Crystal Palace Saloon, Tombstone AZ

Pulled into Tombstone late, driving up from Bisbee, an old copper mining town near the border. It seems a lot of folks in this old Western town are "packing" (unconcealed) but they don't all feature in the famous gunfight at the OK Corral with Wyatt Earp! The characters in the saloons on Main Street are straight out of a western movie.

Grasslands near San Pedro River

In the land of the sky islands, we are at the overlap of four Eco-regions: southern edge of Rockies, northern edge of Sierra Madre, eastern edge of Sonoran Desert, and western edge of Chihuahuan Desert.

Cottonwood-willow forest canopy, San Pedro River

The San Pedro river flows north from Mexico and along its banks is a desert riparian forest, one of the rarest ecosystems and home to 350 species of birds. It's now protected by the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area covering 40 miles of riparian habitat.

Wild turkeys, Madera Canyon

A rafter of wild turkeys take full advantage of the free bird feed shared by a small lodge in the canyon.

Madera Canyon, Santa Rita mtns - Sky Island

Hiking and birding are the two primary activities where canyon and creek traverse four life zones. Rising from the desert to 9453' Mt Wrightson, the variety of climates within less than 10 miles is similar to that driving from Arizona to Canada. Over 250 bird species may be found, including an impressive list of hummingbirds and the elegant trogan. We hiked from Bog Springs campground up to several springs beneath the crags. I heard a juvenile Cooper's Hawk crying in the quiet riparian area around the first spring. We only saw two other hikers the entire day.

Mt Wrightson from Madera Canyon el. 9453'

Sabino Canyon, Tucson AZ

Eight-mile day hike into the Santa Catalina mountains. Massive boulders dislodged from the high canyon walls during a northern Mexico earthquake in 1887 coming to rest on the Sabino Creek below. The creek runs actively in springtime through the canyon and into the arid landscape dotted with Saguaro cactus.