Tortilla Flat, McDonald Trail-head, Cedar Flat Road, Tonto Natural Bridge, Camp Verde, Arizona

Tortilla Flat is a funky little town East of Phoenix past Apache Junction.  It has an ice cream parlor, bar/restaurant, and a souvenir store at the end of Canyon Lake. 

A small row of businesses in Tortilla Flat, see the guy hanging?

A view of  Canyon Lake.

Canyon Lake is one of four reservoirs that were formed by the damming of the Salt River.  The lake was formed by the Mormon Flat Dam, completed in 1925.

Along the drive out to Tortilla Flats are the Superstition Mountains.

Deck wanted a picture of the cactus that attacked him last year, they are known to jump onto unsuspecting hikers, from experience he knows they do!

Every turn offers a different view.

This is a hiking trail head and the pictures that follow are from that hike.

A view from the trail looking over the valley.

Our destination the caves along the rocky ridge.

As we got closer to the caves it was very steep.

The terrain was rough and uneven.

Glad I have good hiking boots.

Cedar Flat is a two track  OHV  road 10.8 miles point-to-point located near Camp Verde in the Coconino National Forest.   After hiking the McDonald trail we were ready to take a drive.

There are so many views all around you every where you go.

There is a drop off on the left side of the road.

This was an entry to a ranch that we thought looked pretty cool.

About an hour from Camp Verde is the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  The drive was up to 7,100 feet, another mountain range that still had snow on the ground in places with large pine trees.  We descended into the park at about 4,100 feet.

A 300 foot trail with uneven steps.

As you can tell there were a a lot of uneven steps.

Water was dripping off the rocks on the trail from a small waterfall.

Tucked away in the valley surrounded by a forest of pine trees, Tonto Natural Bridge has been in the making for thousands of years. It is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. The bridge stands 183 feet high over a 400-foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point.

This view is above the bridge .

A little closer view.

We hiked to the bottom and there were caves.

At the bottom there wasn't a trail just big rocks to crawl over.

Were back on top of the bridge looking at the other side.

The opening from the other side.

February and March in Arizona

It almost never rains in Arizona, we seem to bring out the beastly weather where ever we travel.

Tucson is where the rodeo was held, the rain stopped after we arrived and didn't start again until the rodeo was over.

Ride em cowboy!

This cowboy won on Saturday, the finals were on Sunday.

It was fun watching theses  guys ride horses.

This would give me a headache for sure.

The horses were wild but bulls, it was crazy.

An 8 second ride of your life, 

Some fun and games too!  It's a relay race riding horses after you twirled around a few times.

There was barrel racing, calf roping, 5 year old kids riding sheep, and some other stuff that went on also. 
Jack Daniels' was a sponsor, some drinking and good eating.



The black pins represent the National Parks, we still have a lot to see.  The red string was our year long travels and the blue is this year since January 2020.  That is 2,200 miles from Michigan to Sierra Vista, AZ.

Some Arizona altitude facts.

Sierra Vista's elevation is 3,041 feet and it's 76 miles north to Tucson.

Tucson's elevation  is 2,389 feet and it's 113 miles Northwest to Phoenix at 1,086 feet above sea level. 

From Phoenix to Camp Verde is another 90 miles at an altitude of 3,041 feet.  Heading north into Camp Verde there is a 6 % grade descending for 7 miles into the valley.  Not sure how we descend from 1086 feet into a valley at 3,041, there were some sharp curves and engine breaking going on for miles.

Taking a short cut from Sierra Vista to Tubac to buy some pottery,  It was a beautiful drive.

The road on the left dropped off into a canyon, much more dramatic in real life.

Another hike in the Coronado National Memorial Park, with our camping neighbors Scott and Linda.  We started at the top and are descending for 3.1 miles.  I'm leaning so I don't fall off the trail, it's a long way down.

It was a great hike, very happy we hiked down and not up.

Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Coronado National Memorial, Arizona

Coronado National Memorial commemorates and interprets the Coronado expedition and the cultural conflict and exchange between the indigenous peoples and Spaniards during the 1500's. The area offers panoramic views of the US-Mexico border and San Pedro River Valley.

At 6,575 feet, Montezuma Pass has sweeping views of the San Pedro River Valley to the east and San Rafael Valley to the west.  

 

To get to Coronado Cave there is an uphill half mile walk to the entrance.   This is a self guided cave adventure, the entrance and cave are unimproved.  

The rangers recommend two light sources for each hiker and plenty of water. 

Going down yikes!

I bought these headlamps for the grand kids, they came in handy.

  

We're at the start of our cave adventure, after you climb over the big rocks at the cave entrance you look back to the last bit of natural light.

Our lights really didn't shine that far.

First in and last out of the cave.

BISBEE

Our visit to Bisbee started at the peace wall

 The streets were very narrow and loaded with Gallery, Small shops and restaurants. Lots of history and stories.

Living on top of the world!!

A quirky little town close to the border of Mexico. Home of the Queens Silver Mine.   Lots of friendly local shop owners along with  great restaurants, entertainment and shopping.  

New Mexico, then Sierra Vista Arizona

New Mexico is very flat, the perfect place for wind turbines.

We stayed in Elephant Butte for a couple days along the Rio Grande River.  They call it a lake through this area and although it was the off season this is the boating place.

Were staying the month of February at Vista View Resort in Sierra Vista, Arizona.  It's a larger city with all the amenities of home, actually more than we have at home in Au Gres.  

We loved this area last year near Tombstone, Tubac, and Tucson and decided to return.  

These are the views from around the resort.  There are houses and some motor home sites available to rent by the month or season.

Whether your looking East, West, North or South mountains are off in the distance.