The Chiricahua Mountains in extreme southeast Arizona have been called THE premier bird area in all of North America. Home to Coatimundi (a relative of the raccoon) and other species of wildlife that are found only in this mountain range, the Chiricahuas are a perfect example of a "Sky Island". Just their name rings down through the lore of the Old West, too; this is the ancestral home of the Chiricahua Apaches, whose names include such legends as Cochise and Geronimo. With its spectacular landscapes, abundant birds, and location off-the-beaten-track, it's the kind of place where I can repeatedly return to and never tire of its wonders. I've arranged the photos in the form of a travel journal of a trip taken in June 2008, but I've returned twice since then (September 2008 and May 2009) and have included photos from those trips also. A place I can highly recommend for lodging while visiting the Chiricahuas is Portal Peak Lodge; their website is here ---http://www.portalpeaklodge.com . If after seeing my photos you do decide to visit, tell 'em Steve Wolfe sent you... :o)
The bird photos were taken with the Canon 40D DSLR and either the EF 100-400 f4.5/5.6L IS or 500mm f/4 IS lens, while the landscapes were captured with the Pentax K10D and a Pentax DA 16-45mm lens with a circular polarizer.
A book packed with information on southeast Arizona, and its birds in particular, is Rick Taylor's "A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona," published by the American Birding Association http://www.abasales.com/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=493 ) It was my guide in the Chiricahuas, and a book I'd recommend for anyone visiting the area.
The bird photos were taken with the Canon 40D DSLR and either the EF 100-400 f4.5/5.6L IS or 500mm f/4 IS lens, while the landscapes were captured with the Pentax K10D and a Pentax DA 16-45mm lens with a circular polarizer.
A book packed with information on southeast Arizona, and its birds in particular, is Rick Taylor's "A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona," published by the American Birding Association http://www.abasales.com/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=493 ) It was my guide in the Chiricahuas, and a book I'd recommend for anyone visiting the area.
There's a trail from Herb Martyr campground that goes to Ash Spring and the Cima Creek Cienega, an area watered by small springs creating a habitat similar to that found in the high Chiricahuas 3000 feet above. I spotted this White-Breasted Nuthatch along the trail.
Sunset brings a warm honey glow to Portal and the surrounding landscape. Here's the "busy" intersection of Portal and, once again, Portal Peak Lodge, where I stayed when I wasn't camping.
Once back on the trans-mountain dirt road from Herb Martyr campground, the way winds up the Chiricahuas, and spectacular views abound. It's truly one of the great unpaved road trips in the entire Southwest.
One of the great pleasures of travelling is meeting people with similar interests who can possibly become "e-mail buddies" or, given time, true friends. Earlier in this chronicle I mentioned running into a young birder, Jonathan Carpenter, at South Fork Cave Creek Road who had just seen an Elegant Trogon. Well, we kept running into each other at different spots in the Chiricahuas, including here at the East Turkey Creek Crossing near the road to Paradise where he gallantly posed with his spotting scope and binocs. He's a conservation biology major at Louisiana State University's School of Renewable Natural Resources and was on a solo birding tour of the southern US. We crossed paths again up near Barfoot Junction where he was on a quest to see a rare Short-tailed Hawk, a pair of which have taken up residence nearby. He e-mailed me later to say he had indeed seen it -- congrats, Jonathan! :o)
The trans-mountain road tops out at Onion Saddle then heads down the western side of the Chiricahuas, ending up at Chiricahua National Monument. Two miles below the road summit is Pinery Canyon Campground, set amidst oaks and pines. Rick Taylor in his "A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona" says the campground "has earned a reputation for great owling," but I arrive during the day and owls are primarily nocturnal birds, so I'm satisfied to see this female juvenile Broad-tailed hummingbird (thanks go to my friend Jonathan Carpenter --- see previous photo -- for the ID) checking out what I believe to be Bridge Penstemon.
The unpaved trans-mountain road heading west over the Chiricahuas finally tops out at Onion Saddle, elevation 7,600 feet, where it intersects with the road to Rustler Park. Views of the eastern side of the Chiricahuas and southwest New Mexico abound here as the road runs along the crest, finally ending at Rustler Park, seen here in early morning. I had just missed the wildflower display; in June this mountain meadow turns blue with Rocky Mountain Iris, attracting Broad-tailed hummingbirds. But it's still a beautiful spot, and once again I find it hard to believe that Mexico is less than 100 miles away...
Once again the ubiquitous and friendly Yellow-Eyed Junco accompanies my hikes.
There's an old logging road that leads from the ranger station at Rustler Park to the meadow at Long Park and connects with High Chiricahua hiking trails. While walking on the rutted, rocky road at 8,000 feet I came upon this reminder that the desert was just a few miles away...
There are two high-mountain trails that can be accessed from the campground at Rustler Park; one is the Chiricahua Crest Trail which ends in 5.25 miles at Chiricahua Peak, at 9,795 feet the highest point in the mountains. The landscape one encounters on the hike shows scars from the 1994 Rattlesnake Fire, which burned a large portion of the high Chiricahuas. But the wildlife and trees are resilient...
Here's the major trail intersection up at the saddle...
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