Miko and Me: Down Into The Ground (The Ants Go Marching)

I left Tucson and headed east to Kartchner Cavern State Park. I had to back into my site and the job got done but I sure do need more practice. Kartchner is in the southeastern part of Arizona. It doesn't seem as rocky, there is actually knee high dry grass here which is more to my liking. The big draw here is …..drumroll.....the Kartchner Caverns. I did take a Cavern Tour and I have to say, it was probably one of the best caves I've been in. It wasn't all that large, but there were tons of formations. They were interesting to see, but I really liked the part of the talk about the bats. The type of bats that live in these Caverns are small bats. Two hundred of them can fit in a one foot square. Our tour guide was excellent also which really makes a difference. Normally, they have 15-20 people on the tour. Nowadays, they only have six people which makes a huge amount of difference in how the tour goes. Think of it, moving six people down the road goes a lot quicker than 20 people so you have more time to hear the ranger talk. Also, with the smaller group, you have more personal time with the ranger and it is easier to ask questions.

Miko and I hiked the Foothill Trail while we were at Katchner. Pleasant trail, not too strenuous. I brought along a bottle of water for Miko and me to share. I only brought one bottle because the trail was only a couple of miles and only rated moderate. I figured piece of cake. Well, what I didn't take into account was the fact that we were doing this right around noon. You know that time of day when the sun decides to look for things to fry. We weren't that far from the end of the trail, but I went into more of a survival mode. “Ok, Miko – this water has to last us. You can have one swallow. I will take one swallow. We can make it. No – you can't have more water, we have to make it last. “ Seriously, it wasn't that bad, but it is entertaining to play little games with yourself and your dog.

I now know what type of hiker I am. The first third of the hike I'm “oh man, I could be sleeping in, this is too far, why did I bother”. The second third I'm “oh wow, this is so cool, I could hike forever – look at everything I'm seeing.” The last third is “Are we there yet?”

The Camground

Jogger is moving in more and more.

Haven't had a sunset for a while

There is a place called Whitewater Draw Wildlife Management Area. It is the place where thousands and thousands of Sandhill Cranes winter between December and March. There are some early arrivals, perhaps several thousand of the birds there now. I decided that I was going to spend the night there, they have a little cul-de-sac where campers can park along the edge. It is sort of like circling the wagons around the porta-potties which are conveniently located in the center of the cul-de-sac. I wasn't expecting a lot of campers, it is still early in Crane Season, but I got the last possible spot there. I lucked out. As you turn onto the road into the area, there are a couple of poles on each side of the drive. I cut the corner too short and almost hit the side of the camper. I had to back up (into the main road) and try to make a run at it again. This nice guy jumps out of his car to spot for me and I see his t-shirt says 7^th St Entry. Any Twin Citian knows that that is the basement venue of infamous First Avenue, gig space for anybody that is anybody. I yell at him “First Avenue” and we had a small bonding moment.

As I said, there are several thousand cranes wintering there now. They spend the night and leave around sunrise to go get breakfast. They come back around four in the afternoon to spend the night. The cranes tend to come and go en masse. They are also very chatty creatures. I actually got up early in the morning to watch them take off. The vocalization keeps increasing in volume and then a large group will take off. It is like they are doing a traditional long Minnesotan goodbye. Somebody, off in the distance, was shooting off a gun. Every time there was a shot, the cranes instantly became silent for a couple of seconds in unison. I have never seen anything like that.