UNSOLVED DIAMOND MYSTERIES TALES FROM METEOR CRATER arizonahighways.com NOVEMBER 2003 autumn’s vivid colors inin aa HideawayHideaway CanyonCanyon The Dangerous Ride to peace with cochise State Borders hooooo? the lines Owls ofof thethe DesertDesert that define us NOVEMBER 2003 COVER PORTFOLIO 6 24 Arizona’s Borders A Paradise of Trees page 50 The map contours that evolved out of historical events Ash Creek in the Galiuro Mountains bursts forth with a helped to shape the state’s culture, politics and identity. show of leafy fall color. 55 GENE PERRET’S WIT STOP If we humans had to identify ourselves the way javelinas 34 BIRDS 14 ADVENTURE do — by smell — our social lives would, well, stink. Night Stalkers, Diamond Mysteries 44 HUMOR Night Talkers From Meteor Crater 2 LETTERS AND E-MAIL Owls of the Sonoran Desert are masters of the darkness, A lonely, taciturn prospector’s hardscrabble hunt for communicating in their unique bird language and gems in the late 1800s led to his death — leaving some 46 DESTINATION teaching humans about nature. of his caches probably still hidden. Flandrau Science Center Lovers of stargazing and earth sciences can’t avoid having fun and learning while visiting the center on TRAVEL 18 the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. Perilous Journey to Peace 3 TAKING THE OFF-RAMP Modern-day riders retrace the route of two soldiers who Explore Arizona oddities, attractions and pleasures. risked death when they ventured into the Dragoon Mountains to parley with Cochise. 54 EXPERIENCE ARIZONA Enjoy the unusual music of bagpipes at a Celtic festival ARCHAEOLOGY in Tucson; discover the many uses of gourds at Phoenix’s 40 Desert Botanical Garden; tour fine old homes in Warren, Perry Mesa Indian Ruins adjacent to Bisbee; and view the age-old Mexican images of El Nacimiento in Tucson. Now national treasures, the isolated sites north of Phoenix reveal the tough, warlike existence of ancient 49 ALONG THE WAY native people. In the hot urban climate of Phoenix, wild lovebirds are becoming a regular sight. 50 BACK ROAD ADVENTURE Patagonia to Sonoita A 60-mile roundabout trip through the San Rafael Valley and Canelo Hills has a variety of historical surprises and scenic rewards. 56 HIKE OF THE MONTH [THIS PAGE] An isolated juniper South Fork— stands in relief before a vivid sunset in Hurricane Valley Little Colorado on the Shivwits Plateau in the River state’s extreme northwestern Grand Canyon Hikers get to choose the National Park corner. easy or hard route on [FRONT COVER] The Colorado River Canyon Diablo Meteor courses through the rugged this White Mountain Crater landscape of the Imperial trek near Mexican Agua Fria National South Fork of the National Wildlife Refuge along Monument Perry Little Colorado River Hay Lake. Mesa S Arizona’s western border with O N California. See story, page 6. O Galiuro R PHOENIX [BACK COVER] In the Chiricahua AN Mountains D Ash Creek Mountains, fallen maple leaves ES ERT TUCSON Dragoon brighten a moss- and lichen- POINTS OF Mountains covered boulder. INTEREST Patagonia Middlemarch ALL BY MICHAEL COLLIER FEATURED IN Mountains THIS ISSUE San Rafael Pass Valley and e-mail takingthe NOVEMBER 2003 VOL. 79, NO. 11 Publisher WIN HOLDEN Arizona oddities, attractions and pleasures Editor ROBERT J. EARLY Senior Editor BETH DEVENY off-ramp Managing Editor RANDY SUMMERLIN Research Editor MARY PRATT Editorial Administrator CONNIE BOCH Administrative Assistant NIKKI KIMBEL River Adventure also see his left ear and his well-defined nose. the canyon, located THIS MONTH IN Director of Photography PETER ENSENBERGER It’s Chile Season Peter Aleshire’s story, “Colorado River Assault,” My husband also noticed the formation. I Photography Editor RICHARD MAACK northeast of Tucson, ARIZONA (June ’03) was one of the most touching articles I wonder how many other readers did likewise. Art Director MARY WINKELMAN VELGOS Porter’s Wednesday s the winter months have read. He not only lets you become part of his PAT WAllIS, Cave Creek Deputy Art Director BARBARA GLYNN DENNEY morning Nature Walks approach, things heat up for Deputy Art Director BILLIE JO BISHOP adventure, but also part of his family. The love for I am amazed, as I have said before, by the things run October through chile lovers everywhere, The land Art Assistant PAULY HELLER 1873 Map Designer KEVIN KIBSEY A patent for the his sons is so clear and strong. readers see in our landscape photos. We have the April. For two hours, and for those connoisseurs of spicy city of Phoenix I have been fighting a heart condition for the most observant — and the best — readers in the Arizona Highways Books those following him get cuisine, there’s no better time of is filed at the last five years, and Peter has stirred my courage to world, and this poor old editor is grateful. WitWorks® Books a broad view of the year. In the Southwest especially, Florence Land Editor BOB ALBANO Office. Cost of stay strong so I can show my own 2-year-old son Associate Editor EVELYN HOWELL canyon, from desert to the scent of roasting chiles is one the 320-acre this soul-touching place one day. Humor or Not Associate Editor PK PERKIN MCMAHON tree-shaded paths, to of winter’s great aromas. For townsite is $550. LISA PASQUALINO, Verona, PA I was very disappointed in the June 2003 jokes. Production Director CINDY MACKEY single-file climbs along humans only, apparently. Production Coordinator KIM ENSENBERGER There was no humor at all. Promotions Art Director RONDA JOHNSON high rock walls. Porter Scientists Joshua Tewksbury, “Colorado River Assault” brought back wonderful CAROL H. KENNEDY, Allyn, WA Webmaster VICKY SNOW brings with him a from the University of Washington, The first brick memories. In April 1970, my geologist husband, Marketing Director diverse wealth of and Gary Nabhan, from Northern 1878 building in PATRICIA POWERS-ZERMEÑO Earl, and I (along with numerous other geologists) I enjoy the articles such as “Gene Perret’s Wit information on the Arizona University’s Center for Phoenix nears completion. rafted the river from Lee’s Ferry to Temple Bar for Stop,” “Humor,” “Off-ramp,” and of course, all the Circulation Director HOLLY CARNAHAN plant life Sustainable Finance Director ROBERT M. STEELE 10 days. I have traveled many places since then, photographic work. PETER NOEBELS and the Environments, but that trip was absolutely the high point of all. GLADYS NIchOLS, Gilles Plains Fulfillment Director VALERIE J. BECKETT A visitor jumps across rocks in the cool waters of wildlife, discovered that Sabino Creek near Tucson. In Arizona, there I loved every minute of it. South Australia, Australia Information Technology Manager with some chiles rely on birds 1885 are 87 public MARGUERITE LOVEJOY, El Paso, TX As Dorothy Parker once observed, the lives of humor CINDY BORMANIS history, botany and to germinate and school buildings, 150 writers are fraught with peril, for no matter what they FOR CUSTOMER INQUIRIES Tucson recollections disperse their OR TO ORDER BY PHONE: Following the schools and Here We Go Again write, someone can always say, “That ain’t funny.” Call toll-free: (800) 543-5432 thrown in for good seeds. Nabhan and an attendance I wanted to call your attention to the centerfold In the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., Leader measure. Tewksbury’s of 3,226. The Call (602) 712-2000 number of picture in the June 2003 issue. If you look closely Cowboy Poet and Philosopher Or visit us online at: ob Porter would have to A former professor research further children not at the rock formation in the center of page 29, it Thank you for the article on our favorite arizonahighways.com look over his shoulder of Latin, Porter taught showed that birds attending school exceeds For Corporate or Trade Sales: appears to be a dog lying down. His eye is defined storyteller, Baxter Black (June ’03). Anyone who to see 80 again, but he at Princeton and Yale, exclusively 4,000. Sales Manager HELEN THOMPSON CONNER B by some of the growth on the rock, and you can has been exposed to Baxter is captivated, Call (602) 712-2050 has the surefootedness of an counting among his NATIVE SEEDS consumed wild entranced — and addicted. He doesn’t just write experienced trail horse. For 15 students one George W. Bush. chiles, while mammals avoided E-MAIL “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR”: U.S. Postal Service and recite, he dramatizes. He may be talking with [email protected] years, his well-placed steps have Today, those who join him can them — a fact that the scientific Phoenix kicks STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION 1887 his head between his knees while he personifies a Regular Mail: led visitors down, up and over reach their own lofty heights team concluded was due to the off its first Title of Publication: Arizona Highways Publisher: Win Holden horse-drawn Publication No.: ISSN 0004-1521 Editor: Robert J. Early calf being born — from the calf’s point of view. Or Editor the pathways of Sabino Canyon within the rugged beauty of an effect of the capsaicin, the Date of Filing: July 28, 2003 Managing Editor: Randy Summerlin; 2039 W. Lewis Ave. streetcar line address below rocking on his back on the floor as he relates the Phoenix, AZ 85009 in the Coronado National Forest. Arizona canyon. substance that gives peppers their along a 2-mile Frequency of issues: Monthly stretch of Number of issues published annually: Twelve Complete mailing address hilarious tale of a lady neighbor who raises and Among the free guided tours of Information: (520) 749-8700. heat. of known office of publication: Governor Janet Napolitano Washington 2039 W.