Patagonia, Arizona, that is, in particular Patagonia State Park.

Still reading: Dominguez-Escalante Journal

 

September 24th & 25th

It’s time for me to relax and camp by myself for a day. So from Tombstone I drive to Patagonia State Park in southern Arizona, not far at all from the border at Nogales. The town of Patagonia itself is an interesting and rather pretty place with much greenery. To learn more, look here. And for pictures look here.

I arrive in the late morning and find a campsite. I have to pay for a full hookup to get the campsite I want, an isolated one near the lake, but it’s worth it:

If you look hard, to the right, you can catch a glimpse of the lake.

 

More views of my campsite…

…that evening…

…and the next morning…

 

A few views of the campground, from my campsite, as the sun comes up.

 

I’m nearly alone here. The nearest neighbors are way over there…

…and in the morning light I take a picture of my silhouette:

I’m starting to take a real interest in photography.

 

Here’s a view from my campsite, towards the east, taken that evening…

…and towards the west, taken the next morning:

Again, you get a glimpse of the lake down below.  I promise you I’m taking you there soon.

 

But first here’s a view of the evening sky, to the west…

Desert sunsets are terrific…

…as are the sunrises:

 

Now, at last, down to the lake, and to my new swimming hole:

 

Swimming is allowed at most points on the lake.

 

The view across the lake in the morning…

…and here’s my swimming hole again. I swim a lot while I’m here.

 

Patagonia Park is rich in wildlife and is of particular interest to bird watchers. The trail you see here in the background is a nature trail leading to the far eastern end of the lake and is designed for birding. The cactus we see here is called a barrel cactus or a fish hook cactus. I’ve seen one before, at Dirk’s place. In this picture it looks as though another plant is growing out of the top…

…but this picture gives you a better idea…

…and this picture, taken at Dirk’s place, shows some of the spines that look like fish hooks, hence the name fish hook cactus:

 

If you follow the birdwatcher’s trail for a ways, you see a lot of plants typical in the region:

When I first arrive here, I take a long hike along the birdwatching trail and then through the rest of the campground area.  I don’t take any pictures, though, as the sun is directly over head.

Closer to my campsite, and in the morning, I find a lot of  interesting photo opportunities, such as this cholla…

…and these berries…

…though I have no idea what they’re called…

 

I find a few flowers too…

…and some wild morning glories:

There are a lot of morning glories in the area and I take a lot of photos, but most of my photos don’t look very good. I experiment with the zoom a lot and I have a lot to learn.

I’m happy at this campsite and at this campground, and I figure it’s worthwhile to pay for a full hookup even though I can’t really use it with Van. When the sun goes down I can plug in the computer and work through the evening without fear of running down the battery too much, right? I’ll get all caught up with the blog, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong! As soon as I try to turn on the computer hordes of inects descend upon both me and the screen.  And I do mean hordes.  By eight o’clock in the evening I give up and go to bed. The sun goes down early here, which is a good thing in this heat, but eight o’clock is early to go to bed. I don’t mind going to bed so early, but I do mind waking up so early, like 4 a.m. I can read in Van, but in this environment, even there, my light attracts a lot of bugs.

Otherwise, I’d like to stay here for another day or two. But Van has an appoimtent to be serviced, so I must be on my way after just one day.  The next stop is Tucson.