Still raining.  Stopped once, overnight; the silence woke me up.  The locals are enjoying the reprieve from the relentless sun. 

Headed off in the rain to find the Nature Conservancy’s Ramsey Canyon Preserve.  It turns out, talking to a nervous forestry guy later, that we were very close.  Despite terrible pamphlet directions, no local signage (as opposed to the local B&B), and no GPS co-ordinates, we got within one deep arroyo crossing before we turned around. (the arroyos are running, what with all the rain…)  It was a great drive up into the canyon; the White Oak still have leaves.  Also on the plus side, the clouds were breaking up to the south, and there was some sunshine in the rain.

Next up was San Pedro House, where the volunteer association centred the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.  Half of the known breeding birds in the U.S. have been spotted here.  The house is an old ranch house, now with a wide selection of local guide books and souvenirs.  As you might expect, desert riparian forests are both rare and valuable. Four eco-regions overlap here - the southern edge of the Rockies, the northern edge of the Sierra Madre, the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert, and the western edge of the Chihuahuan Desert.  Fremont Cottonwoods and Goodding Willow habitat provide shady, moist habitat in the middle of the desert.  13,000 years ago, Clovis Point Cultures were hunting Mammoths here.  The Apaches repelled nearly 400 years of European invasion of the area, until rich mineral deposits brought the US Calvary to “pacify” the area.

Nancy and Kirk headed off to hike a 2+ mile hiking trail loop along the river.  With the aid of a complementary walking stick, a mid-way bench, and a bench down by the river, I made the .2 mile trail to the river and back in about the same time as Nancy and Kirk.

Check the lower left side of the trunk base

Cane cholla

San Pedro River

New birds today included: Ground Doves, Pyrrhuloxia, Black Throated Sparrow, Gila Woodpecker, House Finch, and White Winged Dove.  Something has been eating the Prickley Pear Cactus around the campgrounds, the smell of which makes Kirkly very, very cautious, especially in the dark.  We think Javelinas