Pinery Canyon Road, Apache Pass and a starry night in the Chiricahuas

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A squirrel is today’s breakfast entertainment. He climbs into the birdseed tray that sits beside one of Sunglow Cafe’s windows. After filling up on birdseed, his cheeks bulge and his neck appears to have a goiter. The squirrel scampers off to unload the seed stash at his secret hideaway then comes back to the feeder with cheeks empty and ready to re-load. The Acorn Woodpeckers have seen enough, they dive and peck at the squirrel, driving him away.

Sunglow Ranch provides another hearty breakfast. Eggs, cheese and bacon stuffed into a large croissant, fried potatoes, toast with orange marmalade, juice and coffee should sustain us on our drive across the mountains.

This time, as we drive the road to Chiricahua Monument , we turn right before the guardhouse and begin our travels on Pinery Canyon Rd. At first, it is a wide, gravel and dirt road that passes by ranches, meadows and hillsides. Monsoons have fostered wildflowers that bloom red and yellow. A creek gurgles beside us.

The road narrows as it climbs into mountainous Coronado National Forest. We roll down the windows. The 10mph pace allows us to hear the wind in the trees and the trilling of the creek as water tumbles over rocks.

Trees line the way with an occasional view of a desert valley beyond mountain ridges. Curves in the road reveal water roaring down a hill, a waterfall formed from monsoon run-off. We ford a stream at a low point in the road. Although rough at times, the drive is not dangerous the way the ranger alarmists would have us believe.

Towards the top, we take the turn-off to Rustler Park. The three-mile drive takes us into a forest of tall pine trees. A “Beware, This is Bear Country” sign is posted to a tree. We see a flock of wild turkey instead.

The road ends at the campground. Where is the view Alan and I had been expecting? Driving back down the road, we park and walk up a small hill. There’s our view. We can see for miles into New Mexico.

On the other side of the mountain, we leave the trees behind and enter high desert country—less trees, more grasslands and lots of cactus. The road takes us to Portal, Arizona. Rock formations appear again in the Cave Creek area.

We cross the New Mexico state line. Originally, we had intended to turn South at Highway 80 and travel to Douglas, AZ before returning to Sunglow Ranch. But, we are running out of time and want to spend the late afternoon at the ranch. So, we drive North on 80, making a loop via I-10. At Bowie, AZ, we exit to drive to Ft. Bowie, an abandoned fort in Apache Pass.

Arriving at the fort, we discover that there is not enough time to take the 1 ½-mile walk to the crumbling adobe ruins. This is such an isolated place. It’s hard to imagine what life must have been like for the soldiers who lived here.

Back at the ranch, we sit on our patio waiting for the playing deer to make their appearance. Tonight they are “no shows.”

Since we skipped lunch, we are ready for our dinner of salad, steak and sautéed cabbage topped with roasted sweet potato slices. Chocolate cake and coffee make a tasty end to our day.

After dinner, we walk out into the grass behind our casita. The black sky sparkles with trillions of stars. The Milky Way makes a wide sweep over our heads. No wonder astronomers bring their telescopes to Sunglow!

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