2001-06-03 - Today was a very pleasant day, got up for a late breakfast but was still out on the road before 1100. First stop was Saguaro National Park East which is probably less than fifteen miles from the house. The park is attractive and there are certainly sufficient Saguaros to keep one occupied. It is about two weeks too early for them to be in full bloom but they are close. I do not think there are as many Saguaros here in Tucson's parks as in Organ Pipe National Park has but I wouldn't want to have to count them.

Saguaro East is attractive but too much of the backdrop to the park are several residential areas extending all the way to the mountains to the north. I know nothing can be done but I suspect I just prefer the wilderness. I took the time to hike one of the trails and wander amidst the flora and I suspect more fauna that I could see. I would think that the closeness of the housing might scare off some species.

Many of the other cactuses are in bloom and are very attractive. The yucca is just about finished as are the Century plants.

I watched the introductory film which was interesting but had nothing about the Paleo-Indians or Anasazi Indians of the area. I drove next to Saguaro West and was very pleasantly surprised that the film went into great depth about the early Indians.

There are petroglyphs within the park and I drove to the back trail to look at them. There are large signs to look out for rattlesnakes, and they didn't have to tell me twice. I scampered up a few rocks until I heard very distinctly heard a rattle. I looked around but couldn't see anything but I backed out very carefully. I wasn't wearing boots or long pants and my skin is not that great as protection. I still did take some interesting photos so I felt I was successful.

Some of the petroglyphs were far more sophisticated than those found at Petrified Forest. I have a book which I already sent home that goes into much greater detail and that I hope will explain the differences and just degree of sophistication is found in what regions. There is always so much to learn and so little time to learn it in. I have been required to learn so much inn such a short period of time that at times I have problems remembering it all, could this be senility?

From there I intended to drive to Tumacacori National Historical Park which is located close to Nogales on the Mexican border. However I saw the signs for Saint Xavier del Bac Mission and the white towers of the church and stopped there first. It is quite impressive and is still in use as the church for the San Xavier Apaches on whose reservation the church sits. The mission was started in the 17^th Century. It is of classic mission design and stands out dramatically on the desert just off the Interstate.

There is a hill adjacent to the mission that has a cave dedicated to Mary and I think a burial plot or two for members of the mission. I doubt they were priests as members of the clergy were typically buried within the church itself. There appear to be a convent or at least a novitiate attached to the mission as I believe I saw novices being chaperoned by a nun as they walked through the church over to an outside chapel for prayers.

All the novices seemed to be Hispanic or Indian which is not too surprising given the region. I would think that for many family pressure was more important avocation as it is in many other areas of the world but regardless they do great work in education and nursing and fill a void that otherwise would be empty. I remember vividly the work that is performed by the Little Sisters of the Poor and how happy they were in doing the work with the aged and abandoned in Korea and where ever else they are in the world. There should be more people who are so caring.

The church is well taken care of and I was impressed with simplistic design of the interior and ornamentation. All to frequently the church is overwhelmed with decoration which I think is distracting. The church is sufficiently ornate that the Apache of that time were in awe of the structure and were able to assimilate the two cultures with little difficulty. I know that at least in the beginning the priests were thought almost to be gods.

After doing my duty as a photographer I headed further south to Tumacacori and the park. The park service has done a yeoman job is preserving the church building which is largely built of unfired adobe brick. Built between 1800 and 1822, it was preceded by another church in 1751 but the mission actually started in 1691.

I was impressed with the remains of the church, considering what was available it was quite the undertaking. The church was far less presuming than San Xavier but I do not think it made much difference for the Indians. Structures this size had never been seen before and the myths of the Spaniards helped to develop this. It wasn't until the Indians knew that priests and the military could be killed did any idea of rebellion was started. When it did start however, it was the end of the mission era and of the lives of both clergy and military. It only took about an hour to get back to Tucson and the traffic was light.

2001-06-04 - Took off early for Coronado National Monument directly on the Mexican border and just south of Sierra Vista and Ft Huachuca southeast of Tucson. It is an easy drive, a little over an hour and most of these were four-lane roads. Coronado was the Spanish explorer who was first to find the Grand Canyon during his investigation of the "Golden Cities" talked about by the Indians. Of course the cities were never found. Coronado did lead one of his expeditions over the pass in what is now the national monument. According to the written reports, he had a hundred horsemen, 1100 Indians and 1500 head of livestock with him. I drove to the top of the pass, it was quite an achievement for them.

Coronado made several more expeditions but none of them were successful in finding the "Golden Cities." He did however find him accused of abusing his office and took years to clear is name.

The area is all Sonoran Desert, somewhat bleak but not as desolate as the area around Petrified Forest. However it is also much hotter, somewhat like being in a blast furnace. Humidity ranges from 5 to 7% and the lack of moisture can be difficult for some people to handle.

2001-06-05 - I left Tucson at 0800 and arrived at Chiricahua National Park at 1000. The ranger I talked to started her career at Petrified Forest so we had some things to joke about. The Chiricahua Mountains are geologically recent, about 27 million years ago. Volcanic eruptions from nearby Turkey Creel Volcano created almost a 2000 foot thick layer of rhyolite. Erosion carved the rock, filled with vertical and horizontal cracks, into the rock formations as seen today.

Many of the rock formations have acquired whimsical names over the years while while sometimes the meanings do not seem to relate to any of the formations that can be seen from the trail, most are immediately recognizable.

Interestingly, much of the mammals and birds in addition to the flora, has migrated north from Mexico making it more like the Mexican Sierra Madres than of the Sonoran Desert. The southern edge of the park is only fifty miles away from the border.

I only walked one of the trails, about six miles and my legs were complaining over that. Chiricahua is another park that one can stay at for several days to hike all 20 miles of trails and take pictures of all that is noteworthy. Just walking in a forest was a very pleasant change after all the hiking I have done in the last three months where there was no or very little vegetation. I felt guilty not staying longer but I have a schedule to keep like being in Socorro on the 6^th. There is quite a bit I did not get to see.

While most of the mammals are what one would expect, many of the birds are from Mexico or further south. Parrots and Macaws are found in abundance. Coatamundi are plentiful as are many of the species of birds. I saw several buzzards flying that I did not recognize, I suspect they are escapees from Mexico as well.

The Chiricahua Apache used to roam in this area and was one of the last tribes to be subdued and bringing the Indian Wars to an end. Geromino had a long history of departing from the reservation and either going south to raise Cain in Mexico or raid local ranchers. It wasn't until such time as Apache Scouts from other tribes were hired by the U S Military were the Chiricahua tracked down and persuaded to surrender. Many of the Chiricahua Indians were departed east for safekeeping with many winding up at Fort Sill Oklahoma.

Chiricahua was made a national park in 1924 with most of the park to remain as a wilderness area. I tried to reach here on the way out but the route was blocked by snow.

From there it was just a short drive to Fort Bowie ruins. This was interesting as the parking lot is about two miles from the attractions and visitor's center requiring one to hike back on an interesting trail. Fort Bowie supported the Butterfield Overland Mail between St. Louis and San Francisco and one can see parts of the trail and the ruins of the Apache Pass Stage Station still. The civil war ceased the operation of the stage in 1861.

The line had a great record, it was late only once during its career and given the terrain it operated in, that is remarkable. Our postal system should be so regular.

The hike goes by Apache Springs which was always a point of contention between the whites and the Apaches. False accusations by the whites against Cochise, leader of the Chiricahua, led to more than ten years of war between the two races. It also lead to the first altercation with the Apache using then modern artillery for which the Apache had no defense. The Bascom affair taught the Apache that to stand in fight was not a viable method of warfare and they general stayed with guerilla tactics through the wars. The Apache were well in tune with the environment and masters of camouflage. Their raiding "stealing property" and warfare "killing opponents" were both a test of skill and bravery in addition to attempting to gain the tactical advantage and perhaps persuading the military to give up.

General George Crook of Civil War and San Carlos Reservation fame, led the first of the wars against the Apache followed by General Nelson Miles who actually brought peace to the West when Geromino surrendered in 1886.

There is an exceptional museum at the visitor's center filled with articles from the fort's history. The fort operated actually two periods, initially during the Civil War and then again during the Civil War. The fort was abandoned finally in October 1894. Only ruins remain now, the walls have been stabilized by coating them with a modern adobe making them look ghost-like as they stick starkly up in the air.

There are bear and mountain lions in the area in addition to smaller mammals that are usually found in Mexico. It is a bird watcher's delight. Coatamundi are in the area as well and they are characters when they want to play around. They love to show off.

There are still many artifacts in the area and searching for them is strictly forbidden. No metal detectors are allowed.

The visitor's center was manned by a volunteer who retired from the Corps of Engineers as a wildlife biologist and who was very knowledgeable about the area. This was his first experience as a volunteer and we had a great time talking about our experiences. There are only two rangers and just he as the only volunteer and they work well as a team. He does everything they do except park paperwork and get paid.

From there it was off to Bowie on the Interstate, interstate as far as Lordsburg, New Mexico and then up to Silver City of Billy the Kid fame. I crossed the Continental Divide, changed time zones to Rocky Mountain daylight-saving time so I am only two hours behind the East Coast.

2001-06-06 - I am at Socorro or rather just north at a very nice county park. I am the only RV there so it is quiet and peaceful.

The drive from Silver City to Gila Cliffs is only 44 miles but it takes more than two hours. It is twisty, narrow and steep hills and at times one would think you would meet the tail end of Tiny coming around the corners. I left Silver City at 0600 and arrived at the park just before 0830. My neck and back are sore from fighting the steering wheel the entire time.

There were deer to be seen everywhere, one had to be most careful when rounding corners as they frequently were small bands of deer eating grass along the side of the road. These appeared to be mule deer, they certainly were not white tails, and some seen could have been female elks.

That area is a national forest and the state does not maintain the roads within the forest. One could tell the difference. The biggest was there there no lane markings and I was fearful about coming around a blind corner and finding someone on my side of the road. That could ruin one's entire day. This almost happened twice with one pickup truck pulling a horse trailer caused me to slam on the brakes. There wasn't anyplace to pull off the road, just trees without any shoulder. When I reached the intersection with Route 35 I saw a sign that RVs were not recommended to use the forest road but rather should make about a fifty mile detour. I wish I had seen that sign earlier.

It was worth it however, and the Gila Cliff Dwellings are quite interesting and fits into the overall pattern of the Anasazi of the northern regions and where they might have migrated to and who they displaced when the drought hit. While it is known that most of these regional groups were accepted into the Hopi and Zuni nations it still is not known when and why.

It appears that perhaps the Anasazi moved toward the Southeast thus displacing the Mogollons who apparently moved further south. The Gila cliff dwellings seem more to be a fortress to retreat to rather than permanent living quarters. There is little evidence of farming nearby but there is a creek at the foot of the cliff that runs all year providing water for the people. There seems to be an indication that these people lived in pit houses on the mesa for ease in farming and only used the dwellings to hide.

There were Paleo-Indians in the area as early as 11,000 BC, hunters and gathers who made baskets but had not mastered pottery. Some 600 years later pottery was started but it was crude and unfinished. Eventually however the pottery evolved to be a characteristic black on white intricately designed in standardized patterns. I have seen some of the pottery shards that were found at Petrified Forest; it is very beautiful. I photographed a few pieces of it and will enclose when I do the CD of this trip.

I suspect the pottery is an entirely new area of study for me and while it will be easier than bird watching and identification, I will have my problems. I will just have to look at it as a challenge to be endured. I am fairly sure that it is not as difficult as identifying birds and plants; I make a mess of the identifications as hard as I try. In still have difficulty in telling a pine and a juniper apart.

I didn't find out until later there is considerable stone art, mostly petroglyphs, in the area, there are pictograms in the dwellings - I didn't see them - and there is a great collection on one of the trails. It was strange that more publicity is not afforded to this. It is not mentioned in the park brochure. By the time I found out I was almost on top of the mountain and I sure wasn't going to return.

I was talking to the superintendent about volunteers in general. He offered me a place to stay on right then. They are hurting for volunteers. It was tempting but I think it is best to head home for a while. For right now I would like to think about either further north or further west so I can see more of the parks and do more volksmarches. There are few volksmarches in this area and I have visited almost all the parks in Arizona and New Mexico. Many of the volksmarches in Arizona are in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe regions.

The drive to Socorro was uneventful but hot. Once I hooked up and put up the awning I had it for the day and did little but clean up the RV and read. It felt good just to do nothing and Tiny really didn't cool off until after the sun went down. It is amazing just how much dust and dirt can accumulate in just one day. If one is a clean freak it could drive you crazy. While I dislike the taste of dust just as much as anybody, sometimes it is just not worth cleaning every twenty minutes. I can experience why the age span of the Indians was so short, they chewed so much dust their teeth wore out early.

2001-06-07 - I thought the park would be quiet and it was except when the freight trains went through. Their horn blowing was not appreciated. It got cool this morning, it was in the high 40's which made getting up a little later than usual. It felt so sinful just to stay wrapped in the quilts. I even had my first cup of coffee while in bed. Oh, the wages of sin.

Clint, my brother, showed up and we went to downtown Socorro for breakfast and ate while we decided where to go sightseeing. We decided to visit the Salinas Pueblo Missions which would be a triple header as there are there three sites to visit and each has its own park stamp. Gran Quivira is probably the best know and the largest, Quaria which I think is the most attractive and Abo which was at one time the largest and the most populated.

All of these pueblos are somewhat unique as in every case the Mexican priests built mission churches in close proximity to these villages and attempted to convert to Christianity the "heathen" Indians. From what I have seen they enslaved the Indians and encouraged them to merge the two beliefs together. Yet the priests introduced new technology, animals and food that improved the living conditions for the Indians, even if this was self serving. Unfortunately the power play between the "Cross and Crown" had the Indians in the center.

All of these are about 100 miles away so it didn't take that long to get there. Gran Quivira is the site that has been restored the most and the site of the pueblo contains some 240 rooms. Gran Quivira was constructed from a gray colored sandstone that nicely splintered into flat and mostly square shapes when hammered on of the quarry. As with most other pueblos, these rooms were used primarily for protection from the elements with most of life spent in the central courtyard or piazza in which frequently was the kiva or holy place for religious celebrations.

Las Humanos Pueblo first had the convento built, a place for study for Indians and clergy, and then built the church of Mission San Buenaventure. Not too surprisingly there are indications that a kiva was built in the courtyard of the church. This may seem a strange adaptation yet probably assisted in the conversions. I have read that most of the conversions made during the mission stage were not of a permanent nature anyway once the Indians learned more.

One tidbit that I acquired today is that the kiva is actually a descendant to the original pit house of the Paleo-Indians, semi-buried, with a cover or it and of course was the forerunner of the hogan that is still used by the Navajo of today.

The mission was started in the late 1600 century. Mission San Buenaventure is a massive church and must have totally overwhelming to the Mogollon - pronounced - "Muggy-own" - Indians that lived in the area. The church and village was abandoned in the late 17^th Century, largely due to the strive between the clergy and the government with the Indians in the middle. Even the Inquisition was involved against the government if the government became too insistent about taxes and other revenue for Spain. I suspect a good portion of the discontent is the government felt the Indians owed their allegiance to the King, the clergy felt the allegiance was to God and I would suspect that finances became a part of this as well.

The second stop was at Quaria some thirty miles north. The mission church and the surrounding pueblos were built from red rock and were quite striking. The mission was in much better state of restoration than that of Gran Quivira, although in both instances the restoration was obvious but not obtrusive. Called Neustra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de la Chica, the mission church was built on an abandoned section of the pueblo. Built in the shape of a cross, the foundations are seven feet deep and six feet wide. It took five years for the construction that enclosed a space 40 feet high and 100 feet long. When a government official complained about the magnificence of the mission, he was brought before the Inquisition which found that such was required and essential to aid in the conversion of the Indians.

The pueblos have not been restored significantly and were still mostly covered with soil and debris. Due to financial constraints, excavation is not foreseen in the near future.

There is a permanent water supply available at Quaria, something not available at Gran Quivira. There are indications that the water supply at Gran Quivira dried up forcing the residents to move north forcing the early abandonment of San Buenaventure. I believe the concept of the missions was to create estancias, ranches and farms, that would allow self sufficiency and of course provide income for Cross and Crown. Without the water this was impossible so the emphasis was moved to Quaria and Abo.

The mission is larger than Gran Quivira but it appears the pueblos were smaller. The mission is construction includes a transept allowing side altars, something not included in the design of Gran Quivira. It was supposed to be the most sophisticated and elegant mission in the area and compared favorably with the mission built in California, Texas and even Old Mexico.

From there and on the way home we stopped at Abo which is another mission - pueblo site. Again much restoration has been accomplished and it was not as noticeable as the two previous sites. The pueblo is the least restored of the three however. There is or was a reliable water source in the wash behind the complex.

The rock of the area was ideally suited for this type of construction and there was an adequate of clay and water to make the mortar. The wood for the rafters came from the mountains to the north, the iron axes were a vast improvement to the stone axes used for centuries by the Indians. The style of construction was very similar to that of the Indian Pueblos while the dimensions were greater, conceptually there was little difference and the Indians had little in the line of skills to learn except perhaps the skills required to lift the large rafters into place. Women and children did most of the construction of the walls while the men did much of the woodwork for doors and windows.

I would liked to stay longer to explore further but a thunderstorm was threatening and being out in the open is not advisable. We did have a hail storm that rattled windows followed by a sharp rain storm. It wouldn't have been fun to get caught in that.

Abo is a major pass the Santa Fe Railroad has been using for a hundred years for trains heading east-west etc. It is also the location of US Route 60 which was a main east-west highway prior to the construction of US Route 66. The town of Mountainaire still shows signs of this tourist traffic. The store fronts are as they were fifty years ago.

Abo was also the site of a Civil War battle with the Confederate troops attempting to stop the flow of gold from California from reaching the Union troops. The battles were non-conclusive and had little impact on the war itself.

We stopped off for a quick snack in the pass itself and watched trains go back and forth. The scenery was very attractive and the food good. It was a pleasant place to stop.

From there it was back to the camp ground and time to relax. We had talked about going out for dinner and they were to call me on my cell phone. Unfortunately the only phone number they had was the phone number I had at Petrified Forest. To my surprise they showed up with grill and food and we had a cook out right there. It was a little breezy but better than the high heat of earlier.

I called it quits earlier than usual but became wrapped up in a book. Just before dark some young chap rolled in and it was obvious he had never put up a tent before. I admit it was a poorly designed tent but it only took a few minutes to stake it down and then put up the frame. I was amused by this to put it mildly.

2001-06-08 - Up early for breakfast, took Tiny over to be repaired and did a little driving around looking at Socorro. There is a reconstructed mission church in town that is still in service; it had been destroyed during the pueblo revolt three hundred years earlier. I enjoy the very simplistic design found in most missions, I think the very elaborate Spanish style found in the earlier churches in central Mexico smack of the obstreperousness of the era as well as perhaps the influence the Inquisition had on those who may have had minor flaws in their character.

I didn't do much except work on Tiny and the computer and wound up at Clint's for dinner. I did enjoy watching the baby goats, kids, get bottle fed and then the way they play in the pasture area. They follow people around like they are puppies. They have had their horns removed as otherwise they could make life most interesting.

Dinner that night consisted of barbecued goat and braised brisket of beef that was excellent. I ate too much as usual.

2001-06-09 - Clint had set up a tour of the Very Large Array antenna farm of the National Radio Astronomy Organization operated by his firm for the National Science Foundation. Used for pure science only, despite the movie "Contact" starring Jodie Foster and written by Carl Sagan, the mission is to determine more about space, its mapping, and the composition of some of the other galaxies and beyond. It does nothing for Department of Defense and nothing is classified. It is not involved in determining if there is intelligent life on other planets in this galaxy or in any other.

As this uneducated old man can determine, in optical telescopes the definition or how small an object can be examined and at what distance measured in light years is limited by the diameter of lens, I think the largest lens is some 200 inches across. To obtain greater definition one has to increase this size or get closer and perhaps avoid any distortion such as accomplished by the Hubble telescope currently now in space.

The lens are very difficult to build, they are very heavy and again difficult to move and construct housing for. Optical telescopes can only be operated at night, are impacted upon by atmospheric conditions and light pollution from large cities in addition to airborne pollution all have negative impact on operation as well as well. They also are extremely costly to make.

Radio telescopes however operate during all conditions except when the wind velocity makes the antennas shake too much. Using multiple antennas to receive a large number of radio band widths and by moving the antennas apart synthesizes a very large diameter lens thus increasing the definition. In theory there is no limit to the diameter of the lens synthesized in this manner, there are already plans to create such antennas in space, there are in service arrays that reach around the globe.

These antennas are 25 meters in diameter, weigh about 48 tons but are transportable. I had the opportunity to climb up into one of the disks in the maintenance building which was being calibrated, the accuracy required of the skin of the dish is 1 millimeter which is thinner than the coat of paint that protects it. It will be a bear when it comes time to repaint it, it cannot be done with a roller brush for sure.

There are almost fifty miles of railroad track within the antenna farm and the weird looking transporter to the left is used to shift these antennas. It is not a thing of beauty and it took a while for me to figure out how it operated which is clever. Rather than having a turntable rotate, the transporter jacks itself up and rotates the trucks - wheels - to change direction. This can be a tricky operation and the safety constraints are stringent. I wouldn't want to be responsible for a move and have an antenna fall over.

There are 27 antennas at the farm, they can be stretched out into a "Y" that is 35 kilometers long on the base and 15 kilometers long for each arm. Each antenna contains an array of receivers capable of gathering radio signals in a large spectrum of radio wave propagation that is funneled to the computer room where each of the signals from each of the antennas are correlated or combined, digitized and then sent to the headquarters in Socorro for further processing. I do not pretend to understand all the operations but I understand the theory - I think. While I know that all antennas are used simultaneously I do not know if they are tweaked to where each covers a certain section of the "target" and then the signals arranged as a montage. These combined signals then can be used to create "maps" of an area and these pictures are fantastic with vivid colors representing the individual bandwidths. I know my brother will criticize my verbiage but I believe that various elements emit certain band width signals so that the composition of a certain target can be determined.

I did notice that much of the electronics is very old technology by today's standards and data collection techniques being used date back to the Jurassic period of computerization. I haven't seen wave guide technology in use for twenty years or so, fiber optics simply dominates that arena.

Some of the equipment is virtual impossible to repair as no one makes the parts or supplies anymore. Funding has been recently received from the National Science Foundation to replace some of this equipment and to allow transmission of this data via fiber optics rather than by then by wave guide.

As can be seen even the security systems are somewhat antiquated by today's standards, while I know that I cam being scrutinized very carefully by this speedy little critter that has adapted himself to this environment by growing his own antennas, he is a little too far down the food chain to be fully effective as an attack dog.

As can been seen, the Ol' Prospector can adapt to new technology; he may not have the slightest clue regarding what is taking place around him but he can go to sleep along side it providing he can use the shade, the antennas provide plenty of that but they always are rotating ever so slightly to adjust for the rotation of the Earth and it is so bothersome to have to move.

I will be leaving Socorro tomorrow headed north, probably at far as Laramie, Wyoming before heading east toward Wisconsin. I do not know when the next update will take place, it may not be until I reach daughter's house. I have received strict orders that I am not supposed to show up before the 21st which of course I will ignore.

Keep in touch, love hearing from you.