Ramsey Canyon

April 15, 2007

Photos by Jim, Dennis and Marion

We enjoyed a very early morning wander up Ramsey Canyon with Jim, Jacki, Jodi, Colleen and Marc on the most perfect of Arizona April Sundays. The trail begins at the Nature Conservancy visitor center (which opens at 8:00 in the morning and charges $5.00 per person).

There was still plenty of water in the canyon, providing habitat for a nice variety of butterflies and birds (including a scarlet tanager and reported sightings of the elusive elegant trogon).

Most exciting for us was seeing dozens of deer. Stare quietly at any sun-dappled pile of leaves and sooner or later you'd see a pair of velvety ears.

One long-legged lovely actually walked toward the camera, intrigued by camera shutter, which makes a noise like a cat coughing up a hairball.

Dennis and I had lunch and turned back at the ruins of the Hamburg Mine.

While we were sipping cappucino on a sunny porch in Patagonia, the rest of the group continued up Pat Scott Canyon Trail and the Huachuca Crest, completing a 10.4-mile loop.

Jim reports that "the canyon seemed to get better as we climbed higher and the trail was pretty good. There was a lot of UDA trash on the upper ridge, but that's the way it is now along the border."