Beautiful Day Hike

Sun-drenched visit to Southeast Arizona was very enjoyable.  832 miles driven and 78 miles hiked over eight days.  The highlight was visiting so many mountains ranges - what they call "Islands in the Sky".  These pop up out of the desert and each one is different and as you go up in elevation the flora changes from desert to forest.  The ranges that I visited were: Tucson Mountains Santa Rita Mountains Santa Catalina Mountains Rincon Mountains Whetstone Mountains Dragoon Mountains Pinaleno Mountains Gila Mountains Black Hills San Francisco Mountains Greasewood Mountains Chiricahua Mountains Sunrise and sunset are also spectacular in Arizona when there's a little cloud cover.  This was sunset near Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains. My next visit I intend to explore some more segments of the Arizona Trail.  Out of the 800 miles of the trail, I've only hiked about 4 so far!

View of Chiricahua Mountains with National Monument in foreground. Near Willcox, AZ. 

Chiricahua National Monument. Echo Canyon Loop. Near Willcox, AZ. 

Near Safford, AZ. 

Apache NF, near Clifton AZ.  

Apache-Sitgreaves NF, near Clifton, AZ.

Black Hills Scenic Byway. Between Safford and Clifton, AZ. 

Desert walk near Safford, AZ. 

From bottom, at Angle Orchard, to Veach Ridge.  Coronado NF, near Safford, AZ.

Dragoon Mtns. Coronado NF, near Willcox, AZ.

Whetstone Mtns. Coronado NF, near Benson, AZ. Access from Kartchner Caverns State Park.

Eastern district. Douglas Springs trail and TH. Near Tucson, AZ. 

Needed snowshoes!  Stopped short of saddle. Santa Catalina Mountains, Coronado NF.

Mt Wrightson Wilderness Area, Coronado National Forest. Near Green Valley, AZ. 

Great, large park just outside city of Tucson, AZ. Explorer trail from Sarasota TH to Cat Mountain.