lake, and up over the high arched bridge that leads to a picnic area further down the lake. The Baumgartners left about 4:00 to go to a Nature Conservancy where a volunteer had told us one can see many hummingbirds near Patagonia on their way home. We opted not to accompany them, instead wanting to take our inflatable kayak out on the lake since it was still sunny, seventies, and not windy at all. It was lovely to paddle around our end of the lake amongst the coots and grebes. On the far shore we got very close to a Great Blue Heron and a patch of trees where a half dozen Black Crowned Night Herons were roosting. We also saw a tree full of cormorants and a mule deer calmly munching the fruit from the top of a fishhook barrel cactus. As we came back up the lake it was getting cooler and the sun was low so we returned to the camper to relax a little bit before grilling chicken thighs to go with the rest of the Red Beans and Rice from the other night. We were really dragging after our full day of exercise so we spent a quiet evening and went to bed early.