SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S ISSUE SEPTEMBER 2017

ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE

Explore� THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS Grand Canyon National Park

Flagstaff September 2017 Sedona Prescott 2 EDITOR’S LETTER 52 SCENIC DRIVE Tripp Canyon Road: Featuring views of the Gila PHOENIX Pinaleño Mountains 3 CONTRIBUTORS Valley, the Santa Teresa Mountains and the 4 LETTERS green ribbon of the Gila River, along with some Chiricahua Mountains twists, climbs and drop-offs, this route will Bisbee 5 THE JOURNAL require your full attention. By Noah Austin POINTS OF INTEREST IN THIS ISSUE People, places and things from around the Photographs by Jessica Morgan state, including a look back at the day Dinah Shore showed up at Thunderbird Field; our 2017 photo contest winners; and the Shady 54 HIKE OF THE MONTH Dell, which opened in 1927 as a destination Secret Mountain Trail: Unless you’re hiking at campground and today serves as a living the Grand Canyon, there aren’t many trails in museum of vintage aluminum trailers. Arizona with better views than this one. And the walk in the woods is especially nice, too. GET MORE ONLINE 18 THE BIG PICTURES: By Robert Stieve Photographs by Joel Hazelton www.arizonahighways.com THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS A Portfolio Edited by Jeff Kida 56 WHERE IS THIS? /azhighways @arizonahighways 30 SMALL WONDERS An Essay by Kelly Vaughn 36 THE CHIRICAHUA IS A STUDY IN ROCKS AND HISTORY A story originally published in our March 1943 issue. By Natt N. Dodge Illustrations by George Avey 44 SHE HAS AMAZING FOCUS While most photographers head to the Chir- icahua Mountains for the broad panoramas of deep canyons, sharp ridges and perpendicular rock formations, Eirini Pajak looks for the little things, including violets, irises and pinesaps. She prefers the close-ups, and when it comes to shooting with a macro lens, nobody does it better than Eirini. A Portfolio by Eirini Pajak ◗ A bridled titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi) perches on a tree 48 A LITTLE CAT GOES A LONG WAY branch. In Arizona, the species is Although they weigh less than a well-fed found primarily in mountains in house cat, jaguarundis have the second- the southeastern part of the state. greatest north-to-south distribution of Bruce D. Taubert CANON EOS DIGITAL REBEL any wild cat in the Americas, ranging from XTI, 1/60 SEC, F/6.3, ISO 400, Argentina to Arizona. Sort of. Chiricahua 500 MM LENS National Monument lists them as “docu- FRONT COVER: Chiricahua Moun- mented historically” in the mountain range, tains illustration by Chris Gall and there have been other sightings in the BACK COVER: The sun sets on the state, but, to date, no one has ever photo- iconic hoodoos of Echo Canyon at graphed a wild jaguarundi in Arizona. Chiricahua National Monument. By Matt Jaffe Joel Hazelton CANON EOS 6D, 10 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 16 MM LENS

2 OCTOBER 2015 PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS AVAILABLE Prints of some photographs in this issue are available for purchase. To view options, visit www.arizona highwaysprints.com. For more information, call 866-962-1191. www.arizonahighways.com 1 editor’s LETTER CONTRIBUTORS

JACQUES world headquarters of Arizona Highways. There BARBEY SEPTEMBER 2017 VOL. 93 NO. 9 wasn’t a lot to smile about that day, but Mr. Ani- Photographer Jacques Barbey simov’s sincerity and gratitude made me smile. 800-543-5432 is known for asking Arizona I think it would have made George Avey smile, too. www.arizonahighways.com Highways staffers, “What are Mr. Avey was our longtime art director — he GIFT SHOP: 602-712-2200 you reading?” For this issue, served in that role from 1938 to 1972 — and he Barbey was reading lighting created the “Tombstone” artwork for a map that PUBLISHER Win Holden conditions at the Shady Dell in we were blacklisted in the Soviet we published in 1940. It was one of at least a hun- EDITOR Robert Stieve Bisbee (see The Journal: Lodg- Union. We got the news from dred kitschy illustrations on the map. Last year, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, ing, page 16). He’d never been DIRECTOR OF In 1965, Walter Schroeder, a subscriber in three of them, including “Tombstone,” ended up SALES & MARKETING Kelly Mero to the vintage trailer court Rosamond, California. A day or two later, there on diner mugs. And later this year, we’ll be intro- MANAGING EDITOR Kelly Vaughn before — “My experience with trailers was just watching Doris was a story in The New York Times. According ducing three more. One of which will feature ASSOCIATE EDITOR Noah Austin Day and Lucille Ball movies,” he to the paper, the censors at the Kremlin con- the Chiricahua Mountains, a place Natt Dodge EDITORIAL sidered our magazine “provocative literature described in March 1943 as “a panorama of deep ADMINISTRATOR Nikki Kimbel says — but he had heard about clearly intended to conduct hostile propaganda among the Soviet people.” canyons and sharp ridges lined and studded PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jeff Kida it through friends. “It was kind of a different approach for me, because I don’t usually

Nyet, no place could be so beautiful, they sneered. with a spectacular array of immense perpendicu- CREATIVE DIRECTOR Barbara Glynn Denney shoot locations,” he says. “[Photo Editor] Jeff Kida wanted me to do something kind of

Ironically, Joseph Stalin’s daughter was a paying subscriber at the time, and lar rock figures.” ART DIRECTOR Keith Whitney fun, but when I got there, I was a little concerned that there weren’t many people around. her father was once the recipient of a gift subscription — a collection of maga- Although it’s been nearly 75 years since he I waited until late afternoon, when the light got better, and I met some really good people MAP DESIGNER Kevin Kibsey zines he may have held in his iron fist. Nevertheless, the Soviets shut us out. wrote those words for us, they’re as useful as I was able to photograph.” Barbey used long lenses to give the Shady Dell guests some PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Michael Bianchi In response, Raymond Carlson, our editor emeritus, wrote a stinging edi- ever in depicting one of the most spectacular privacy, and he says he’s thrilled with the result. “The photo gods were with me,” he says. WEBMASTER Victoria J. Snow torial. In addition, politicians and business leaders came to our defense. And landscapes in Arizona. You’ll see some of that These days, Barbey is mostly focused on getting his new studio and gallery in Scotts- so did nationally syndicated columnist Inez Robb, who wrote: “Let’s not be landscape in this month’s portfolio. That’s what CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Nicole Bowman dale up and running. And, in case anyone is wondering, he recently finished reading Neil beastly to the Russians in the matter of Ari- most photographers shoot down there — the FINANCE DIRECTOR Bob Allen Gaiman’s American Gods. zona Highways. Let’s face the fact that to the broad panoramas. But not Eirini Pajak. She OPERATIONS/ IT MANAGER Cindy Bormanis uninitiated this monthly publication exudes prefers a macro lens, and she likes to point it at a faint tincture of snake oil. If all Americans flowers. Violets, irises, pinesaps … those are some CORPORATE OR unfamiliar with the Southwest find it dif- of the wildflowers featured in She Has Amazing TRADE SALES 602-712-2018 JESSICA MORGAN ficult to credit the publication’s magnificent Focus. In all, there are more than a thousand SPONSORSHIP SALES color photographs, how can we expect the plant species in the park. There’s a lot of wildlife, REPRESENTATION On Media Publications We’ve published a couple Todd Bresnahan comrades and the commissars to be of firmer too. “Occasionally, the tracks of a bear, cougar 602-445-7169 of Jessica Morgan’s photos faith? And, in truth, it is subversive. Once or wild turkey are found,” Mr. Dodge wrote. He in the magazine this year, you are hooked on Arizona Highways, it is goes on to list several other mammal species, but this month, Morgan’s LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] habit forming — you begin to believe, and including skunks, badgers and foxes, but there’s 2039 W. Lewis Avenue first assignment forArizona then you want to go, go, go. Yes, the Russians no mention of jaguarundis. Phoenix, AZ 85009 Highways took her up Tripp would do well to keep it out of their country.” Huh? Jaguarundis? Canyon Road (see Scenic With hindsight, the ban was ridiculous. You’re right to be curious. The name conjures GOVERNOR Douglas A. Ducey Drive, page 52) in the Pina- Or cockamamie, as Barry Goldwater might a pack of fictional predators in a Stephen King DIRECTOR, leño Mountains. “I’ve lived in DEPARTMENT have said. But that was then. Today, more novel, but jaguarundis are real. They can be OF TRANSPORTATION John S. Halikowski Southern Arizona for almost than 50 years later, we’re viewed far more found throughout Central and South America, 20 years, but I hadn’t visited

favorably in that part of the world. In fact, they’ve been “documented historically” in the Arizona Highways® (ISSN 0004-1521) is published month- the Pinaleños prior to this one of our most loyal readers lives in Zlatoust, Chiricahua Mountains, and there’s a steady ly by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Subscrip- assignment,” she says. “What tion price: $24 a year in the U.S., $44 outside the U.S. a breathtaking mountain a city in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. stream of sightings around the state. However, as Single copy: $4.99 U.S. Call 800-543-5432. Subscription His name is Vladimir Anisimov, and on Feb- Matt Jaffe writes in A Little Cat Goes a Long Way, cor­respon­dence and change of address information: Ari- range.” And she means that ruary 27, 2017, he sent me an email. In Russian. no one has ever photographed a jaguarundi in zona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8521. literally — as a Tucsonan, she Periodical postage paid at Phoenix, AZ, and at additional After running his words through Google Translate, I figured out that he’d the wild in Arizona. In the minds of the skeptics, mailing office.CANADA POST INTERNATIONAL PUBLI- says she had trouble accli- seen a promo ad for our new diner mugs, and he was hoping to get his hands that’s proof that the cats don’t live here. CATIONS MAIL PRODUCT (CANA­DIAN DISTRIBUTION) mating to the thin air when on a “Tombstone.” Up to that point, I don’t think we’d ever sent any heavy Nyet, they sneer. SALES AGREE­MENT NO. 40732015. SEND RETURNS TO she camped overnight in the mountains. Morgan took a break from photography when QUAD/GRAPHICS, P.O. BOX 456, NIAGARA FALLS ON L2E pieces of porcelain to the former Soviet Union. Well, now we have, and I’ve Nevertheless, we remain hopeful. And if there 6V2. POSTMASTER­ : Send address changes to Arizona she began her career after college but rediscovered it just a couple of years ago. “I even- since gotten a second email from Mr. Anisimov: “Dear friend Robert! On is a jaguarundi out there, and we get a quality Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Copy­ tually realized it was never again going to be a hobby I could just put on the shelf,” she right © 2017 by the Ari­zona Department of Trans­­por­­tation. says. “Being self-taught and developing an eye for landscape photography requires a lot July 17, I will celebrate the day of my 65th birthday. Your mug, which photograph, we’ll be putting it on our front cover. Repro­duc­tion in whole or in part with­­out permission is pro- I received today, will be considered a gift for my birthday. Thank you!!! We might put it on a diner mug, too. hibited. The magazine does not accept and is not respon- of patience. It forces you to look at our world in unique ways.” Among Morgan’s frequent With all my heart I wish you all the best, creative successes, let your maga- sible for un­solicited ma­ter­ials. photographic subjects is Saguaro National Park, and her shot of a Gila woodpecker on zine always be as colorful and interesting as it is now. Sincerely, Vladimir.” ROBERT STIEVE, EDITOR a saguaro cactus appears on the park’s 2017 annual pass. To see more of Morgan’s work, PRODUCED IN THE USA His email came on a day when the temperature hit 108 degrees at the Follow me on Instagram: @arizonahighways visit www.jessicamorganphotography.com.​ — NOAH AUSTIN

2 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL MARKOW PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP JACQUES BARBEY ABOVE, RIGHT CARLY WINETROBE www.arizonahighways.com 3 LETTERS [email protected] THE SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S ISSUE AUGUST 2017 JOURNAL

JULY 2017 ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE I LIKE YOUR COVERS FOR EXPLORE 2017. I see that you offer each of them as an 18-by-24-inch poster. Has anyone ever THE SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS thought of doing postcards? I happen to collect these types of postcards, and have several from other places. If this is a pos- plore Ex sibility, I would be interested in purchasing the white mountains all of them. Allen Marshall, Kansas City, Missouri

EDITOR’S NOTE: Great question, Allen. A complete set Special Collector’s Issue � of all 12 postcards will be available in November. July 2017 August 2017

was really wowed by your inside named Cosper Meadow, after my other wife that it is time to take an Arizona front cover image [Table of Contents, great-grandfather) and in several of the vacation. My virtual tour through your I July 2017], but not only for the most stores up at Springerville. publication is one that only a former obvious reason. Front and center in the Joslyn Brown, Peoria, Arizona resident could understand. I relive my photograph is Angels Gate, my personal childhood and early adult years through favorite Grand Canyon landform, while our article on Ronstadt’s [The Journal- the many stories and pictures that the behind it and to the immediate right is History, July 2017] brought back fond magazine depicts. My parents and Isis Temple, the first one I ever learned Y childhood memories. We moved to I traveled Arizona extensively when to identify. I am amazed that these two Tucson in November 1947, and built our I was young, so almost every article and spires could possibly end up in the same first house in 1949 and 1950. As an 8-year- picture jars my memory. Once again, picture, because they are separated in old who loved mechanical things and I become excited and enthused as the space by about 12 air miles, and Isis is having farming uncles in Ohio and magazine rekindles the fire that I once more than 20 air miles away — and on Michigan, I was drawn to the Farmall experienced as a young Arizona adven- the ground, it’s about double those plastic toys in the display windows. On turer. Each month I anxiously await the distances. Christmas of 1949, I received three of new edition. I hope it is published until Charlotte S. Graham-Clark, those toys from the window display: a the day I die. Virginia Beach, Virginia Model H tractor, a grain wagon and an Bill Bentley, Lindsay, Oklahoma International pickup. At subsequent really enjoyed the article The Maverick birthdays and Christmases, I received the hank you for your wonderful maga- Star by Kelly Vaughn [July 2017]. My great- two-bottom plow, four-gang disk and zine. I love the articles and especially I grandmother, Celia Perry, raised my manure spreader. I still have those toys. I T the photos. My daughter, Dr. Vicky Tracks mother and her two sisters on the Blue. issues from Young (Prescott College), has been giv- also have Arizona Highways Star trails form in the night They went to the one-room schoolhouse 1947, which my mom bought and kept. ing me subscriptions for years. As I open sky over Reavis Falls in the down there. My Aunt Rose still has Calvin Beeker, Santa Rosa Valley, California each new issue I am always delighted to Superstition Mountains east cattle on the Blue. Some of my mom’s see places in it where I have been. Then of Phoenix. Photographer favorite memories as a child were on have been receiving Arizona Highways drool over places where I haven’t been. Mike Sanchez combined the ranch and the surrounding bluffs, for the past year. I grew up in Coolidge, Now at 86 years old, and with arthritic several exposures to make which she always called “her” bluffs. I Arizona, graduating from Coolidge knees, I can no longer meander to these this final image. The remote waterfall, which is fed by She passed away in December 2008, High School in 1961. My early years were places, but through your wonderful but before that, we promised her that spent vacationing in Pinetop-Lakeside, magazine I can imagine the joy and sce- rain and snowmelt, can be accessed via a strenu- we’d spread some of her ashes on “her” and later teaching school at Blue Ridge nic wonder of them all. ous hike of about 14 miles bluff. The gates to the Luce ranch were and Yuma high schools. I have been Ruby A. Stevens, Stow, Ohio (round-trip) from the Reavis locked up the day we went down, so gone from Arizona since 1971, but have Trailhead on Forest Road 212. Rose went back later and Dr. Luce let her visited as often as possible. My love for contact us If you have thoughts or com- For more information, con- spread my mom’s ashes on the bluff. My the state, as well as my admiration for ments about anything in Arizona Highways, we’d tact the Tonto National For- love to hear from you. We can be reached at editor@ mom wrote a book about the Blue called its beautiful weather and outstanding est’s Mesa Ranger District at arizonahighways.com, or by mail at 2039 W. Lewis The Blue Cowbells. You can find it at beauty, has grown as I age. Every time Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. For more information, 480-610-3300 or visit www Hannagan Meadow (which was almost I receive one of your magazines I tell my visit www.arizonahighways.com. .fs.usda.gov/tonto.

4 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE SANCHEZ around arizona J

Chapel of the Holy Dove

NOAH AUSTIN

Northwest of the San Francisco Peaks, on U.S. Route 180 between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, sits a tiny chapel with a stunning view and a colorful history. In 1960, Dr. Watson M. Lacy, a physician stationed at the Grand Canyon, bought a small ranch in the Kendrick Park area, and over the next two years, he, his sons and some hired hands used volcanic rocks and ponderosa pine logs to build the Chapel of the Holy Dove, whose large windows frame a view of the Peaks. Over the years, it hosted numerous weddings, including four for four of Lacy’s six children. Lacy died in 1991, and in 1999, an out-of-control campfire burned the structure but left the stone walls standing. A Northern Ari- zona University student led a community rebuilding effort, and the current build- ing, which is similar to the original, was finished in 2000. The chapel, now owned by Flagstaff Christian Fellowship, is open to the public and continues to host wed- dings on a first-come, first-served basis.

NEAR FLAGSTAFF Flagstaff Christian Fellowship, 928-774-3603 (general information)

6 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN BURCHAM www.arizonahighways.com 7 J history photography J

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY

■ On September 1, 1921, the University of Arizona reduces its fee for student room and board to $25 a month. ■ Cochise County farmers are warned to arm them- selves on September 12, 1893, amid reports that the Apache Kid is in the area. ■ On September 24, 1931, Arizona businesswoman, philanthropist and profes- sor Louise Foucar Marshall Musician and actress Dinah Shore visits with is acquitted of murder in Thunderbird Field cadets in Glendale in 1942. the shooting death of her Thunderbird Field husband. She had claimed temporary insanity, saying Thunderbird Field, which opened in Glendale in 1941, was one of three metro Phoenix she shot him out of fear training grounds for Allied pilots during World War II. Among its early investors were that he was poisoning her. Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Dinah Shore is part of the history, too. ■ William “Curly” Neal, who carried mail between NOAH AUSTIN Tucson and Mammoth for 42 years and also built n September of 1942, amid the tension of In his 2009 autobiography Down in Flames, Oracle’s Mountain View World War II, cadets training at Glendale’s veteran Ray Parker recounted his training at Hotel, dies at age 87 on Thunderbird Field got a rare thrill: a visit the airfield, which he said was “the size of a September 30, 1936. I from singer and actress Dinah Shore, one of postage stamp” compared with modern bases the biggest stars of that decade. This photo and airports. “I arrive at Thunderbird in mid- (above) was made by Robert Markow, a long- summer of 1942, during what feels like a heat 50 YEARS AGO time Arizona Highways contributor (and the wave. Arizona in midsummer is a heat wave,” IN ARIZONA HIGHWAYS father of current contributor Paul Markow), he wrote. “The very next morning I’m out and its caption notes that the cadets are show- there in the sizzling sun on a shimmering run- ing Ms. Shore the “custom tailoring arrange- way, ready for my first flying lesson in a PT-17 GRAND PRIZE WINNER ments possible in the modern parachute.” Stearman biplane.” He went on to describe his Sunset Crater, by Dan Heacock NIKON D800, 1/500 SEC, F/10, The airfield, located at the southeast corner first flight: “As we rise ever higher above the 2017 Photo Contest Winners ISO 400, 14 MM LENS of Greenway Road and 59th Avenue, opened earth, the feeling of rapid movement gradually in 1941 and served as a training ground for melts away. At altitude it feels as if the plane PHOTO EDITOR JEFF KIDA Allied pilots during the war. It was one of is hardly moving, suspended in Arizona’s bril- three such sites in the Phoenix area; the oth- liant and cloudless blue sky.” ers were Thunderbird Field 2 (now Scottsdale Parker’s time at Thunderbird, like Ms. he 2017 Arizona Highways Photo composing this photo: The flowers in the Cliffs. It’s an infrared photo: Klaus had the Airport) in Scottsdale and Falcon Field in Shore’s visit there, was brief — he was reclas- Contest closed a few months foreground lead the viewer’s eye through sensor of his camera adapted to detect a Mesa. All three were operated by Southwest sified and sent back to California. But the air- Tago, after which I had the difficult the layers of undulating landscape to the type of light beyond what human beings Airways, whose founders included Arizona field endured until the end of the war, when In September 1967, Arizona task of choosing winners from the many payoff, which is the sun bursting through can see. The result is what you might businessman Jack Connelly and film agent it became surplus government property. An Highways visited Hubbell excellent submissions. Out of more than the storm clouds. There’s also a strong call an altered reality — the shrub in the Leland Hayward. Hayward’s Hollywood ties Army lieutenant general bought it and opened Trading Post National 3,300 entries, these three shots rose use of backlight, which really makes the foreground is actually a deep green, but helped the group find funding, and film stars the American Institute for Foreign Trade at Historic Site and explored above the rest. flowers pop against the green grasses. in infrared, it turns a ghostly white. From Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant were among the site in 1946. Today, that school is part of the trading post’s unique The grand prize went to Dan Heacock, It’s a great combination of light, compo- his earliest days of photographing, Klaus the stockholders. In 1942, Thunderbird got its Arizona State University and is known as the place in the history of the who photographed a field of wildflowers sition and color. has been taken by the magical look that own turn in the spotlight: The film Thunder Thunderbird School of Global Management, Navajo people. Another near Sunset Crater Volcano with a mon- Klaus Priebe took second place with an infrared gives you. This shot has strong Birds: Soldiers of the Air, starring Gene Tierney, and Thunderbird Field’s old control tower has feature offered insight into soon storm in the distant San Francisco unorthodox photo (following page) of a composition, as well, with the viewer’s was shot there. been integrated into the campus. the lives of the men and Peaks (above). Dan did a great job of rainbow at White Pocket in the Vermilion eye coming in at the bottom and mov- women manning Arizona’s GLENDALE Thunderbird School of Global Management, www.thunderbird.edu fire lookout towers. To learn more about photography, visit www.arizonahighways.com/photography.

8 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH: ROBERT MARKOW www.arizonahighways.com 9 photography J

SECOND PLACE THIRD PLACE Tower of the Sun Rainbow, by Klaus Priebe Marigold, by Michael Wilson SONY ILCE 7RM2 WITH SENSOR DJI FC330, 1/320 SEC, F/2.8, CONVERTED TO SHOOT INFRARED ONLY, ISO 200, 3.61 MM LENS 1/25 SEC, F/11, ISO 100, 16 MM LENS

ing to the butte, then to the payoff of the photos that never could have been made and there’s a nice juxtaposition of texture To see the honorable mentions from PHOTO WORKSHOP storm clouds and rainbow. with film cameras. Michael used a drone and color — in brighter, more direct light, the 2017 contest, visit www.arizona Aravaipa Backcountry Photo Camp Another unorthodox shot (opposite to shoot this photo, and he uses a tablet it wouldn’t be as effective. The use of a highways.com/photography. Our thanks November 17-19, Aravaipa Canyon page) won third place for Michael Wilson, to control the drone and see what the wide-angle lens also helps, by causing to everyone who entered this year’s This outdoor photography adventure, led by Shane McDermott, who photographed fall foliage on the drone sees — he’s literally composing on everything to slant outward, thus draw- contest, and we look forward to another offers three days of hiking through the Aravaipa Canyon Wilder- ness to capture vignettes and vistas of fall color, red-rock canyons Mogollon Rim. It’s an example of how the fly. Because he’s shooting in soft light, ing the viewer’s eye toward the color in round of great photographs in our 2018 and pristine streams. Information: 888-790-7042 or www.ahpw.org new technology enables us to make the textures of the trees really come out, the center. contest.

10 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH: AMBIKA BALASUBRAMANIYAN www.arizonahighways.com 11 J from our archives [October 1973]

In October 1973, Arizona Highways took a closer look at Gila County’s communities, highways and other attractions. A Peg Fisher feature on Payson included this Darwin Van Campen shot of Kohls Ranch, located northeast of Payson and below the Mogollon Rim. “Kohls has been synonymous with ‘Western vacation paradise’ for these many years,” Fisher wrote. “It is hard to tell who brought the people to this area — Kohls Ranch or Payson.” Although the story ran in 1973, the photo was likely made in the 1960s.

12 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 13 J dining nature J

Augie’s In keeping with Prescott’s historical vibe, the menu at Augie’s feels Chopped Salad, inspired by the Gar- bage Salad at Lunt Avenue Marble Club; nostalgic, with an emphasis on comfort foods with a twist, such as roasted sweet corn chowder, inspired calf liver with bacon and onions, baked three-onion soup, mac-’n’-three- by The American Grill’s; and carrot cake, cheese bake, and crabcake Louie. inspired by Oscar Taylor’s. Fittingly, Augie’s is built on the KATHY MONTGOMERY bones of a Coco’s Bakery in Frontier Village Center. But it’s been remodeled RESTAURANT CRITICS and foodies Arizona landmarks such as Lunt Avenue beyond recognition. Painted in shades of regularly mourn the passing of great res- Marble Club and Steamer’s. taupe and burgundy, with lots of wood, taurants. For Augie Perry, it’s personal. Not surprisingly, the menu at Augie’s pressed-tin ceiling tiles and recessed So is his latest restaurant in Prescott. feels nostalgic, with an emphasis on lighting, the effect is rather like a steak- Perry put a lot of himself into Augie’s, comfort foods with a twist, such as calf house on casual Friday. including a nod to the eateries he’s been liver with bacon and onions, baked three- Perry transformed the lunch counter involved with over his long career. onion soup, mac-’n’-three-cheese bake, into a full-service bar. Booths and tables Born into a restaurant family, Perry and crabcake Louie. line broad picture windows where regu- began his food-service career at age 13, as The liver dish came from Henrici’s, a lars find plaques inscribed with their a carhop at an A&W drive-in. In Arizona, landmark Chicago restaurant where names, a popular practice in the 1960s as chief operating officer of Big 4 Res- Perry worked in the 1970s. Dishes from and ’70s. taurants, he was involved with now-lost Arizona eateries include the Cobb & The food is seriously good, but the restaurant doesn’t take itself seriously. For evidence, look no further than the ’Stache Wall of Fame, where photos of Mustache Club members (who enjoy monthly dinners with guest speakers) include more than a few women and chil- dren sporting fake handlebar mustaches in the style of the restaurant’s logo. In a recent month, all mustachioed diners got half off on Mondays. Those wearing fake mustaches saved 25 percent. Perry sports a walrus, according to the mustache guide in the lobby. His wife asked him to grow it early in their marriage, and he’s worn it ever since. Over the years, patrons have given him everything from mustache corkscrews to glasses and mugs. As Perry’s Chicago restaurants did, Augie’s offers special dinners that have Greater Roadrunners included entertainment such as improv, Greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus) are one of the cabarets and magic shows. Perry also most well-known bird species in the American Southwest. They does a lot of fundraising. An annual cigar aren’t the strongest flyers, but they make up for it with a running dinner to benefit the local Boys & Girls speed of 15 to 20 mph. These members of the cuckoo family are Clubs chapter is usually held on Ash easily identified by their long tails, long legs, shaggy crests, and Wednesday. blue and orange skin behind their eyes. Their diet includes a vari- Whether you’ve been in Arizona for ety of reptiles, insects, small rodents, birds and some fruits. They 20 minutes or 20 years, you’ll leave typically live in deserts across the Southwest, but have been Augie’s with a smile. But if you’ve been found in other open country as far east as Missouri and Arkansas. around long enough to remember the old — Emily Balli Augie’s server haunts, you might just think you’ve died Elly Heiser and gone to heaven.

PRESCOTT Augie’s, 1721 State Route 69, 928-777-0330, www.augiesprescott.com

14 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN BURCHAM PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF WENDORFF www.arizonahighways.com 15 J lodging TAKE YOUR

Every month, we showcase the most talented photographers in the world. Now it’s your turn to join the ranks. Enter your favorite photo in the BEST SHOT. 2018 Arizona Highways Photography Contest. You could win an Arizona Highways Photo Workshop valued at $2,500 or additional prizes.

Our contest is open to amateur and professional photographers. All photos must be made in Arizona and fit into the category of Landscape, Wildlife or Macro (close-up). For details, visit www.arizonahighways.com.

The Shady Dell old television and a VCR stocked with old movies. There were even a few issues of When it opened in 1927, the Shady Dell was a destination campground Arizona Highways from the 1950s and ’60s. for adventurers along U.S. Route 80. Today, it’s a living museum of vintage It was — as the saying goes — boss. aluminum trailers full of amenities. “Staying at the Shady Dell is like sleep- ing in a living museum,” owner Justin KELLY VAUGHN Luria says. “That’s the appeal. You can touch and feel all of the antiques. You can THE TWILIGHT ZONE PREMIERED in U.S. Route 80, which ran in a snaking line really experience them. It’s like spending 1959. So did Bonanza and Rawhide. Mari- from the Georgia coast to San Diego. The the night in a vintage store.” lyn Monroe starred in Some Like It Hot tree-lined property was a campground, Luria, who purchased the property that year, too. Alaska was admitted to the really — a wide spot on the road where 10 years ago this fall, has made minor union. Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba. people could pull in, spend the night and changes over the years, including In short, 1959 was kind of a big deal. move on. renovations to the men’s and women’s Years before that, though — shortly Over the years, though, the park has restrooms — not all of the trailers have after World War II — a man named Don evolved into a major draw, both for trailer private baths — and a few paint touch-ups. Boles started building riveted-aluminum, enthusiasts and for tourists looking for a Sadly, Dot’s Diner, the beloved trailer lightweight travel trailers in his garage in hot take on travel lodging. Although the that dished up breakfast, lunch and din- California and named his fledgling com- trailers are vintage, they’re full of unex- ner, closed three years ago. But it will soon pany Boles-Aero. Today, a 1959 edition of pected amenities. become a concession stand for the outdoor his brainchild is one of the nine trailers When I visited over the New Year’s movie viewings the Shady Dell hosts. available for overnight stays at Bisbee’s holiday, I was surprised to find coffee “We have so many visitors, young Shady Dell vintage trailer court. makers (in the form of percolators), cook- and old,” Luria says. “There’s something When it opened in 1927, the Shady Dell ies and bottled water. That sweet little about each of the trailers, about the expe- was a destination for adventurers along Boles-Aero had a kitchen and fridge, an rience, that everyone falls in love with.”

BISBEE The Shady Dell, 1 Douglas Road, 520-432-3567, www.theshadydell.com

16 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY JACQUES BARBEY HORN AMY The Big Pictures: THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS A PORTFOLIO EDITED BY JEFF KIDA

Pillars of volcanic rock known as hoodoos rise at sunset along the Heart of Rocks Loop at Chiricahua National Monument. The loop is part of a moderate 7-mile (round-trip) hike that begins at the monument’s visitors center. Laurence Parent

18 SEPTEMBER 2017 LEFT: Maple leaves display their autumn hues in the Chiricahua Mountains’ Cave Creek Canyon. In addition to its plant life, the canyon is known for the roughly 370 bird species and 170 butterfly species found there. Rebecca Wilks

RIGHT: Determined plants grow on an outcropping of a weathered rock wall in Cave Creek Canyon. Forest Road 42, which runs from Portal to near the Chiricahua National Monument entrance, offers good views of Cave Creek Canyon and neighboring Pinery Canyon. Jeff Maltzman

20 SEPTEMBER 2017 Afternoon light illuminates hoodoos in Chiricahua National Monument’s Rhyolite Canyon. The hoodoos are the result of water repeatedly filling vertical cracks in rock, then widening those cracks when it freezes and expands — eventually leaving columns of rock behind. Jeff Maltzman

22 SEPTEMBER 2017 Southwestern Research Station Twice a year, birders flock to the Chiricahua Mountains clutching life lists and hoping for a glimpse of tropical migrants and the 17 or so signature species of Arizona’s “sky islands.” But only a lucky handful score a spot on one of the birding tours offered by the Southwestern Research Station in Portal. The field station, which operates under the direction of the Sci- ence Department at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, typically serves biologists, geologists and anthropologists interested in studying the diverse environments of the Chiricahua Mountains. But in April and September, non-researchers have a chance to get in on the action through one of the station’s nature tours. In September, participants might see white-eared and berylline hummingbirds, three or four species of butterflies that take flight only in the fall, and as many as 100 spe- cies of flowering plants. “To me, September is one of the best months to come here,” says Dawn Wilson, the station’s former director. “It’s still birds, and great birds, but it’s got all sorts of other things going for it.” This month’s Monsoon Birding and Natural History Tour takes place September 2-8. For more information, contact the Southwestern Research Station at 520- 558-2396 or visit www.amnh.org/swrs.

ABOVE: An elegant trogon makes an appearance at a picnic area in Cave Creek Canyon. A sought-after sight for Arizona birders, elegant trogons visit four Southern Arizona mountain ranges — the Chiricahuas, Atascosas, Huachucas and Santa Ritas — to breed in the summer. Steve Wolfe

RIGHT: The summit of Sugarloaf Mountain at Chiricahua National Monument offers a view of sunrise to the east. The peak is accessible via a 1.8-mile (round-trip) hike and is one of the highest points in the monument, with an elevation of 7,293 feet. Joel Hazelton

24 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 25 LEFT: Lichen-stained hoodoos loom over the Echo Canyon Trail at Chiricahua National Monument. This trail is part of a scenic 3.5-mile loop hike that also features the Hailstone and Ed Riggs trails. Paul Gill

RIGHT: Water tumbles over a small waterfall and into a placid pool in Cave Creek Canyon. Paul Gill

26 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 27 “A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”— ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Sunset provides backlight for the hoodoos of the Chiricahuas. The mountains were formed by volcanic activity; the last major eruption, about 27 million years ago, laid down ash that fused into the hoodoos’ rhyolite tuff. Rebecca Wilks

28 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 29 SMALL WONDERS

AN ESSAY BY KELLY VAUGHN SMALL WONDERS

f all the hummingbirds in my life, the loudest But Wind Dancer was killed, and a bitter winter followed. It appeared to me in the Chiricahua Mountains. lasted until his widow began taking long walks alone. She came in the moments before dawn, Wind Dancer visited Bright Rain as a hummingbird, wear- when the sky was the color of waiting. A storm ing the same colors he wore as a warrior. Spring flowers O would build later, filling Pinery Canyon with a rain so cold it bloomed as Wind Dancer whispered secrets in Bright Rain’s made the bones in my fingers burn. But she beat it, buzzing ear. against the mesh of my tent. The world was right again — as it so often is when we open I heard her first — those revving engine wings. We faced ourselves to messages from nature. each other for a second (less than, maybe), and she was gone. There are other stories about hummingbirds, of course. A A flash of glitter, the silhouette of her body disappearing into Cherokee tale praises hummingbird for retrieving stolen morning. She was bigger in my startled half-sleep than she was tobacco from a gaggle of wicked geese. Others tell heroic feats in real life, real time. of speed and strength and stealth. It is little wonder to me that there are 13 hummingbird Most of my own stories about hummingbirds involve my varieties in the segment of Southeastern Arizona where grandmother. Cochise and Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apache people once defended their homeland. SHE DIED ON A WEEKDAY. Weight in the woods. It was 1997, and I don’t remember the details as much as I And still so much air — the wing beats of long-ago warriors. would had I not been a girl trying to figure out what it meant In one Apache legend, a boy was born deaf, but sang word- to be a woman in grief. less songs that healed his people and promised good weather. Sometimes it’s easier to fold sad things into small packages His name was Wind Dancer, and he became one of those war- and tuck them away somewhere. riors. Once, he rescued a woman, Bright Rain, from a wolf. She It was summer, though, and I lay on my back in the pool not married him not long afterward. long after the news came.

The blue-throated hummingbird is one of 13 species of hummingbirds that can be found in Southeastern Arizona, including the Chiricahua Mountains. Bruce D. Taubert

30 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 31 Evening light warms the rhyolite hoodoos of Echo Canyon in Chiricahua National Monument. Joel Hazelton

I closed my eyes for a minute, an hour, a lifetime maybe, and birds at their feeder. Cancer is a manipulative thing. Base and vile. It’s the thing or MODIS, online. In it, the smoke from the fire forms two opened them again to a buzz. A hummingbird. There, then Long minutes would pass as I’d trace the veins in her hands that took both of my grandparents. wings reaching eastward. From space, it looked like something gone. It took with it the smell of gardenia, my grandmother’s with my fingertips, laugh at the way his reading glasses slid Now, other people live in the house with the hummingbirds. delicate and slow. fragrance. What it meant, I wasn’t sure, but it hovered so close down his nose, wonder how such tiny birds could be so They have for a long time. But that photograph was made on June 14, 2011, when the to me, I felt it in my rib cage. vicious in their fight for a place at the feeder. fire had burned 171,333 acres. Ultimately, it moved quickly, Sometimes I still feel it there. I loved the “little hummers,” as my grandmother called WILDFIRE IS LIKE CANCER in some ways, maybe — the burning more than 220,000 acres before it was contained. That I started noticing the birds more often after that — on spe- them, just a fraction as much as I loved her. So when she was way it starts somewhere and spreads everywhere. In 2011, the included portions of Pinery Canyon. cial occasions and ordinary ones — little reminders of beauty. gone, the hummingbirds seemed a natural extension of her life Horseshoe 2 Fire threatened Chiricahua National Monument So, even though I had skirted the broad back of the Chirica- I wondered if it was because, when I was young, I’d visit my on Earth. and could be seen from space. I know, because there’s an image huas before the fire, I’ve found myself more often north than grandparents and watch with them the frenzy of humming- My mother and my sister see them, too. from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, south in the years since. North seems cooler, but the humming-

32 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 33 birds seem fewer, too. And it’s the disappearance of hummingbirds I’ve learned to pay closest attention to. In seasons of joy, the birds feel nearer. The love and birth and growing seasons. Their hum is louder. Their warrior wings beat a heavier tempo. Their small bodies carry the perfume of a thousand gardens. In colder seasons, though, the birds are off to visit other people. The heartbreak and sick and lonely seasons. Then, the sphinx moths mimic the birds and sniff at flowers and buzz about. Often, they’re called hummingbird moths or hawk moths — in size and weight, they are similar. In speed and chatter and meaning, they are not. I’ve read accounts from people who say they, too, have had close encounters of the insect kind. They should know that the birds will come when the season is right. For years and so many journeys north, my own seasons did not match the hummingbirds’. It was my fault, having fallen into the sort of self-pity and loathing and confusion that happens when things change. The static sound of a record moving from one track to the next has a way of drowning out the sound of beating wings. Still, I thought of my grandmother most days. I still do. But pain eventually stops dictating destinations.

SO I RETURNED TO PINERY CANYON. I went with someone who, months before, had called me “little hummingbird.” It felt like a shift in seasons. Along the road, we found a dead gophersnake. Its skin sort of twinkled in the sun, and when we examined it, we could see it hadn’t been run over. The body — more than 3 feet from head to tail — was perfect. Save for the slice that likely killed the beast. I guessed a raptor had plucked it from the Earth, that the snake fought, that the bird dropped it. I wondered what it would be like to fall from such a height. Not in a morbid way, but rather in the sense that it might have looked like art. Later, we’d set camp. And although the sun set as it always does, we couldn’t see the pinks and oranges, only the gray that followed. The canyon walls too well protected our nest. Before I opened my eyes to that waiting light the next morn- ing, the woods came to life. I can’t name all the birds that called out before the storm, but I could imagine them. The fire hadn’t gutted the place after all. Within hours, the storm had shaken the canyon. Passed. Rattled through again. We took to a trail within the monument anyway, watching the sky the way sailors do. Hail. Thunder. The aching creep of cold back into my bones. Another storm, a child of the same, moved into Echo Canyon like a train. Cave Creek runs through a forest of We were drenched, but the sky cleared. And, from the maple trees near Portal, on the east end of the Chiricahua Mountains. shelter of Massai Point, we watched the clouds move as a hum- Randy Prentice mingbird hovered, then landed. Then took for the shadows of Cochise Stronghold.

34 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 35 FROM OUR ARCHIVES: T’S JUST A SHORT HOP from El Paso to Tucson in one ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MARCH 1943 of the great, silvery airliners that wing steadily across the Southwest. Hidden in this broad lumbar region of North America, its spine, the Continental Divide, remains unnoticed, even from the air. But just to the THE CHIRICAHUA IS west, beyond the Arizona-New Mexico line, the rug- ged Chiricahua Mountain Range, sprawling toward Mexico, lifts itself suddenly out of the desert. Like claws sheathed in the green velvet of pine, A STUDY IN ROCKS juniper and manzanita, pinnacles, turrets and spires of dark gray rock reach up toward the startled passengers gazing down upon the bastions of the Range rising sharply �beneath them. As the ship sweeps in, crosses the summit AND HISTORY and drones westward, an amazing panorama is spread out BY NATT N. DODGE below for a few exciting minutes: a panorama of deep can- ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEORGE AVEY yons and sharp ridges lined and studded with a spectacular array of immense perpendicular rock figures, among which the clamor of the plane’s motors echoes and reverberates. It is this strange galaxy of nature-carved images covering 17 square miles of canyon, cliff and crest that has been reserved under perpetual protection as Chiricahua National Monument. As the big transport roars westward, a group of riders on a broad trail winding among the rocks of Rhyolite Canyon below rein in their horses to watch the modern plane flash- ing overhead, a sight which seems strangely incongruous, as if an intruder from another world. Relaxing beneath the benign influence of the quiet surroundings, the pattern of sun and shadow on the trail where it passes beneath the low-hanging branches of Chiricahua Pine, Emory Oak or Arizona Cypress, and the unhurried gait of their mounts, they have forgotten, for the moment, the war and the myr- iad of worries and problems of daily life. Puzzled and astonished by the multiplicity and variety of the rock pillars and spires, they have listened with absorbed interest to their guide’s explanation of the forces of nature which have been at work for hundreds of thousands of years

Longtime Arizona Highways Art Director George Avey created this drawing of the Chiricahua Mountains’ hoodoos; he titled it Wonderland of Rocks. Arizona Highways Archives

36 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 37 An area near Chiricahua National Monument’s Big Balanced Rock EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s been 74 years since we first published this offers a view of the Dos Cabezas story, and in that time, some things have changed within the Mountains in the distance. This monument. For example, thick-billed parrots, which you’ll read photo was made in the 1930s. about, have disappeared from the Chiricahuas (and the rest of NPS History Collection, Arizona). The jaguars are gone, too — the recent jaguar sightings George A. Grant (HPC-000432) have been in the Huachuca and Santa Rita mountains to the west. In addition, the monument now boasts 8 miles of scenic driving and 17 miles of hiking trails. “The Sheep,” one of the rock formations mentioned in the story, has fallen down, and the section of the Rhyolite Trail that passes several of the formations is now the Mushroom Rock Trail. Even the scientific understand- ing of the monument’s geology has changed. The biggest change, however, relates to the human history. According to Libby Schaaf, the monument’s chief of interpretation, Mr. Dodge tells only one side of the story — that of the settlers — and it’s “slanted toward saying that the Apaches were the aggressors or raiders, while not presenting the viewpoint that Apaches had been living in this area for hundreds of years.” The settlers, Ms. Schaaf notes, took possession of a place the Apaches considered their homeland. “Today, the National Park Service wishes to present multiple points of view, to show that history may have had many different angles to it,” she says. “The complexities of history are often the most intriguing parts.” Our thanks to Ms. Schaaf and monument ranger Suzanne Moody for reviewing this story and sharing their modern observations.

water, tooled with particles of stone, chiseled loose by freezing and thawing, scratched and abraded the surface everywhere; soil formed, accumulated in pockets, and plants gained a foot- hold. Erosion bit deeply along the shrinkage cracks made when the lavas had cooled, and horizontal planes, which once had been the surfaces of successive lava flows, proved especially susceptible to the solvent action of water. As Time spun its cen- tury hand again and again around the face of the geologic clock, cracks were widened to fissures, fissures were enlarged to breaches, some of the breaches became gullies, and a few of the gullies grew to be canyons. Along these canyon walls, erosion has continued its attack and is still busily engaged in its cease- less task of carving what remains of the ancient rhyolite beds into columns, pillars and spires, the rough blocks which the more delicate hands of wind, sun and rain are sculpturing into the weird forms of the immediate future. Some of these forms preparing the material and sculpturing the amazing figures of cavalry officers. But the violence of Indian warfare was as feet in thickness. the imagination of man will christen with popular names, and which surround them and which line the canyon wall as far as nothing in comparison with the convulsions of Nature that Gradually the eruptions became less violent and finally photographers will submit their images on paper to editors they can see. They have noticed strange flowers and have been took place here in ancient Tertiary times. The region then, ceased, leaving a great volcanic field made up of layered lavas to illustrate the magazine articles of tomorrow. Today and for surprised to learn that, isolated from other ranges as they are according to geologists, was relatively level, perhaps sloping differing in extent, in thickness and in the composition of centuries to come, Chiricahua National Monument will exhibit by the surrounding plains, the Chiricahua Mountains contain slightly to the west. Suddenly all hell broke loose and, accom- the materials of which they were made. But Nature still was all stages of erosional activity in the rhyolitic lavas, from the an astonishing number and variety of plants. They have been panied by violent earthquakes, molten lava burst through the not content with the desolation she had created. Gargan- talus remains of a collapsed pinnacle to the sheer cliffs where reminded that here, in these rugged canyons, the famous Chir- crust of the Earth and spread over the plain. From some of the tuan stresses and strains developed in the Earth’s crust, the the fingers of time and frost are plucking at fresh cracks and icahua Apache warriors, Cochise, Geronimo and others, led vents, cinders and volcanic ash were blown into the sky to fall resulting tortuous movements slowly lifting and tilting great crevices. their tribesmen into Corregidorian retreats so inaccessible and as a blanket over the hardened lava crust. Eruption followed lava-capped blocks to form mountains. In this tremendous ter- In addition to the spectacular balanced rocks and weather­ so well defended that it took the power of the United States eruption, occasionally in close succession, again with centuries restrial labor, the Chiricahua Range was born. worn figures, and the scenic attractions of cliff and canyon, Army many years to dislodge them. intervening. Some of the lava cooled at a rate to cause vertical The old adage “All that goes up comes down” applies to erosion has laid bare a variety of records of the turbulent past. Today, only the occasional full-throated roar of airplane shrinkage cracks to form in regular patterns throughout the mountains, too, and no sooner had the range taken shape than Exposed beds of volcanic ash are mute reminders of violent motors breaks the peace and quiet of a rugged terrain that solidifying mass. Many of the rhyolitic lava blankets were rela- the agencies of erosion began their slow but endless process of eruptions of long ago, while a trailside ledge of peculiar spheri- once resounded to bursts of rifle fire and the sharp commands tively thin and small in extent, others widespread and many wearing it away. Rain and snow beat upon the rocks; running cal pellets locally called “petrified grapes” presents testimony

38 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 39 A rhyolite formation known as the mals, especially the rodents, are common. These include squir- ridge where “The Sheep” surveys his petrified pastureland. But Camel’s Head rises over the landscape of rels, chipmunks, wood rats, kangaroo rats, rabbits, skunks, in the Heart of Rocks section, Nature has gone into sculpturing Chiricahua National Monument in the 1950s. badgers, coyotes and foxes. with reckless abandon. Entrance to this rare bit of unbelievable NPS History Collection, Maxwell E. Hancock Because, then, of its great diversification of habitat from imagery is guarded by “Big Balanced Rock,” a 16-ton behemoth (HPC-000434) open, sun-drenched slopes and chaparral-covered ridges to supported by a base only inches in diameter. And among the tree-choked canyon bottoms with spring-fed pools, and from concourse of hulking pinnacles lining the head of a tiny canyon valley floors at an elevation of 5,300 feet to densely forested are found “Pinnacle Balanced Rock,” “Thor’s Hammer,” “Old whose geological evidence has not yet been mountain peaks 7,300 feet above the sea, Chiricahua National Maid,” “Duck on a Rock,” “Punch and Judy” and several others. satisfactorily interpreted. At one point along the Monument offers an enormous variety of plant and animal life. From a high point reached on the Heart of Rocks Loop trail, Bonita Canyon Highway, red shale deposits mark This assortment is augmented by the rare forms that are pres- the most scenic vantage point of the monument — except, per- the spot where upwelling lava once blocked an ent because of the operation of natural factors governing isola- haps, the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain — looks down upon ancient stream channel, deposits of silt in the tion and invasion. the entire rock-rimmed length of spectacular Rhyolite Canyon. resulting impounded waters forming shale beds Preliminary plant collections for the monument herbarium, But even the super-interested enthusiast who covers every of today. Later infiltrations deposited gypsum, made principally during portions of two summers, total foot of the trails, and explores much of the rugged country in producing a network of white veins. At other 507 different species representing 80 botanical families. Inter- between, fails to see one of the most interesting features of places, erosion has uncovered contact belts esting examples include conifers with nine species, five of Chiricahua National Monument. For within the bulky volume between extruded lavas and sedimentary rocks, which are pines, and the oaks, with seven different varieties. of American History is a chapter on the Apache Wars, a stir- resulting in metamorphized zones and, in some One botanical authority has stated ring record of the last stand of the cases, deposits of metal ores. that Chiricahua National Monu- American Indian against the inevi- When Tertiary disturbances buckled the ment contains a greater range of table domination of the white man. Earth’s crust to form the Chiricahua Mountains, plant life than any area of equal For centuries, the Chiricahua Nature’s selection of a location placed this chain size in the country. Be that as it Mountains and surroundings were at some distance from other ranges — a moun- may, the pleasant all-year climate, the ancestral home of the Chir- tain island in a desert sea. During the centuries the wealth of plant and animal icahua (meaning Great Mountain) that have intervened, plants gradually gained a life, and the weird and spectacular group of Apaches, a predatory foothold and provided vegetative cover for the rock formations, all made readily and warlike tribe. Living on wild slopes. Exposure, slopes, type of soil, elevation, accessible by 7 miles of well-kept animals and native plants, these moisture and other conditions combined to mountain road and 14 miles of resourceful people moved from provide a great variety of habitats which were graded trails, make Chiricahua place to place according to the occupied, as time passed, by plants whose seeds National Monument a refreshing requirements of the season and were brought in by the wind and other agencies, interlude in the journey of tourists the presence of food. Occasionally and could survive under the conditions they traveling the highways or railways they raided the Opatas, Sobai- encountered. Because the range was relatively of Southern Arizona. puris, Pimas, and Papagos, who isolated, certain plants common to similar loca- From a transcontinental airliner, farmed the alluvial lands bordering tions elsewhere apparently never found their way the passenger gets only an intrigu- streams in the wide desert valleys. into the Chiricahuas, while others, in passing ing glimpse of a great jumble of George Avey illustration, 1948 With the coming of the Spaniards, through thousands of generations, have undergone Along these canyon walls, erosion picturesque rocks. The motorist Arizona Highways Archives who brought European grain and evolutionary changes making them different from who follows Bonita Canyon High- domestic animals, the Apaches their relatives in other places. The similar gradual has continued its attack and is still busily way to Massai Point is impressed with the marked differences found increased incentive to pillage. establishment of an animal population also has in vegetation between hillside, canyon bottom and mountain Stolen horses greatly enlarged the power and widened the resulted in the presence of certain forms unique to engaged in its ceaseless task of carving crest. From Massai Point Overlook, he has a fine view out over range of Apache activities, and the southeastern corner of what the area. These “different” plants and animals, of the massed spires and pinnacles stippling the divides between is now Arizona became a Chiricahua stronghold under the which the Chiricahua Red Squirrel is noteworthy, what remains of the ancient rhyolite the major canyons of the monument. From the vantage point of vigorous leadership of the bold and wily Mangus Colorados. are referred to by scientists as products of isola- the Orientation Station, he is inspired by the wide panorama With the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, and opening of the area to tion. On the other hand, the Chiricahuas are occa- beds into columns, pillars and spires. to the east, over the San Simon Valley into New Mexico, and to settlement by United States citizens, Apache raiders became sionally visited by wanderers among birds and the west, over the Sulphur Springs Valley guarded by the twin an ever-increasing hazard. However, it was not until 1860 that mammals from distant, although similar, moun- knobs of Dos Cabezas Peak. Northward, the clear-cut profile of active warfare flared as the results of the unfortunate arrest of tain ranges to the southward. These zoological abundant. Such varieties as orioles, the Painted Redstart and Cochise Head dominates the skyline. Cochise, then chief of the Chiricahua Apaches, at Apache Pass, vacationists, of which the Thickbilled Parrot, Coppery-tailed the Vermilion Flycatcher make brilliant flashes of color among But the visitor who takes time to make use of the numer- a station on the Overland Mail Route of the famous Butterfield Trogon and Mexican Jaguar are the most notable examples, are the greenery of canyon bottoms, while monument birds range ous trails really has an opportunity to see the Wonderland of Stage Line at the north end of the Chiricahua Mountains. A classed as “invasion” forms. in size from the tiny hummingbird and bushtit to the great Rocks. Amid hundreds of thousands of pillars and pinnacles, a leader of great power and personality, Cochise in his anger Although the unusual creatures of any area are given the Golden Eagle. dozen or more have been found whose striking resemblance to became a master tactician and strategist of guerrilla warfare, spotlight of publicity, there are many common varieties of Constant protection, a privilege accorded all wild creatures human features, domestic animals or the works of man have his ferocious raiders ever on the alert to swoop down from birds and mammals in Chiricahua National Monument which in every national park and monument, is showing its influence made them nationally famous. The well-planned trails system retreats deep in the Chiricahua Mountains upon small bands are more or less in evidence. Band-tailed Pigeons nest through- at Chiricahua, especially among the Arizona White-tailed Deer, of the monument leads the visitor, by several loop trips, to all of travelers, prospectors or others passing through or stopping out the area; three varieties of jays are both seen and heard; which are becoming quite unafraid and are frequently seen by of these features. On the Echo Canyon Trail is “Old Devil-face.” in the vicinity. Homes of ranchers and settlers were burned, nuthatches, warblers, towhees, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, visitors along the highway in Bonita Canyon. Occasionally the Rhyolite Trail passes “Totem Pole” and “The Mushroom.” From one by one — the ranchers killed, their cattle driven off, and flycatchers, tanagers, swallows, swifts and many others are tracks of a bear, cougar or wild turkey are found. Smaller ani- Sara Deming Trail, it is only a short scramble to the top of a their families either murdered or carried away by the Indians.

40 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 41 band, Big-foot Massai, is reported to have escaped from the train and, after innumerable hardships, returned to the land of his birth. Although he remained part of the time with members of his tribe on the San Carlos Res- ervation, he was unwilling to be confined by man-made boundaries and roamed, alone, the haunts of his ancestors, occasionally making the long trek into Mexico — where, for a time, he lived with the band of Geronimo’s follow- ers who had evaded the soldiers. Last evi- dence of his presence in the Chiricahuas was in 1890, when his moccasin tracks, recogniz- able because of their large size, were reported seen in Bonita Canyon. The footprints were followed up Rhyolite Canyon, then up a side canyon and over a ridge, the canyon and ridge that now bear the name of Massai Canyon and George Avey illustration, 1948 Massai Point. Arizona Highways Archives With fear of Apache raids a thing of the past, prospectors, cattlemen and ranchers estab- Although Fort Bowie was established in Apache Pass in 1862, lished themselves in the Chiricahua region. the demands of the Civil War kept the Fort so shorthanded Some were soldiers who had served in the that an organized campaign against Cochise and the Chirica- Apache Wars, liked the country and decided hua Apaches was not possible. By 1870, white settlement and to remain. Two of these, Jhu Stafford and Neil development of the region had been brought to a standstill, Erickson, took up land in Bonita Canyon, now Cochise and his warriors from their strongholds in the Chirica- the entrance to the monument. The original hua and Dragoon Mountains practically controlling the region Stafford cabin still stands, and Faraway Ranch, southward into Sonora, Mexico, and east as far as the Mimbres the Erickson homeplace, now operated by Mountains in what is now New Mexico. However, in 1872, a Mr. and Mrs. Ed Riggs (nee Lillian Erickson, truce was effected, and for the final two years of his life, Coch- Neil’s daughter), provides meals, lodgings and ise and his loyal followers remained at peace with the white saddle horses for monument visitors desiring men. Soon after the death of Cochise in 1874, the Chiricahuas these accommodations. The big ranch house were removed from their forested mountains and settled with fireplace is built of boulders, on which are other Apache tribal groups on the San Carlos Reservation. names and dates inscribed by [Buffalo Sol- The home-loving Chiricahuas were not happy, dissensions diers] during the exciting days of the Apache arose, and bands of the more adventurous left the reserva- campaign. tion time and again to attack and plunder the whites under With the opening of the country, develop- such chieftains as Chato, Pionsenay, Victorio, Nana, Loco and ment of mines and smelters, and construction A car camper enjoys a patch of shade at Chiricahua With a world at war, the tempo of living, especially in the Juh. For 10 years, settlers were constantly in fear of an Apache of roads, knowledge of the amazing features of the Wonder- National Monument in the 1950s. The original caption industrial cities, has increased to fever pitch. War nerves are attack. Troops were sent to defend them, and these renegade land of Rocks in the Chiricahua Mountains became wide- reads: “This man’s car is his home. A bachelor, he lives developed as much, perhaps, by the urgent demands for speed bands were gradually reduced in numbers, their chieftains spread, attracting visitors from far and near. That the area very well in this fashion.” and the irritations of traffic jams, and supply bottlenecks, as tried and convicted of murder, and their followers brought was worthy of national attention became recognized, and in NPS History Collection, George Olin (HPC-000437) by fear of actual attack. But deep in the heart of the Chiricahua back to the reservation. Most ferocious and determined of April 1924, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed it Chiricahua Mountains, neither the weird erosional figures, nor the deer, these renegade leaders was Geronimo, who, from his ancestral National Monument, thus assuring its protection from com- display cases that have been prepared for them in the adminis- nor the nesting birds know that there is a war. stronghold in the Chiricahua Mountains, led raiding parties mercial exploitation and vandalism, and indicating such devel- tration building lobby. Summer breezes gently tug at drooping branches and in all directions, even into Mexico. Familiar with every trail opment as would make its features comfortably accessible. Construction of residence and utility buildings for the mon- set them swaying. Ed Riggs’ well-fed horses surreptitiously and retreat, and able to travel rapidly to distant hiding places, Today the monument is administered by the National Park ument was completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in snatch tempting bits of herbage from the trailside and feign Geronimo kept the Southwest in an uproar until 1886, when he Service of the Department of the Interior and is under the 1940, the vacated camp buildings being remodeled to provide indignation at slaps urging them to increased motion. Here is was finally captured. He was imprisoned in Fort Bowie, from immediate supervision of a resident custodian, Frank Fish, inexpensive but comfortable tourist accommodations. This a refreshing interlude in a time of trouble, where the harmony which historic post, on September 8, 1886, he and his ragged with headquarters in an attractive, stone administration build- development, called Faraway Lodge, is being fitted up, as this of Nature prevails, nerves are quieted, worries are dispelled, band were deported across the continent to Florida. This ing in Bonita Canyon about 1 mile beyond the monument gate. is written, especially for the benefit of organized groups for minds and bodies gradually relax, and physical reserves begin ended the organized uprisings of the Chiricahua Apaches, the Here, visitors are furnished information about the roads and weekend use. The National Park Service will continue to fur- to restore energy and revive hope and optimism. Only the great long and persistent fight of a freedom-loving people against trails of the monument, and receive explanations regarding the nish free guide and interpretive service, and, if possible, will gray profile of Cochise Head, in dignified repose on the north- insurmountable odds. However, some of the Chiricahua eluded strange rock figures and other natural phenomena that they provide illustrated interpretive campfire talks regarding the ern skyline, and the blood-stirring roar of a force of basic train- the soldiers, escaped into Mexico and attacked a settlement of see or in which they are especially interested. Exhibits inter- various features of the monument on evenings when there are ers riding the beam remind the visitor to Chiricahua National Mormons there as late as 1900. preting the major features of the monument are being planned sufficient visitors at the free campground or at Faraway Lodge Monument that human beings, still, are unable to live at peace Somewhere en route to Florida, one member of Geronimo’s and, as time and funds permit, will be built and installed in and Ranch. with one another.

42 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 43 While most photographers head to the Chiricahua Mountains for the broad panoramas of deep canyons, sharp ridges and SHE HAS perpendicular rock formations, Eirini Pajak looks for AMAZING the little things, including violets, irises and pinesaps. FOCUS She prefers the close-ups, and when it comes to shooting with a macro lens, A PORTFOLIO BY EIRINI PAJAK nobody does it better than Eirini.

LEFT: Spotted coralroots (Corallorhiza maculata) grow amid the grasses and pines of the Chiricahua Mountains. “I wasn’t looking for them; I just found them while I was exploring the woods in May,” photographer Eirini Pajak says. “They’re not as hard to find as some of the other orchids in the Chiricahuas. When the sun hits them, they have a beautiful reddish glow.” ABOVE: Pajak says the Huachuca Mountain adder’s-mouth orchid (Malaxis brachystachys), which grows near streams or springs in wooded areas above 7,000 feet, is rare and difficult to find — even if you know where to look. “I learned about its location in the Chiricahuas after attending the 2016 Native Orchid Conference,” she says. “There are only 20 known locations in Arizona, all in the southeastern part of the state.”

44 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 45 The Cochise adder’s-mouth orchid (Malaxis porphyrea) is common in Central America but rare in Arizona. “Like several other orchids in the state, it’s quite hard to notice, even if you’re standing right next to it,” Pajak says. “I photographed this one during a monsoon storm. I was literally squeezing buckets of water out of my skirt afterward.”

At the Chiricahuas’ Barfoot Park, a National Natural Landmark known for its plant diversity, Pajak spotted a northern bog violet (Viola nephrophylla, top, left), along with a Rocky Mountain iris (Iris missouriensis, right). At nearby Rustler Park, she photographed pinesaps (Monotropa hypopitys, top, right) and a cardinal catchfly Silene( laciniata, above).

46 SEPTEMBER 2017 A Little Cat Goes A Long Way

Although they weigh less than a well-fed house cat, jaguarundis THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF CATS in Arizona — from coddled condo kitties and feral Tucson toms to bobcats and have the second-greatest north- cougars, the big cats of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The ringtail, sometimes called a ring-tailed cat, is actually not a cat, to-south distribution of any wild but jaguars and ocelots, baroquely patterned migrants from the cat in the Americas, ranging from south, wander up from Mexico into the mountain ranges of the Arizona borderlands. Argentina to Arizona. Sort of. Another neotropical cat ranges from Mexico to South Amer- ica. It also sometimes ventures into Arizona. Which is to say, Chiricahua National Monument rarely. Or, possibly, never. This would be the jaguarundi. lists them as “documented Like most residents of the U.S., I’ve never seen a jaguarundi in the wild. I hadn’t even heard of jaguarundis until sometime historically” in the mountain in the 1990s, when I noticed them listed on a directory of range, and there have been other animals at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Based on the name, I anticipated seeing a smaller jaguar-like animal — pow- sightings in the state, but, to date, erfully built, with a richly spotted yellow coat. But there it was, in the enclosure: a rather odd, slinky creature, its fur a solid no one has ever photographed a color, with none of the jaguar’s telltale rosettes. This animal didn’t look at all like a jaguar, and among the roughly three wild jaguarundi in Arizona. dozen different species of felines, the jaguarundi is truly a dif- ferent breed of cat. BY MATT JAFFE Conservation biologist Anthony Giordano, founder and executive director of the Society for the Preservation of Endan- gered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study (SPECIES), has observed jaguarundis while working in South America’s Gran Chaco region. He’s also analyzed data from visitor observations of jaguarundis at Big Bend National Park in Texas and prepared a peer-reviewed paper synthesizing exist- ing knowledge of the animal’s ecology. “The jaguarundi, for me, represents a big mystery,” says Giordano. “In the Western Hemisphere, it’s one of the cats we know the least about and one of the cats where there are the most misconceptions. In some areas, they’re more like ghosts.” Giordano says few scientists have focused on jaguarun- dis. Basic information, such as where jaguarundis live, is incomplete. There was a tendency, he says, to assume that the animals were common and widespread in certain areas but

For decades, jaguarundis have been rumored to venture into Arizona, but so far, no one has been confirmed to have seen a wild jaguarundi in the state. BLICKWINKEL/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

48 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 49 didn’t occur elsewhere. That reinforced self-fulfilling prophe- a low profile is certainly an advantage for moving freely and dates to 1938, when one of the animals was allegedly spotted cies about the jaguarundi’s range — a bad starting point for avoiding detection by predators. in the Canelo Hills, an area between the Huachuca Mountains accurately determining the distribution of such a sketchily Giordano says jaguarundis have one of the most diverse and the town of Patagonia. A 2009 study on neotropical cats researched animal. vocal repertoires of any feline their size, likely an adaptation in the U.S.-Mexico border region identified 51 sightings of “It’s actually a cat that is supposedly seen, or observed, or to facilitate communication while concealed in the scrub. And jaguarundis in Arizona, including 26 Class 2 (considered cred- reported in many places where they shouldn’t be,” Giordano they also have the second-greatest north-to-south distribution ible, though unconfirmed) observations. That’s actually more says. of any wild cat in the Americas, behind only mountain lions — than three times the number of ocelot sightings in the state That includes Arizona. Jaguarundis are frequently identified which, in turn, happen to have the biggest range of any mam- — although, unlike jaguarundis, three of the ocelot sightings as ranging into the state, and Chiricahua National Monument mal in the Western Hemisphere, other than humans. were officially corroborated. lists these cats as “documented historically” in the mountain Arizona pushes the very northern limits of the jaguarundi’s If, as it appears, jaguarundis don’t range into Arizona, the range. But no one has ever photographed a jaguarundi in the range, theoretically taking them from Patagonia, Argentina, question becomes: Why not? They’re resilient creatures and wild in Arizona. Nor have carcasses or other physical evidence to Patagonia, Arizona. That prospect is not as far-fetched as it not especially timid, ranging from the thorn-scrub habitat into been found. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Giordano lived in might seem when you consider the jaguarundi’s adaptability forests and agricultural areas. They sometimes get into trouble Tucson for three and a half years and conducted fieldwork in and the state’s geography. with farmers for preying on chickens, but unlike ocelots and Arizona’s “sky island” mountain ranges. During that time, he The Chiricahuas, along with other sky island ranges in Ari- jaguars, jaguarundis aren’t poached for their pelts. never saw any jaguarundis. zona, New Mexico and northwestern Mexico, comprise the To avoid predation and competition from their fellow cats, Still, he’s reluctant to totally discount the possibility that Madrean Archipelago, part of a corridor that helps link the jaguarundis are active during the day — another reason that if jaguarundis make their way into the state. tropics to the Rockies. These ranges are “a world biodiversity they were present in Arizona, some sightings should have been “If someone asked me whether jaguarundis occur in Arizona verified. But even the closest documented observation of a A jaguarundi perches on a tree trunk. Despite now, or have occurred there naturally in the recent past, based jaguarundi was hundreds of miles south of the Arizona-Sonora their name, jaguarundis are in the same genus on the data that I’ve really tried to dig into, I would say … no,” border. as mountain lions, not jaguars. Giordano declares, after a long pause. “But if someone said Dr. Howard Quigley, jaguar program executive director ISTOCK tomorrow that they caught a jaguarundi in the sky islands, I Seen in profile, the head appears and puma program director for Panthera, the global wild cat would be like, ‘Yeah, that’s about right.’ ” He laughs, and then conservation organization, says that when he inquired with adds, “Like I said, they’re kind of a mystery.” streamlined, like an old Pontiac hood colleagues in Mexico about the northernmost occurrence of jaguarundis in Sonora, they told him there were no recent link and ask whether the animal in the Mogollon Rim video ornament. It’s undersized for the records. might, in fact, be a jaguarundi. “It really surprised me,” Quigley says. “That’s the kind of He turns off Waite’s narration and asks me not to say any- jaguarundi’s body, where already lithe landscape I would expect to see them in and that they would thing so he can concentrate on the images. Giordano is mostly be adapted to. I spoke with a guy with the Northern Jaguar silent through the two-and-a-half-minute video: “Here we go. … THE JAGUARUNDI IS CERTAINLY a curious cat. Considerably contours are exaggerated by comparatively Project, where they do camera trapping all the time. But they Huh. … Hmm.” He stays quiet through the rest of the footage smaller than jaguars, jaguarundis top out at around 20 pounds, haven’t had any jaguarundis.” before declaring, “The resolution is horrible, of course. But though many weigh even less than a well-fed house cat. Except stubby legs and a skinny tail that’s nearly Quigley says that while the proposed border wall risks you look at the body, you look at the size, you look at the build. while briefly speckled as kittens, their fur ranges from gray to fragmenting the landscape for wildlife, jaguarundis are small And the fact that it’s at night is a trigger that this is unlikely to reddish-brown. The head is oblong, with small, round ears set as long as the rest of the animal. enough that they could work their way through gaps, at least be a jaguarundi. My idea on what the animal could be is that it far back and a long crown that tapers straight to a barely-there in some sections of the existing barrier. “We aren’t out there looks like … a ringtail.” snout on a flat face with no brow. all the time,” he says. “They could slip across the border and Jaguarundi or no jaguarundi, the video’s comments section Seen in profile, the head appears streamlined, like an old be living in Arizona for a decade, and we wouldn’t necessarily is revealing. A number of posters have never heard of jaguarun- Pontiac hood ornament. It’s undersized for the jaguarundi’s hot spot,” according to the Sky Island Alliance, an environ- know it. On the other hand, I would think they would show dis, while for others, the notion of these cats in Arizona is no body, where already lithe contours are exaggerated by com- mental organization dedicated to preserving this complex of up sooner or later. But everyone loves the romantic notion that surprise at all. Someone says they spotted a jaguarundi near paratively stubby legs and a skinny tail that’s nearly as long as uplands, deserts and grasslands where “jaguar and black bear there may be this mysterious animal out there. Whether it’s a their cabin at the base of the Mogollon Rim, while another the rest of the animal. These odd proportions, combined with meet, where bromeliads grow in the arms of maple trees, and sasquatch or a jaguarundi.” writes, “I don’t know why you call them rare; they can be seen a sinuous movement while walking, have earned the jagua- spicy chiltepin pepper and sweet Arizona canyon grape grow up north in Arizona. I’m 46 years old, and I’ve seen them all rundi the nicknames “otter cat” and “weasel cat,” labels any side by side.” my life when I’m hunting [and] watch them in the daylight, self-respecting felid would disdain. Within the sky islands, there are 600 species of bees and families of them all around Northern Arizona.” Puma yagouaroundi, the cat’s scientific designation, contains nearly 500 vertebrate species, including, according to many Giordano says such reactions are just part of the mystery of a couple of hints about the jaguarundi’s biology. Puma refers sources, the jaguarundi. jaguarundis. While he was at Texas Tech University, Giordano to the fact that the jaguarundi is actually classified as part of But in an email correspondence, Lisa Haynes, coordinator of MY OWN SEARCH FOR THE JAGUARUNDI, more virtual says, graduate students would come to him with what seemed the same genus as mountain lions, not jaguars. And the Latin the University of Arizona’s Wild Cat Research and Conserva- than real, eventually leads to the unlikely convergence of to be credible observations of jaguarundis in very unlikely root und roughly translates as “wave,” an allusion to the jagua- tion Center, echoes Giordano’s skepticism about jaguarundis sasquatches and jaguarundis. Online, I find a grainy 2013 places. Jaguarundi sightings are “a thing,” he says, with ele- rundi’s distinctive body type and way of walking. in the state. “There have been hundreds, if not thousands of video shot by four surveillance cameras operated by the late ments of Bigfoot. But, of course, these cats are real. The jaguarundi’s odd proportions may be related to its unverified sightings … but not one verified documentation,” she Mitchell Waite, a researcher seeking to capture footage of “I’m constantly wanting to be in their heads. Trying to figure preferred thorn-scrub habitat, a transition zone of brushy and says. “With all the trapping that has been done over decades, Arizona’s own Bigfoot — the legendary Mogollon Monster. out what they’re doing,” he says. “There’s something definitely spiny plants between the desert and tropical forests. In this and now with the ubiquity of trail cameras in the landscape, Instead, one night Waite recorded what he concluded was strange about them. You’re looking at a jaguarundi and can’t densely packed tangle of vegetation — where the jaguarundi it’s highly unlikely that they are here with no evidence.” a jaguarundi. help but think, Yeah, it’s a cat, and very cat-like. But … other. Some- feeds on an assortment of rodents, small reptiles and birds — The record of unconfirmed jaguarundi sightings in Arizona While speaking by phone with Giordano, I send him the thing else.”

50 SEPTEMBER 2017 www.arizonahighways.com 51 scenic DRIVE

along with big, leafy oaks and assorted small evergreens. TRIPP CANYON ROAD Featuring views of the Gila Valley, the Santa If you’ve been too focused on the curves to notice the views of the Gila Teresa Mountains and the green ribbon of the Gila River, along with some Valley up to this point, don’t miss the one at Mile 22.6, as the road turns to the twists, climbs and drop-offs, this route will require your full attention. right. Along with the Santa Teresas to the BY NOAH AUSTIN / PHOTOGRAPHS BY JESSICA MORGAN northwest, you’ll see the Gila Mountains to the northeast and the green ribbon of the Gila River cutting across the valley’s floor. Finally, 25 miles from your starting point, you’ll reach this drive’s destina- tion: the Blue Jay Ridge Trailhead, which a wooden sign indicates is 1.5 miles from the 8,645-foot summit of West Peak. From here, Tripp Canyon Road becomes extremely steep and rough, so you’ll need to four-wheel-drive or hike to the top of the mountain. If you haven’t got four-wheel-drive or calories to spare, just get out, stretch your legs and enjoy the tall trees and cool mountain air. Then, pile back in and get ready for the return trip. Just make sure someone else is driving.

SCENIC DRIVES of Arizona’s Best Back 40 Roads ADDITIONAL READING: For more adventure, pick up a copy of our book Scenic Drives, which features 40 of the state’s most beautiful back roads. To order, visit www.shop Edited by Robert Stieve and Kelly Vaughn Kramer arizonahighways.com/books.

ome drives — the ones with in the small community of Pima. After a officially becomes Forest Road 286. Soon long, straight stretches of smooth couple of turns in town, you’ll head west, after, you’ll start to enjoy views, on the S asphalt — are good to do solo. On then southwest, on Tripp Canyon Road, right, of the canyon for which this road is TOUR GUIDE those routes, it’s easy to take in the scen- which begins on private property and is named. Oaks and junipers form a verdant Note: Mileages are approximate.

ery and keep an eye on what’s ahead. No quite rough for its first couple of miles. riparian area, a dramatic change from the LENGTH: 25 miles one way (from U.S. Route 70) twists and turns. No sheer drop-offs. Just But the ruts soon give way to a smooth, ocotillos and prickly pear cactuses seen DIRECTIONS: From Safford, go northwest on U.S. Route you and the road. wide road that parallels the northwest earlier in the drive. Around Mile 19, two 70 for 9.5 miles to the turnoff for Tripp Canyon Road. Turn left and continue 0.6 miles to a four-way stop. Turn Tripp Canyon Road isn’t one of those flank of the Pinaleño Mountains. Mount stately alligator junipers provide shade, left onto the unmarked road and continue 0.3 miles to drives. This is a trip you’ll want to make Graham (10,695 feet) is this range’s high- and here, the road begins to twist and Tripp Canyon Road (also unmarked, but look for a white with a friend or two, so you can take est (and Arizona’s 13th-highest) peak, but turn as it moves into a more heavily for- gate and fence). Turn right onto Tripp Canyon Road, which later becomes Forest Road 286, and continue turns driving. Because while this dirt you’re headed to the less-visited, but just ested area. Just 2 miles past the junipers, 24.1 miles to the Blue Jay Ridge Trailhead. road near Safford offers jaw-dropping as beautiful, west end of the mountains. after a significant jump in elevation, VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: The drive to the trailhead views of the Gila Valley and a quick tran- Farther west, you’ll see the Santa Teresa you’ll spot the first ponderosa pines, and requires a high-clearance vehicle; the remaining 1.5-mile stretch to the top of West Peak requires four-wheel- sition from hot desert to tall pines, it also Mountains, which, like the Pinaleños, are soon, you’ll see them everywhere — drive. requires the full attention of whomever’s part of the Coronado National Forest. WARNING: Back-road travel can be hazardous, so be behind the wheel. But, as you’ll see on The road begins to climb and gets aware of weather and road conditions. Carry plenty of this 25-mile jaunt, it’s worth it. rougher and narrower around Mile 14, ABOVE: Tripp Canyon Road offers expansive water. Don’t travel alone, and let someone know where views as it climbs into the Pinaleño Mountains. you are going and when you plan to return. Reset your trip odometer at the Tripp and a mile and a half later, you’ll cross OPPOSITE PAGE: Ponderosa pines tower over INFORMATION: Safford Ranger District, 928-428-4150 or Canyon Road turnoff from U.S. Route 70 into the national forest, where this route the road near the summit of West Peak. www.fs.usda.gov/coronado

52 SEPTEMBER 2017 MAP BY KEVIN KIBSEY www.arizonahighways.com 53 HIKE of the month

Gambel oaks, with some healthy alliga- ancient ruins of Pal- tor junipers mixed in. It’s an open forest atki and Honanki. SECRET MOUNTAIN TRAIL Unless you’re hiking at the Grand Canyon, with minimal ground cover. Continuing on, the The next 10 minutes are an easy walk trail veers northwest there aren’t many trails in Arizona with better views than this one. And the in the woods, followed by a slight drop and skirts the rim. into a small wash. Before long you’ll see Along the way, you’ll BY ROBERT STIEVE / PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOEL HAZELTON walk in the woods is especially nice, too. the remnants of an old homestead. Then, wind through several after crossing a small creek, you’ll come to “tunnels” of young a couple of water holes. The riparian area ponderosas and even- around them is enticing. Take a moment, tually drop down to and then continue downhill to the cabin. yet another gorgeous When you get there, you’ll understand overlook: Here, it’s why scofflaws would want to sink some Boynton Canyon. It’s roots in this secluded side canyon. “Idyl- beautiful, but maybe lic setting” isn’t hyperbole. Despite the even more impressive inclination to stick around, the trail is the view of Lost continues on. But the route isn’t easy to Mountain, which find. You have to look behind the cabin rises to an elevation to glimpse the cairns. of 6,583 feet. You’ll From there, the trail climbs a few hun- be eye-level with the dred yards to a short spur that leads to the mountain’s peak. edge of Loy Canyon. It’s a worthy diver- The rest of the sion — from the rim, the views extend route is a mix of rim views and forest all the names. Just enjoy the views to the all the way to Jerome. Back on the main ambling. The oaks get thicker, and you’ll south, and be glad you’re not a polyga- trail, you’ll see a patchwork of clustered see new growth in places where fires mist or a horse thief. ponderosas, about 10-12 feet tall. There have burned over time. You’ll also get are spruce, too. Although the route dips some great looks at the San Francisco ADDITIONAL READING: back into the woods at this point, you’re Peaks. Then, after more than 2 hours of For more hikes, pick up a copy never far from the rim. In fact, after about overall hiking, you’ll arrive at a rocky of Arizona Highways Hiking Guide, which features 52 of the 20 minutes in the woods, you’ll come to point that’s bounded by Long Canyon to state’s best trails — one for each another remarkable overlook. the south and Secret Canyon to the north. weekend of the year, sorted by seasons. To order a copy, visit This time, it’s Hart Well Canyon, Yes, more canyons. It’s the nature of this www.shoparizonahighways which slices southwest toward the trail. Don’t worry about remembering .com/books.

TOUR GUIDE Note: Mileages are approximate.

LENGTH: 10.6 miles round-trip DIFFICULTY: Moderate t’s not a big secret. Not anymore. But views along the trail are what stand out Loy Canyon to the west. These are the ELEVATION: 6,577 to 6,360 feet back in the 1870s, a Mormon family most. That is, if you can make it to the first of several canyons you’ll see from TRAILHEAD GPS: N 34˚58.779', W 111˚54.012' figured that Secret Mountain was the trailhead. the trail, and the best views are yet to DIRECTIONS: From the intersection of Milton Road and I Historic Route 66 in Flagstaff, go west on Route 66 for perfect place to live quietly ever after. Although the trail itself is relatively come. Meantime, the trail runs downhill, 1.9 miles to Forest Road 231 (Woody Mountain Road). “No one will ever find us up here,” the level, there are plenty of ups and downs past some adolescent ponderosas, to an Turn left onto FR 231 and continue 13.8 miles to Forest Road 538. Turn right onto FR 538 and continue 8.8 miles ambitious husband presumably said to on Forest Road 538. Even in dry weather, intersection with the Loy Canyon Trail, to an intersection with Forest Road 538H (the road to the his multiple wives as they were evad- the ruts can be a deterrent. Throw in which comes up from Sedona. Winter Cabin Trailhead). Veer left, continuing on FR 538, ing polygamy persecution. Later, the some monsoon rains, and they become Keep left at the intersection and make and drive 3.1 miles to the trailhead. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: A high-clearance vehicle is 20-by-12-foot cabin was used by horse murky moats just waiting to suck you in. the short climb to a plateau that marks required. thieves who would move their contra- However, if you use your head and a low the top of the mountain. The forest here DOGS ALLOWED: Yes (on a leash) band up present-day Loy Canyon Trail gear, you should be fine. is dominated by ponderosa pines and HORSES ALLOWED: Yes to the hideout, where they’d catch their From the secluded trailhead at the end USGS MAPS: Loy Butte, Wilson Mountain breath before selling the stolen horses of the road, the route immediately enters INFORMATION: Flagstaff Ranger District, 928-526-0866 farther north. Remnants of the cabin are the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilder- ABOVE: Long Canyon is one of many canyons that or www.fs.usda.gov/coconino can be seen from the trail. Travelers in Arizona can visit www.az511.gov or dial still standing; however, they’re not the ness and follows a steep ridge that runs OPPOSITE PAGE: Pines, oaks and grassy meadows 511 to get infor­ma­tion on road closures, construc­tion, highlight of this hike. The panoramic between Secret Canyon to the east and dominate the landscape on Secret Mountain. delays, weather and more.

54 SEPTEMBER 2017 MAP BY KEVIN KIBSEY www.arizonahighways.com 55 WHERE IS THIS?

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Life on the Range Photographs by Scott Baxter 7.75” x 7.75” Hardcover 40 pages #ASBR7 Regular price $14.99 Special offer $10.49 A PUBLICATION OF ARIZONA HIGHWAYS BOOK ENDS Our two new books are mirror images of each other. Well, except for the parts that are different.

MAGIC LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS JACK DYKINGA Where He Stands No, this isn’t the Eye of Sauron — it’s a geological oddity Magic Light that’s located in Northern Arizona and recently was featured Photographs by in Arizona Highways. It was awfully warm when it formed more Jack Dykinga 7.75” x 7.75” than half a million years ago, but now it’s a cool place to visit Hardcover with some friends. Or with a fellowship, even. 40 pages # A S R S 7 Regular price $14.99 Special offer $10.49 A PUBLICATION OF ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

July 2017 Answer & Winner To order, visit www.shoparizonahighways.com or call 800-543-5432 Win a collection of our also be sent to 2039 W. Lewis Entries must be postmarked Winsor Castle, Pipe • Pricing does not include shipping and handling charges. Use code P7J5NB when ordering. Offer expires 9/30/17. most popular books! Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009 by September 15, 2017. Only Spring National To enter, correctly identify (write “Where Is This?” on the winner will be notified. Monument. Con- the location pictured above the envelope). Please include The correct answer will be gratulations to our and email your answer to your name, address and posted in our November issue winner, Elaine Orr editor@arizonahighways phone number. One winner and online at www.­arizona of Calgary, Alberta, .com — type “Where Is This?” will be chosen in a random highways.com beginning Canada. in the subject line. Entries can drawing of qualified entries. October 15.

56 SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP RENZO CATALDO LEFT JEFF KIDA