A Tradition of Birding in the Chiricahua Mountains

Cave Creek Canyon and the surrounding Chiricahua Mountains are considered by many to be one of the nations top birding areas.  With 375 documented avian species the area attracts birders from around the world.  Whether searching for Elegant Trogons, hepatic Tanagers or hummingbirds the area is a favorite with many visitors.  The history of birding in western culture traces its roots to the 18th century when in addition to a food source the aesthetics of birds began to gain popularity.  But, is there evidence of other earlier cultures which inhabited the area around the Chiricahua Mountains which also may have valued birds?  The answer would appear to be yes.  Bird motifs are common theme on Mogollon/Mimbres pottery who comprised some of the early inhabitants in the San Simon Valley and Mogollon bird pictographs have also been recorded.  The images below are of a carved stone bird fetish found in the San Simon Valley on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains (the photograph is of the reproduction made by a local artist from the original).  It was a surface find but came from an area where a parrot cage door had been recovered.  Taken together these 3 lines of evidence would suggest interest in birds (and possibly) birding has a long history in and around the Chiricahua Mountains.

Rucker Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains

An exceptional day combined with an exceptional hike best describes this outing with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club.  The group headed out at 8:00 AM from Portal and meeting additional hikers in Rodeo before heading south to Rucker Canyon.  The site of a former Army supply post from the 1800's Rucker Canyon has a number of nice campgrounds along the lower reaches of the canyon.  Parking at the end of the last campground 20 hikers and 2 dogs headed upstream and up canyon along the Rucker Trail 222 in the shade on a cool January morning.  About a mile up the canyon, a series of water worn pools in the rhyolite were encountered, a very photogenic location.  While the west canyon wall was illuminated by the early morning sunlight creating some spectacular views of the vertical lichen covered rhyolite walls.  The sun eventually crested the ridge illuminating the canyon floor and providing additional warmth while following the trail.  The trail eventually departed the stream bed where Rucker Canyon turns west and the group followed a series of switchbacks up the ridge where everyone stopped for lunch and surveyed the extent of the Horseshoe Two Fire.  While the visible ridgetops showed signs of significant fire, the lower elevations and the canyon bottoms saw only ground fire which cleared out the small trees and underbrush which will lead to a healthier forest.

The hiking club covered a little over 4 miles (8 miles round trip) and 1500 ft in elevation gain to reach the ridge top.  The map for this hike may be found in the sidebar or at this link.

As a side note, the lunch stop on top of the ridge was only about a quarter of a mile, and 500 ft. above the trail in Price Canyon hiked last year, a distance by vehicle (from trailhead to trailhead) of over 30 miles.

Reflections in Rucker Canyon

The gates in Rucker Canyon

Trail sign near top of ridge

The Solar System at the Painted Pony Resort

As noted in a previous post the solar system heating the pool required some reworking.  A new pump station was installed which contains all the essentials for filling, monitoring, and running the solar system.  This unit, built by SunMaxx Solar, contains fill and drain ports, an inline pump, a one way valve, an electronic controller, a flow meter, a pressure gauge, an air purge, a pressure relief valve, and analogue thermometers.  It replaces a  series of parts installed inline which did many of the same functions except the pressure gauge and flow meter are new.  Previously, to check flow and pressure required a trip to the collectors to draw off some coolant which had to be replaced simultaneously to maintain flow throughout the system.  Now a simple visual inspection reveals the flow rate and the same for the pressure.  The original pump was left inline as a backup but all the old copper plumbing and brass fittings were removed.  The unit comes completely insulated minimizing heat loss which insures the maximum amount of heated fluid reaches the heat exchanger (the connecting pipes were also insulated).  The system is still connected to the shortened PEX lines but these will be replaced with stainless steel flexible insulated piping, eliminating any possibility of overheating and blowouts.

The pool was at 71 last night and the maximum temp observed at the solar collectors since installing the pump station was between 115-120 F. 

SunMaxx pump station

Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club

The second stop on last weeks hike with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club was the Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge.  After a short drive back through Douglas AZ the hiking club headed north to visit another small wildlife refuge at Leslie Canyon in the Swisshelm Mountains southwest of the Chiricahua Mountains.  The refuge is home to endangered fish species as well as a population of Chiricahua Mountain Leopard Frogs.  The American Museum of Natural History Southwest Research Station in Cave Creek Canyon is a partner with Leslie Canyon Wildlife Refuge in the recovery of the Chiricahua Mountain Leopard Frog.  Tadpoles from the population in Leslie Canyon have been reared at the Southwest Research Station in an effort to create a new population within the historic range of the Chiricahua Mountain leopard frog.

The hiking club reassembled at the trailhead on Leslie Canyon Road and proceeded the mile and half north northwest downstream following the old road to the old mine.  Traversing through the high desert scrub the group crossed several contacts between the Naco limestone and granite and rhyolite. Upon reaching the mine the group explored the old mine, viewing the old stone miners building, and examined detritus from early mining activities.  The map for the Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge hike may be found through the link or on the hiking page.

Old stone building in Leslie Canyon

Calcite along the old road in Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge

Casa de Rana at the Southwest Research Station

San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge

The Portal Rodeo Hiking Club combined several locations on their most recent outing.  The first was a visit to the San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge east of Douglas AZ.  This refuge, about 2300 acres in size, sits in the middle of the San Bernardino Valley and abuts the border with Mexico and the Slaughter Ranch.  It is a low basin area and the headwaters of the Rio Yaqui flowing south through northern Mexico.  A number of ponds support endangered fish species and historically was home to quarter of Arizona's endangered fish species.  An easy loop of 4.2 miles following roads allowed the hiking club to circumnavigate a number of ponds in refuge with a section along the border.  The map for this hike may be found here or on the hiking page (tab at top of the page).

Wildlife pond in the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge

Border Monument