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Saturday,
5th May, sunny
On the plane to Phoenix, Arizona
Accommodation: Best Western Apache Junction
On Saturday, 5th May, we boarded a plane from Düsseldorf via Atlanta, Georgia,
to Phoenix in Arizona where we arrived in the early evening, local time. We
picked up our rental car, a Jeep Liberty, and drove approximately an hour to
Apache Junction where we had booked the
Best Western Apache
Junction Inn
($62 + Tax AAA Rate, nice breakfast area with
do-it-yourself waffles).
Sunday, 6th May, sunny,
28
°C
Apache Trail - Saguaro NP West
Accommodation: Comfort Suites Sabino Canyon, Tucson
Miles driven: 255
We were up early, left at 7:20
a.m. 10 minutes later we arrived at the ghost town Goldfield,
then we took on the 48 miles long unpaved Apache Trail to
Lake Roosevelt.
We had a prickly pear
ice-cream at Tortilla Flat and the prickly pear cactuses
along the road had pretty yellow flowers. From Globe we took
the scenic route via Miami and
Superior (Scenic Route)
to Florence.
We visited the Casa Grande
Ruins and it was still early enough to see the western part
of the Saguaro National Park which I had already visited
with my aunt and uncle in 1991, but I didn’t remember much
from that time.
This
time the giant Saguaro cacti were in bloom. We did the
Desert
Discovery Trail, drove the Bajada Loop Drive and hiked the short Valley View Overlook
trail and up to the petroglyphs on Signal Hill.
Watched the sunset from Gates
Pass.
We checked into the
Comfort Suites Sabino Canyon
hotel in the eastern part of Tucson for three nights ($79 AAA Rate per night for a
large room with kitchenette, nice inner courtyard, good
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Monday, 7th May, a.m.
partly cloudy, p.m. cloudy,
31
°C
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - Saguaro NP East
Accommodation: Comfort Suites, Tucson
Miles driven: 79
Next day we visited the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
($12
each), which is mostly a zoo. After spending 5 hours here
we drove to the eastern section of the Saguaro National Park (1 hour across town).
We did the Loop Drive and hiked the Loma Verde Loop (~4 miles in
under 2 hours). The cacti in the western part of the Saguaro NP are more
impressive, but the eastern part offers more options for hiking. Unfortunately
the sky was grey this afternoon, so there was no chance of a nice sunset. Went
back to the hotel for their happy hour.
Tuesday,
8th May, a.m. sunny, p.m. cloudy,
31 °C
Pima Air & Space Museum - Catalina Highway
Accommodation: Comfort Suites, Tucson
Miles driven: 120
This morning we went to see the
Pima Air & Space Museum ($10,75
with AAA discount)
where among others the aircraft of John F. Kennedy is displayed.
We spent a bit more than an hour. Afterwards we went to find the
Tanque Verde Falls in the eastern part of Tucson but they were dry at that time
of year.
In the afternoon we drove up the Catalina Highway, 26 miles to
Mount Lemmon high above Tucson. It was almost snowing at the top! Back down in
Tucson we did a tram tour ($5)
in Sabino Canyon. Quite hot in the sun down here, fire danger was
"high". Saw a rattlesnake crossing the road at one of the tram stops! Met with
two folks from the USA travel community at Appelbee’s for dinner.
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Wednesday,
9th May, sunny,
30 °C
San Xavier Mission - Madera Canyon - Tombstone - Bisbee
Accommodation: Larian Motel, Tombstone
Miles driven: 171
Our first stop today was at San Xavier Mission, then we drove to Madera
Canyon where we hiked the Natural Trail as a 2.7 miles loop. This is a bird
watcher's paradise. We even saw a few hummingbirds. From the road we saw
a few deer. Via unpaved Box Canyon Road we reached Tombstone, just in
time for the re-enacted gunfight of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday at the
OK Corral at 2 p.m. ($7,50). We checked into the
Larian Motel just across the road from the historic centre ($69 + tax, not bad).
Being in Tombstone is like being
in a Wild West movie.
In the late afternoon we drove to Bisbee, an old mining
town before returning to Tombstone for the night. For dinner we went to The
Depot Steak House, then for a drink with live music in Big Nose Kate
Saloon.
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Thursday,
10th May, sunny, 29 °C
Chiricahua NM - Steins Ghost Town
Accommodation: Holiday Inn, Deming
Miles driven: 213This morning we got on the road at 6:45 a.m. Via
unpaved roads to Gleeson, Elfrieda and Rucker we reached Chiricahua
National Monument after 68 miles at 8:15 a.m. We parked at Echo Canyon
Trailhead and hiked Echo Canyon, then via Sarah Deming Trail up to the
Heart of Rocks. A beautiful Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake crossed our trail!
We learnt later that it's not poisonous. Via Big Balanced Rock Trail and Mushroom Rock Trail we were
back at our car after 5 hours (15
km).
Here
is a description of the Echo Canyon Trail and Heart of Rocks Trail. We left the
park at 2:30 p.m.
Via Apache Pass to Fort Bowie we reached the
interstate I-10 and after a short stop at the ghost
town Steins we reached Deming at 5 p.m. (6 p.m.New Mexico time). We got
a room at the
Holiday
Inn ($60+Tax).
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Alkali
Flat Trail across the white gypsum dunes into the Heart of the Sands.
Unfortunately it was rather cloudy and we had to wait for the sun to return. At
least we hardly had any wind which can be a pain at this time of year in the
dunes. With some rain in the distance we got rewarded with a beautiful rainbow.
We stayed until sunset at 7:45 p.m. before we returned to Alamogordo. We didn't
happen to see any of the Stealth Fighters that can sometimes be seen in this
area. Occasionally the park gets closed for missile tests. Details can be found
