U.S. Bike Route 90, a new Bicycle Route Through Arizona Includes a Highway 80 Segment

Bicycling in southern Arizona and specifically around the San Simon Valley and the Chiricahua mountains is a great way to experience the landscape.  The open air, the 360 degree views, the slower pace all allow one to experience the area that is not possible in a vehicle.  In the past bicycle groups have visited the area staying in Rodeo at both Mountain Valley Lodge and the Painted Pony Resort during their trips.  Lizard Head Cycling Guides and Bubba's Pampered Peddlers have both stayed at the Painted Pony Resort when cycling in the southwest or on a coast to coast tour.  To spread the information about the potential of scenic cycling routes in the area, published routes were collected and posted as reference material to highlight the potential for cycling adventures in and around the Chiricahua Mountains.

Well things have continued to improve with reference to bicycle routes in the area.  The State of Arizona has just designated a new cycling route across the state which includes Rodeo and the surviving segment of Highway 80 that runs through the valley, see here.  This bicycle route is part of a nation wide effort to create bike routes across the United States.  U.S. Bike Route 90, the Arizona segment, will connect with other state routes creating bicycle friendly routes across the nation.  Arizona's newest bicycle route will be a welcomed addition for visitors to the area.

Guests bicycling at the Painted Pony Resort.

U.S. Bike Route 90, Arizona's bicycle route segment from Rodeo to Blythe

The Highway 80 segment of U.S. Bike Route 90 runs from Tombstone to Rodeo

Painting the Woodwork

Living at about 4,000' MSL in the high desert means increased UV exposure.  UV plays havoc with painted surfaces and over time the buildings at the Painted Pony Resort need new paint especially the woodwork.  Several years ago all the woodwork on the buildings required cleaning and re-staining, see this video for a time lapse of cleaning and staining.  Well, that time has arrived again and the courtyard of the main house was in need of some attention so back out with the power washer, ladder, and stain.  After cleaning all the woodwork a thick coat on new stain was applied bringing new life to faded columns.  Of course now that I have done the courtyard woodwork on the rest of the building now needs attention and if one building is done they all need doing.  A never ending job.

Power washing woodwork

Re-staining woodwork

Columns finished

Finishing the vigas

The 4th of July in Rodeo, New Mexico's most Western Town

Small town 4th of July celebrations are a mixture of sweat, hard labor, and community spirit.  All in an effort to create something special on Independence Day.  In Rodeo NM this means parades, dinners, a cake auction, and an evening of dancing. 

As 6 PM approached everyone lining the parade route tuned into AM 1590 (Rodeo Radio), the lead horse riders with the American and New Mexico flags could be seen at the south end of town starting their procession up Highway 80. As with any small town parade the floats are all made locally by families and groups in the area to show their civic pride in Rodeo, the San Simon Valley, and the Boot Heel of New Mexico. This was the 37^th year of the Rodeo 4^th of July parade and the event is always sponsored and coordinated by the Rodeo Community Association. The best of show this year went to the Chiricahua Peloncillo Historical Society for its' C. S. Fly photography float and its recreation of Geronimo's surrender that ended the Indian wars in the southwest. While the model of Rodeo from the 1950's took best float. After a long line of floats through town, everyone got back to socializing and visiting. I saw people who I have not spoken with in a year so it was a good opportunity to catch up with neighbors and meet folks from the area I did not know.

The post parade events were held at the Rodeo Community Center where the traditional pulled beef brisket dinner was served. A full community center is always a good sign and following dinner the parade prizes were handed out to the winning entries. This was followed by the annual cake auction which raises funds for the Rodeo community scholarship fund which provides funds for local students seeking higher education. Rounding out the evening was the annual dance at the community center which I had to miss. With guests arriving for another family reunion at the Painted Pony Resort I had to get back to work.

It was a great break from the normal routine and another special day for me in Rodeo.

The start of the parade in Rodeo NM

Chiricahua Peloncillo Historical Society

C. S. Fly and Geronimo's surrender

The mini mule

1950's in Rodeo

The Southwest Research station

Dinner at the Rodeo Community Center

An Early Monsoon?

Traditionally, the local community looks for the summer monsoon season around the beginning of July and the common wisdom holds that it begins on the 4th.  The estate received 0.05” of rain 2 days ago and then yesterday another build up of cumulus clouds appeared over the Chiricahua mountains during the afternoon. A typical monsoon season cloud buildup heralding perhaps an early start to the summer rainy season. The event resulted in winds in the canyon dropping trees along the road and rain was visible around the valley as well as on the eastern side of Antelope pass, but no rain at the Painted Pony Resort. The resulting sunset was brilliant with vibrant reds and yellows illuminating the residual rain clouds. I made a 4 image panorama to try and capture the sunset but the brilliance overwhelmed the camera chip.

An early monsoon cloud buildup over the Chiricahua mountains.

A brilliant sunset after the storm.

Advantages to Promoting Other Local Businesses

The Painted Pony Resort with its 756 acres is an estate rental with the aim of providing a large facility for gatherings whether it be a wedding, workshop, or family reunion.  But the estate is not the only lodging business in the area.  Many other businesses offer local lodging targeting different market segments and it only makes sense to provides references to other establishments for online visitors looking for a place to stay in the area.  Both the Painted Pony Resort website and the associated Blogging from the Boot Heel maintain listings of other local lodging resources as a courtesy to online visitors searching for area lodging as well as provide a map showing lodging in the area, see below.

A recent analysis of the blogs quarterly visitor statistics showed that exit links to other local lodging sites comprised 17% (82) of the total exit links (483).  Of the 17% of exit links to area lodging 83% (68) were to other local businesses while the rest were to the Painted Pony Resort.  While the estate is appropriate for groups it does necessarily meet the needs of individuals looking for a place to stay, but the ability to find other more appropriate lodging is important.  Meeting the needs of potential visitors and guests is important not only maintaining the integrity of the area but also in promoting visitation.  Providing tools for online visitors about the Coronado National Forest and other public lands in the area as well as resources for visiting the area will not only encourage visitation but allow visitors to find the specific resources that best fit their needs.

A Little Snow over the Holidays

2014 was a good year for rain in the high desert of southwestern New Mexico.  The Painted Pony Resort received 14.69" of rain this year and to top things off, the estate received its first snow fall on New Years day.  While the mountains received a light dusting of snow on Christmas day and additional snow over the next week in the high country, out in the valley, we were greeted by snow on the first morning of the new year.  Hoping for a continuation of the rainfall patterns which will result in beautiful spring wild flowers and poppies carpeting the valley.

A snowy New Years morning in the San Simon valley

Sunrise and Sunset

The San Simon Valley gets spectacular sunrises and sunsets.  Flanked by the Chiricahua mountains to the west and the Peloncillo mountains to the east, those in the valley are treated to an abundance of beauty every morning and evening.  The view below is a 3 image panorama of wispy clouds reflecting the rising sun which has yet to climb above the Peloncillo mountains.  Some folks have said they prefer the Peloncillos at sunset but I find sunrise the most spectacular especially when there is some cloud cover to reflect the sunlight.  Both times of day either mountain range has something new to see and I'm constantly recording something new I have never seen before.

Sunrise over the Peloncillo mountains from the Painted Pony Resort

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Addendum:

Two days later after a day of light rain, the warm temperatures combined with water vapor resulted in low wispy fog at sunrise.

Wispy fog over the Peloncillo mountains in the San Simon valley.

An Unusual Tool

While out walking the other day with one of the LSU Arthopod Museum's staff the tool shown below was found amongst a scatter of mano fragments.  Downstream of several room shaped crop marks, the presence of flaking and grinding stone tool fragments suggests we were close to a former habitation site.

The oddly shaped piece measuring 3.3 x 6.5 cm was constructed out of a fine grained local red rhyolite common to the area.  Four long primary flakes running the length were removed from one side to create the tool from a single larger flake.  Several very small secondary flakes were removed from the inner curved surface creating a partially serrated cutting edge.  The shape and curvature of the tool suggests right handed usage and when held the thumb fits comfortably in the basal depression at the base while the index finger comfortable wraps around a groove on the backside.

Tentatively identified as either a burin or awl, this unusually shaped tool would be a handy addition to any early tool kit and would work well in either punching holes in leather or cutting and scraping wood or bone shafts.

An oddly shaped rhyolite awl or burin

The back of the tool showing natural finger groove

Addendum:

The tool fits neatly into the right hand.

Merry Christams from Rodeo New Mexico

A wish for all, have a merry Christmas and healthful and prosperous new year.  And for a little holiday cheer, 2 holiday colored metates from New Mexico.  Preparing a holiday meal is certainly easier than in the past when corn and other plant material was ground by hand.  Although useful tools to past inhabitants, these were not recommended for preparing the holiday mashed potatoes, but do grind coffee beans well.

Holiday colored red and green metates

A Fence Walk Through

The Rustic Cabin at the Painted Pony Resort provides additional space for family reunions and other groups visiting the estate.  Although connected by roads, additional access to the main estate is now provided by a walk through in the fence line.  Simply walk down the main runway from the main estate and head east on the crosswind runway.  At the end is a pedestrian walk through for those wishing not to drive between the Rustic Cabin and the main estate.  The rock and wire walk through consists of 2 - 180 degree turns allowing pedestrians to easily pass through the estate fence line and onto Painted Pony Rd and a quick way to access the Rustic Cabin but keeping inquisitive cattle out.  The rock walls mark the location of the walk through and are easily visible from the road.

Wildlife friendly fences are important in keeping cattle out but allowing the wildlife, and people, access.

pedestrian walk through

Adventures in Welding

To survive down here requires a good deal self reliance and multiple plans for every aspect of ones life.  The newest learning experience involved the tractor and a tooth bar.  Recently, the owner of the Painted Pony Resort generously replaced the old tractor with a new one.  Unfortunately, the sales representative at the dealer gave the owner the wrong size for the front loading bucket and the tooth bar shipped was to long.  Sending back over a hundred pounds of metal was not in the works, so alternate planning started.  Plan A involved grinding and fitting the tooth bar on the outside of the bucket instead of the inside, as designed, but after a days grinding it was clear that Plan A was not viable, so on to Plan B.  Plan B involved cutting the tooth bar and removing a section so it would fit inside the bucket as designed, but this plan required not only cutting and grinding, but welding.  Like backhoes, welders seem to be standard issue in the Boot Heel of New Mexico and I had purchased a used Miller Thunderbolt locally awhile back in anticipation of its need at some point in time.  Clearly a good decision, but only one problem, experience welding was required and this was lacking.  So off to the internet for some research.  After a couple of days of reading and watching videos the welder was turned on and a weld attempted on scrap metal.  Well, as you can imagine, the initial attempts produced miserable results.  It was impossible to start a bead, the rod kept sticking to the base plate, the amperage was not adjusted correctly, the wrong drag angle, on and on.  But persistence payed off and after researching each problem in turn it was possible to complete a weld on scrap metal.  Emboldened, a broken tine on the tractor rake was successfully welded, so it was on to the tooth bar.  After cutting, shortening, and beveling the new seam, 3 passes on each side with the arc welder and there was a new custom fitted tooth bar on the tractor.  A little splatter but no worm holes and of course the mistake of moving to fast but the job was finished.  While the job took days to complete and which would have taken an experienced metal worker about 30 minutes to finish, the blame for the excessive time took on this job may be laid at the foot of the bubble.  Now the tractor is ready for grubbing mesquites in the seed reservoir as part of the grassland restoration.

Incorrectly sized tooth bar in the tractor bucket.

Cut and welded tooth bar installed in the new tractor.

Reflections in Cave Creek Canyon, Chiricahua Mountains

Astronomers with the All-Star Telescope star party are currently in residence at the Painted Pony Resort and today the group explored South Fork of Cave Creek Canyon.  About a dozen astronomers hiked up South Fork to Maple Camp and along the way we came across a small slot canyon on the west side of the trail.  Chimneying a short distance up the slot several reflecting pools were encountered.  While getting up and in was easy, coming down and back out proved a little more challenging, but it was possible to avoid the falling into the pools and still get a good photograph.

Of course the Panstarrs comet has been the subject of some interest and photography at sunset each evening and some photographs are posted here and here.

Small reflection pool off South Fork

Arts Day in Rodeo

The Chiricahua Gallery and the Mixed Nuts of Rodeo both hosted events today in Rodeo.  Today is the first day of the Chiricahua Gallery Holiday Arts show while the Mixed Nuts hosted their annual craft fair.  Lots of goodies at both places and of course the George Walker House had 75 lbs of fudge, in a variety of flavors, for sale.  I must admit to buying 4 different flavors of chocolate fudge, the chili flavored is perhaps my favorite.

Chiricahua Gallery

Mixed Nuts Craft Fair

Find of the Day

The Painted Pony Resort is bounded on the north and east by New Mexico State land and with state land also comes grazing leases and cattle.  New Mexico is a "fence out" state and requires land owners to protect their property with fences, see Article 16. Fences.  The rational for "fence out" as opposed to the English common law approach of "fence in" may be found at this link.  To ensure cattle stay off the property requires fence, gate, and cattle guard maintenance on an regular basis.   An afternoon of walking fence line between the east side of the San Simon Riverbed across the Painted Pony Resort to Amigos del Cielo air park checking for downed and broken fence resulted in the following surface find.  A nice 2 inch stemmed projectile point of a fine grained black material.  Eroded out of the ground it was not found in association with other materials making dating difficult.

Stemmed projectile point

Only 2 areas of weak/partially downed fence line were discovered on the adjacent land to the east.  Cattle had pushed down the fence line and crossed from State land onto private property to the south.  All the fence line surrounding the Painted Pony Resort was in good condition but cattle have been congregating outside the gate on several occasions seeking access.  Adding cable wings to the gate and cattle guard along with several hundred feet of fence line on the other side of the road (to take advantage of cattle propensity to walk fence line) deflects them back south and away from the entrance to the property.  The combination seems to have worked and the gate can remain open for guests and deliveries.

The Solar Eclipse in Rodeo New Mexico

Although Rodeo and the Chiricahua Mountains were not in direct path of totality for the eclipse on Sunday, it was still a spectacular viewing opportunity.  The passage of the moon across the sun reached it's peak at about 7:30 PM local time and as the event progressed it grew progressively darker.  Without a solar telescope or adequate filters no direct photographs were attempted.  Instead a pin hole camera approach was used to cast a shadow of the eclipse on the wall.  In reality, the holes in the window blinds served as the pin holes and since these are spaced evenly down the blinds it cast a multiple shadows of the eclipse on the opposing wall.  So instead of a single image it was possible to capture multiple linked images of the eclipse.

Multiple shadow images of Sunday's eclipse

Poppies Around Rodeo, New Mexico's most Western Town

Strong winter rains are a sure sign of a beautiful spring crop of wildflowers in the San Simon Valley.  The poppies have been blooming for several weeks, a slowly marching carpet of yellow and orange from south to north down the valley.  Their arrival in Rodeo was noted by several other bloggers (here and here) and just north of Rodeo at the Painted Pony Resort the landscape on the east side of the San Simon River (where water is an option) is now carpeted with poppies in bloom.

The Peloncillo Mountains with poppies

Below is an interactive panorama created in Microsoft's Photosynth.  Multiple images are stitched into one large panorama which can be navigated and zoomed, which creates a "big picture" view of the landscape.

Layers of Mountains

Headed into Rodeo the other morning to meet with Chiricahua Sky Island Rodeo for the weekly hike when this view presented itself.  Rounding the curve by the old bridge north of town the combination of location and the early morning sun were just right creating a layered effect of the series of ridges in the Peloncillo Mountains to the southeast.  Stopping on the road and backing up to find the best location the image below was captured.

Of course the camera never records the exact image I see (the result of either the camera software or the operator), so the image was processed in Gimp.  The contrast was increased, the image partially desaturated, and the color curve adjusted slightly.  This highlighted the layering effect of the various hills and ridges from the foreground to the background.  The real trick was to achieve some differentiation between the clouds and the most distant ridge line in the photograph without overexposing the areas of clear sky and areas of the image where the sun was particularly strong.

The camera used was a Canon SX110 IS I purchased at Wallmart.  Nothing fancy, but is small and works well.

Looking southeast into the Peloncillo Mountains

Balancing Stone Bowls

In response to a friends creation of a balancing sculpture with a mining theme, the balancing stone bowl sculpture was created as a return gesture.  It is representation of a business theme - that no matter how hard it seems and whatever life throws at you, you can always always bang 2 rocks together and make something.  An alternative viewpoint would be the balanced rounded stones represent a desert snowman.  Since snow generally falls only in the mountains during the winter those of us in the valley are forced to use rocks to make traditional winter snowmen.  Like those cultures which inhabited the area long before us, stone is still a useful tool.  It is possible to find dry stacked stone walls around Portal and Rodeo, large boulders which mark business locations, and stone houses around the area. The use of local material (whatever is at hand) for any construction project has a long history in the San Simon Valley.  For another example see this photograph.

Balanced Stone Bowls

Chiricahua Gallery Holiday Art Show

The Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo NM is hosting its' Holiday Art & Artisan's Show beginning today. In recognition of its 25th anniversary the show will open with a reception starting at 2:00 pm at the gallery and the show will run through Christmas.  Many local artists will have work on display as well as several new guild members.

Chiricahua Gallery

Reception at the Chiricahua Gallery

Chiricahua Gallery, Community Art Show

This weekend, 9/17/2011, starts the community art show at the Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo New Mexico.  The show will run for 3 weeks and will feature art work from local artists around the area.  An opening reception will be held on Saturday starting at 3:00 PM at the gallery.

In a setting like the San Simon Valley it is difficult not to create art.  When the view as you walk outside are of mountain ranges like the Chiricahua Mountains (photograph at the top of this blog and below), the inspiration to create is not difficult.  I have submitted 6 low level aerial photographs taken around the boot heel to the show that highlight some of the landscape features only visible from above.

Chiricahua Gallery

Portal Peak in the Chiricahua Mountains