May Wasn’t Very Eventful

It started to get a little too warm to go hiking at Picacho Peak, so most of the month of May was pretty uneventful for us. We tested out a few more restaurants in Casa Grande, created a web site for the RV Resort, had the family over for Mother’s Day, and spent a lot of afternoons in the pool. The big news for May was that we decided not to keep our stuff in public storage any longer. We laughed as we remembered the “maybe box” from 7 years ago when we moved out here. Except for the 2 ATVs (which now live at my brother’s house) and a box of Christmas decorations, we once again cleared everything out of that box. Gee you would think we would learn: if it goes into the maybe box, we might as well toss it. We never seem to keep anything that goes in there. If you have the inclination to do some housecleaning, I recommend the “maybe box” technique.

Welcome Back to Cottonwood

June 7, 2000

With the weather down in Casa Grande reaching 110°, we decided it was time to head for the hills again. Since we really like the Turquoise Triangle RV Park in Cottonwood, and the town is so centrally located near all the places we want to visit, we are back in exactly the same site as last year. It’s just as shady as before and we like it! There is a distinct advantage to having a house on wheels! When the weather stinks where you are, go someplace where it doesn’t. It was kind of fun coming back here. We got a big hug from the park owners when we arrived and even the people in the grocery store remember us. About the only changes to the town are a few more houses, a new restaurant and they are building a new Osco drug store. It is neat to move to a town that we don’t have to learn about from scratch.

Red Rock State Park

June 10, 2000

I want to go hiking at least three times a week while we are up here this year, so we checked out Red Rock State Park first thing Monday morning. This is a very pretty park about three miles off highway 89A near Sedona. There are about five miles of hiking trails inside the park, a couple trails go right alongside Oak Creek, and a couple climb 200 to 300 feet up onto ridges. The park was originally owned by Jack (then founder and president of TWA Airlines) and Helen Frye who fell in love with the area back in the 1940s. They built a huge rock house with the help of Hopi and Apache Indians, but divorced before they ever moved in. The State Park Board bought the property in 1986 and they opened the park to the public in 1991. The park is dedicated to to environmental education, as you can see by their schedule. Twice weekly they take visitors on a bird watching hike, they have a daily guided nature walk, moonlight hikes on full moon nights, astronomy festivals, monthly guest speakers, daily special naturalist programs, and self guided nature walks. The exhibits in the Visitor center are excellent for plant and animal identification, and they have a theatre where they show several nature videos ranging from Archaeology to Zoology. Outside the Visitor center they have a bird feeding patio where they have hummingbird feeders and seed. Visitors can watch the birds without disturbing them by standing inside behind one way glass. We will do the bird watching hike on Wednesday and one of the ridge trails on Friday. There are numerous picnic areas, and best of all, because this is at a higher elevation, and there is a creek, it is a riparian area which means lots of trees. This is a very pretty park, and I think that we will make several trips to enjoy it. Here is a panorama taken from the highest point in the park.

There are several trails: Eagle’s Nest goes to the highest point in the park, Smoke Trail goes alongside Oak Creek, Kisva Trail goes on the other side of the creek, Apache Fire goes up to the house, Coyote Ridge connects Eagle’s Nest and Apache Fire, then there are a couple ridge loops, Javelina and Yavapai, and the last one is a real short one called Rattlesnake Ridge. You can also “rent” pamphlets from the Visitor Center for a quarter. They are are self-guided nature walks. The pamphlets have information that corresponds to markers along the trails and give you a lot of information about native plants and trees. These are very good walks too! Hikes in this park are amazing. Every time we go, we see something new-and we go at least twice a week. Sometimes it’s new birds to add to the list of those we can identify by sight, sometimes it is plants, and sometimes it is animals. Last time we were there we saw bobcat tracks. Today we watched a deer come within 10 feet of us as it followed a trail down to the creek.

The park is open from 8 AM to 6 PM in the summer and 8-5 in the winter. The entrance fee is $5.00 per vehicle, no pets are allowed, and there is no camping in the park. Our rating:

Woodchute Wilderness

June 12, 2000

Mingus Mountain is the most prominent peak visible from most of Cottonwood. If you follow highway 89A from Cottonwood through Jerome and toward Prescott, about 20 minutes from Cottonwood, you reach the Mingus Mountain Recreation Area at about 7000 feet. Across from there is a National Forest campground called Potato Patch and an entry into the Woodchute Wilderness area. (Interesting fact: it is called Woodchute because at one time there was a chute used to transport timbers from the forest down to the mines at Jerome.) The entire area is a pine forest and since it is so high up, the temperature is a lot cooler than even in Cottonwood. Some time in the next few weeks, we will probably pack up the tent and camping stuff and stay overnight at Potato Patch. Then we’ll hike the Woodchute Trail and check out the Mingus Rec Area. For all you Phoenicians, we will update you as soon as we can. It might be a great place to visit to cool down!

Red Rock Crossing Recreation Area

June 10, 2000

After our hike in the state park this morning, we left the park and drove up a dirt road to the Red Rock Crossing Recreation Area. It is a day use area with a trail that follows the creek to one of Sedona’s Psychic Energy Vortexes. At the vortex end of the trail, there are piles of rocks known as Prayer Rocks. People stack them, say their prayers and then leave them, presumably hoping that will help get the prayers answered. We tried not to disturb any of the piles while we were there. After 15 minutes of waiting, we felt no psychic energy vibes and it was hot so we left. It costs $5.00 to get into the park, they have picnic areas, and somewhere along the creek is a swimming area. We never did figure out for sure where that spot was, but all along the creek there are places to sit on rocks, or cross the creek, or wade in the water. It looks like a good place to take my nephews when they come to visit. Here are some pictures taken along the trail. When we left, we took a different route (our minivan really really hates dirt roads) and found a paved road that went back out to the highway. Much better! Our rating:

Slide Rock State Park

June 18, 2000

We hear about this park every year on the TV news. It is a very popular cooling off place, so we decided to see what the big deal is. All we knew was that Oak Creek runs over some rocks that are moss-covered, providing a “slide”. Most of the time is doesn’t make news headlines unless the bacteria counts in the water get a little too high. We drove up early on a Sunday morning and checked out the place. As usual, it costs $5.00 to drive in and they have picnic areas. There is no camping here, and your pets are not allowed down to the swimming area. All in all, we were not too impressed with the slide, and since our visit, we have driven past it several times and each time, there are lots and lots of cars going in. You really should take a look at the pictures though, because it looks like a fun place for kids. Our rating: