Miller Canyon Winter Exploration

I knew there would not be that much snow "up there" yet. I knew from growing up in Indiana with a VW bug that they were good in snow. I had no doubt that I could make it to the turn around on Miller Canyon. Based on what the weather was like would determined if I went to Montezuma Pass. I waited for two cups of coffee to be consumed, let the hounds and the dog out a few times and then grabbed my Nikon, my iPhone and took off.

The Hounds Go On A Road Trip

I knew on Wednesday night what I planned on doing today. I just didn't know if the hounds were going with me or not. I am sure they enjoy being around me and probably like smelling all the new scents with the windows partially down ... but long narrow gravel mountain roads sometimes isn't the best thing for them. Add on 20+ miles of narrow asphalt road that is hilly and curvy and it makes you stop and think if this was the best trip for them.

We were back to the normal routine though of two months ago with the hounds fed first, I get a cup of coffee and even in 52° weather Stella and I headed out for her daily morning walk a little before 7:00am. We had missed both school buses by then and traffic wasn't bad yet. We have to cross one street to get to the main part of our walk.

Once we cross the street at the end of our block we can see the sunrise and have a paved alley to walk in. We will circle Stella's vet at the halfway point of this section but not the total walk.

If I didn't know better I think she enjoys this walk more than the field back in 'the tropics'. She has enough things to sniff and identify, a paved surface that she likes to trot on and 25' of freedom taking her walk in town.

As we got closer to the turn up ahead she started to realize where she was. She had walked this same area directly behind that building before her surgery August 25th.

Yes Stella that is the same parking lot that you have walked three different times before entering the vet office. You never had to pee.

When we walked earlier in the summer she would have the whole street to walk in but at that time we were walking an hour or more earlier than now. I needed to make sure I could keep her out of the way of the two cars that passed us.

For a longer walk we have taken that dirt path to the right but with my new hip getting in shape and only her second day of walking we took our normal way and curved to the left on the paved surface. The walk totals about .67 of a mile.

When we returned Heidi acted as if she had missed out and was looking to walk. Under my current condition I want to walk just one hound at a time, so I grabbed Heidi's leash left Stella in the house and took off. We cut Heidi's walk short through the parking lot before getting to the vet's building. By the time she gets back home she has had enough and is dragging those last few steps.

Yes, I've been there before but at the time I didn't have the time to take the photos I wanted to at the top of the pass. I had to leave earlier than planned that day. I also didn't get a photo of the Visitors Center or the sign at the entry of the Coronado National Forest.

The plan was to go to the top, get my photos and then come back down the same way. That is the more exciting way with narrow gravel switchbacks. Plus it would be the shortest way back home.

While I was out preparing the back and passenger seat for the hounds to occupy, Stella evidently thought she wasn't going and would be staying in the backyard while I was gone. She is smart enough to lay in the shade at least.

Little did she know that I had placed a tarp over the back seats that was folded down, then a thick layer of multiple Mexican blankets. All Heidi needed was her Mexican blanket on the passenger seat to ride.

She was also preparing for me to leave by myself. She had already found her morning sleeping spot in the computer room and was a little disturbed that I woke her up to let her know she was going with me.

Of course Stella is always ready to go for a ride. She is hopping up and down at the sight of her 6' red leash. She seemed pretty happy with the backseat and the windows rolled down enough to let her move her head but not open wide enough for her to jump or fall out.

Heidi will ride okay but I cannot really say she enjoys these mini road trips.

It is rare, very rare to have someone around to take a photo with me in it. I was shocked how fat I look after I downloaded the photo. This morning the scales showed I had gained only 1 pound since I wrecked my bicycle, at 187 pounds. I am wanting to get around 170 pounds and with another surgery in the future I might just reach that goal without working out. I'd rather workout though.

When I pulled in to take a photo of the sign a Forest Ranger was parked there. He asked if wanted him to take a photo with me in it. We had a nice talk about the area, very informative.

You can barely see what looks like a train track running horizontal across the middle of the photo but that is actually the border wall between the USA and Mexico. The ranger did tell me that I can hike the train tracks that parallel the San Pedro River so I might have to put that on my list of hikes to do when my hip is a little older than 46 days.

Stella was positive there was food inside that visitor center just for her and was a little disappointed she had to stay in the truck while I took a couple of photos that I didn't take last June.

Coronado NF Visitor Center.

There are some very narrow parts of this road and that is why I don't have any photos of them to post. It was unsafe to stop the car just to take photos from the drivers seat. I did meet a couple of large trucks coming down the pass and one truck was taking up most the road as to Forest NP employees were doing some road work.

Some of the switchbacks were just as bad as Carr Canyon Rd but not as high. I guess it wouldn't make much difference if you fell 500' or a 1000' if you drove over the side of the road.

I made it to the top and unlike last time I had the place to myself and I could spend all the time I wanted taking photos. There was a car with New Mexico plates but most likely they were hiking the trail, where there was a "no dogs" sign at the start of the trail.
 

It is beautiful up here, quiet, clean air and not a sound anywhere.

This is the road we drove to get to the top.

I'll come back sometime without the hounds but at this time I don't think climbing a lot of steps is a good thing for my healing hip.

Going down the 'backside' or west side of the pass, there are not only a lot of pullouts to take photos or turn around but there are a zillion dirt roads turning off on each side of the road. Again, without the hounds there are a lot more roads to explore.

It wasn't that deep and it had not rained in a while so I decided to pass the sign behind me that warned me not to enter this area in flooding conditions.

Around 22 miles straight of gravel dirt road, with a lot of rutty, rocky bouncing with 15 mph speed limits. I met my second border patrol up ahead and we both drove this road 10-15mph due to the surface.

Yes a familiar sign for those that read about this trip in June.

Parker Canyon Lake ... I swear the sign said 1/2 mile to the left when we are at the T for Hwy 83. It seemed like we drove forever to get to it.

With the hounds in the truck I moved down the sidewalk to get a better look at the lake but when I saw this many stairs I wasn't sure I'd make it back up ... funny, the doctor told me I could do all normal stuff and walk a lot if I was not swinging my bad leg out to the right a million times per day. But a little voice inside my head told me that it wasn't time to attempt that many steps. I turned and headed to the truck.

There are those words, truck, car, FJ, Mini ... what can I say. I like cars and trucks. I have had a ton of them since 2000 or the past 20 years. Always before I had no more than two and most of the time only one. So for those readers that pay real good attention to what I say and what is in my photos will realize we are driving a truck today .. a Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro .. and no, it's not new ... I wouldn't spend that much for a pickup truck.

You would not have read about it on the blog back in May but on the 4Runner Forum and the Tacoma Forum you would have seen I was trying hard in May before my move to AZ, deciding between the two. Both were TRD Off-Road models. I'll not go into the reasons why I chose the 4Runner over the Tacoma in May nor why I bought this a few days ago at the local Toyota dealership. Yes ... I still have the white FJ, I am never getting rid of that nor am I getting rid of the Mini Cooper either.

Before you think that is too many cars just remember how many friends do you know that have a car, a truck, an RV or a couple of ATVs and the trailers or toyhaulers to carry them. Or if they only have a couple of nice cars but travel throughout Europe or the USA ... we all like our own toys. Personally I like having different vehicles to choose from.

There are days I want to take it slow so the FJ it is or even this Tacoma. There will be as in the past, days I need a truck to haul landscaping stuff, stone, mulch, or dirt .. the Tacoma is good for that. There are days I want to take chances and drive fast as hell willing to accept and pay for a speeding ticket if caught ... different vehicles for different moods.  Ha Ha

I'm tried today ... baseball is on in an hour ... I need food, I've done all the walking I need to do today and I am thinking of taking a "day off" tomorrow and give my hip a rest day.

A GREAT day in the Wild West.

Up & Over Montezuma Pass

One of my first trips I took was up and over Montezuma Pass. I had a vague idea where I was going, so I grabbed the camera but left the hounds home on this trip since I was going to make a couple of stops. They enjoyed the air conditioning sleeping the day away while I went out on an adventure.

My first stop was at the visitor center. For some odd reason I didn't take a picture of it outside nor when I was inside. I was too early and had to wait about 20 minutes before they opened it.

This was the start of my drive over the pass.

As I was inside reading all of the history I glanced out the window facing the back of the center and had someone staring at me. Of course the hounds would not have been in the building if they had come but I am sure Stella would have been howling from the 4Runner in the parking lot as she picked up the scent of any size of deer. Instead she was stretched out in the house sleeping in the cold air conditioning ... no deer around.

The road going up was not nearly as narrow as the one I drove after this trip but blogged about the other day on Car Canyon Road. There was plenty of room to stop and take photos of my progress. I took all of these photos with different cameras ... the iPhone, Cannon G9X and the Nikon D3200. I don't remember which camera took what photo.

Sorry for the dirty windshield.

It was quiet and peaceful at the top of the pass. That didn't last long when a car pulled into the lot, slightly speeding. I thought some Sunday morning alcohol might be involved but it turned out to be two loud young kids, a couple of small yapping dogs and an adult that looked like he was the one that needed adult supervision. Maybe alcohol was involved?

Do you know sometimes how you have a gut feeling that you need to leave ... that was me. I left sooner than I wanted or planned but I wanted to get as far ahead of this group as I could. I could sense potential trouble going down the western side of the Montezuma Pass and I didn't want to be involved.

It was beautiful up there as I looked down through the valley towards Mexico, many miles away. All I could think of during the last part of the drive, if this is the place the illegal immigrants want to cross the border ... I could not see anyway they would survive. It was extremely hot and it wasn't even 12 noon yet and there was no way they could carry enough water to keep hydrated. The two 32oz containers of water I brought with me, were going fast as I drove with the windows down enjoying the environment.

With many miles of land to cover for surveillance, the tall tower of cameras and other monitoring equipment was not a surprise to me at that location.

Do you see what I mean when I say no one could carry enough water with them to survive this kind of terrain on a 94° day. I did see warning signs along the way of possible illegal immigrant crossing, telling me not to pick up any hitchikers and beware of any possible unlawful activity. During that stretch of road on the downward side of the pass I met three different border patrol trucks on the way going in the opposite direction than I was. With that many trucks I assumed I was traveling through a popular place to cross the border.

As I came up on one of the healthiest cows I had seen, I couldn't believe she/he was out here finding enough food to eat. Just as I was about to pass him across a dry river bed I glanced to my right and there stood a herd of 10-12 more cows standing under a big shade tree.

I am not sure how many miles I had driven nor how long ... but when I glanced in my rear view mirror the dust is flying from a high speed vehicle. Guess who was coming up behind me? I had a large lead on them, many miles head start when I left the top of the mountain pass.

I pulled off to the side of the road to give them plenty of room to get by me. Speed limit was 25-30 mph through this flat land ... I'm guessing they were doing around 60mph. It would not be the last time I would see them though.

I still had some hills and tight turns to go down before the paved road showed up. The speed limit sign's had dropped to 10-15 mph, warnings to not use your breaks but to shift to a lower gear. That meant nothing to the idiot that passed me with a car load of kids and two dogs. It was really steep in some spots with hairpin switchbacks going down into Parker Canyon. They rode their brakes every step of the way ... never let off of them ... brake lights on bright red for miles and miles and miles.

With my window rolled down all through this trip ... yes I even drive around town in the middle of the day with the windows down or when I go to Bisbee ... I like the heat. Anyway, with my windows rolled down I could smell the fresh burning smell of their hot brake pads. Luckily I didn't see anything bad happen to them or the car.

With no plans on the agenda to see Parker Canyon Lake I made the right turn instead and headed to Sonoita to pick up Hwy 82 back to Sierra Vista. I still had some miles to go to get home, the lake would have to wait for another day trip.

Hwy 82 is a nice highway to travel. Plenty of southwestern scenery and little traffic. I noticed as I drove back to Hwy 90 this drive kind of filled the urge I have at times to drive cross country. It wasn't like driving the two lane highways back in southern Indiana ... this felt more like I was out in the west, miles from nowhere as if I was driving cross-country. It was great. Yes ... the windows still down.

When I returned of course the hounds were excited to see me. Probably not so much that I was home but "there's that guy that feeds us food" as they were more than ready for the lunch ... that was past due.

As I drove through this countryside, seeing the mountains on the horizon, I knew I had chose the best part of the USA to move to. I love this type of country, the mountains within view and high heat most of the time during the summer. Don't worry, I did enough research on different potential places to live on Climate Data to know it will be nicer winter weather than what the hounds and I are use to. It will still get cold at night in the winters.

It's a cool 87° right now as I write this. I need to pick up some medical supplies as Barney suggested in his comments last night on yesterday's blog post. Then I have a couple of places today that I want to check out and will find out later if they are blog worthy in the next few days.

The hounds are in dreamland for the rest of the afternoon. I guess this post will have a little past and present tense. I'm not going to go back to correct things to make it sound like I've written this last part at the end of the day.  LOL

Life is better than good here in the Wild West.