Fall NM and AZ Trip

Here are a few photos from our 2-week southwestern New Mexico and southeastern AZ trip.  We visited the Mt. Graham area in east central AZ then the Silver City area of NM before heading to the Chiricahua Mountains in far southeast corner of AZ.  From there we went to the Las Cienegas grasslands area before completing the trip at Patagonia Lake near the border at Nogales.

 

 

The young deer were racing around the forest...

 

The sunsets at Las Cienegas were amazing

 

Chiricahua Mountains AZ

 

 

The campsites at City of Rocks State Park NM were tucked back into the rocks.

Monument Valley

Day 1 of our summer trip.  With the border still closed we plan to basically repeat the trip we took last year.  The route will take use through eastern Utah to Flaming Gorge then into Montana north of Yellowstone.  From there we will go west to Big Sky and then over to the Bitterroot valley south of Missoula before heading back home.

 

Sunset...

Sunrise...

Trip Log:

Day 1 (335 miles) – July 7, 2021 – To Monument Valley

 

Day 2 (106 miles) – July 8, 2021 – To Devels Canyon Campground, Blanding UT

Madera Canyon

With the southern Arizona temperatures cooling off a little we decided to visit Madera Canyon which is in the Santa Rita mountains.  Madera Canyon is located about halfway between Tucson and the border.  The canyon is an internationally renowned birding location, so it was a perfect place for Valerie to spend a few days and there is some great hiking in the nearby Mt Wrightson wilderness area so Dean was happy.  There is a small 13 site campground in Madera Canyon, and we were luck to get one of the three sites that will accommodate larger rigs.  The surrounding forest land and state trust land is also available for boondocking.

  Lots of Coues Deer in the Area

 

 

Also... lots of Wild Turkey

 

The hike to the Carrie Nation Mine was a challenge but it was interesting to see a 1915 copper mine.  Would have loved to seen the inside but the water was fairly deep and who knows what is inside an old mine.

The remains of an old steam engine used at the 1915 mine site. Note sure how they managed to get the boiler to the site as even today there are no roads for miles.

Trip Summary

 

After getting out of the mountains south of McCall ID we made a direct beeline for home as the temperatures were in the upper 90’s and low 100’s.  The route took us from Boise ID, to Twin Falls ID, Salt Lake UT, Jacob Lake AZ, and finally home.  We were lucky to time our drive through Salt Lake City for a Saturday, so we had less traffic but still lots of construction.  The road through Salt Lake is in a perpetual state of construction and has been for decades. 

A few status from the trip:
Miles driven: 3207
Days on the road: 27
Nights in RV parks: 0
Nights in state/city/province/territory parks: 23
Nights boondocking: 3
Lowest gas price: $2.09/gal (Riverton, WY)
Highest gas price: $2.75/gal (Hamilton, MT)
Gallons of fuel used:  352.5
Average miles/gal: 9.1
Cost per mile: $0.26

  Spotted this beautiful fox in Cascade ID

 Cedar Waxwing found near Sula MT

 

 

 

 

 

 Bridge across the Lochsa River west of Lolo MT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip Log:

Day 24 (315 miles) – Aug. 1, 2020 – To UT State Lake, Provo UT

 Day 25 (310 miles) – Aug. 2, 2020 – To Jacob Lake AZ

Day 26 (208 miles) – Aug. 3, 2020 – To Happy Jack AZ

Day 27 (140 miles) – Aug. 4, 2020 – To Home