Ramsey Canyon

Today we took a short, but rather tough hike up Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca (wha-choo-ka) Mountains of Southeastern Arizona. Most of the trail is part of the Ramsey Canyon Preserve and owned by The Nature Conservancy. It starts at the visitor center at 5500' and follows Ramsey Creek for 1/2 mile. Then the next 1/2 mile climbs steeply uphill, ending at an overlook at 6200'.


Here is Ron walking by the gorgeous white-barked Arizona Sycamores that line the creek.




From the late 1880's to the late 1920's the canyon was home to almost 100 settlers. Now the cabins they left are home to creatures of the woods.












I was surprised to see a forest with hardwood trees and pines that also contained agave plants like you would see in a more desert-like setting.














This is a blooming manzanita, which has dark red bark. You could say, we saw flora . . .







and fauna. This is a Coues white-tailed deer.




After puffing up the last 1/2 mile, we were rewarded with a view of Ramsey Canyon with the town of Sierra Vista in the background.



Finally we could relax at the top. It's all downhill from here. You have to click on this one to blow it up and get the full effect.