One sunny day we hiked Mt Graham. Lots of mountains and elevation gain and tired bones at the end. But worth it! We climbed about 800 feet from clear trails to partially snow covered trails. At least it was warm out. It was beautiful from up high.

Mt. Graham

Snow by the creek

Yup, we're up there!

Increasing snow on the trail as we gained elevation

 

The following day we hiked up to a native cliff dwelling at the Tonto National Monument. It was a steep climb with many switchbacks.

Our motor home on the far right far below.

Native Tonto Apache cliff dwellings

After a few more cold and rainy days we lucked out and had one nice day at Chiricahua National Monument. We hiked Echo Canyon where it was very steep but the rocks were gorgeous. When we got to the bottom we came to a raging creek. Denny wanted to turn around and go back up but I wanted to continue the loop. So, I crossed the creek by using my poles and walking across a log. This made Denny so nervous that he didn't even snap a picture. It was tense. Denny found a different way across by climbing down a 4 foot boulder (which I could never have done with my short legs!) and crossing on widely spaced rocks. Whew!

Yes, there was some snow on the trails but the sun made us take our jackets off.

Monkey rock?

Walrus or bird?

Brick shit house😂

Organ pipes rock formation

Big rocks!

We've been high for days!

Back at our campsite, the Cattlerest Saloon and RV park, the following day it rained all day and we had 70 mile per hour gusts with sustained winds of up to 40. What a day! The small out building in front of us blew down. We pulled in our slides and hunkered down. The next morning it had settled down and the Roadrunners and Gambles quail were back out.

Roadrunner

Gambel's quail

After a visit to Tombstone in the rain, wind and cold, we decided we had had enough of this bad weather and are headed toward Texas where hopefully we will find some sun and warmth!

 

 This is very late for the first blog of the year. Our first 2 weeks were spent driving and trying to stay warm. We had snow 40 miles from the Mexican border in New Mexico!

Our first planned stop was an RV show in Quartzite AZ. That turned out to be no more than a very dusty flea market so we moved on to California. We spent 4 days in Palm Springs with my sister Fran and Trevor visiting Joshua Tree, Anza- Borrego Desert, where we saw the beginning of the wildflower bloom, and Palm Springs.

Cholla Garden in Joshua Tree

Oasis at Borrego Springs

Anza-Borrego wildflower bloom.

Then when Fran left we headed to LA to visit Trevor for a couple of days. We visited the Hollywood reservoir, Echo Park and saw the Hollywood sign frm several vantage points, ate some great Mexican food, visited an awesome Frank Lloyd Wright house and visited Trevor's cute little apartment and lush complex that he lives in.

Next we moved back into Arizona where we met up with old friends Merry and John from Anchorage and hiked and camped with them for a week. We were also able to meet up with another college friend, Larry.

Merry and I took a sunset trail ride into the mountains.

This mutant Saguaro was named The Michelin Man.

We hiked up from that road!

Larry, Janet, John and Merry

Merry and John left all too soon and we continued on our journey into Arizon. Unfortunately, the weather turned cold and rainy and we spent a lot of time bundled up and /or in the motor home.