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Eastern & Southern Arizona

A view of the Gila Wilderness and Mogollon Mountains from across the San Francisco River.

A barbed wire fence marks my entry into my first and last state, Arizona.

The trails through Apache National Forest were generally difficult, with them being very infrequently used or maintained.

Water is hard to come by around here. This water hole was blasted out by (presumably) a cattleman, to capitalize on a seeping spring in the rock.

A collared lizard swimming around in the water

Views near the confluence of Blue River and Eagle Creek

It's not the third week in October and temperatures were still climbing into the high-80's. My watch's reading of 105 degrees is due to it being exposed to the sun.

The vegetation transitioned quickly as I moved west, closer to the Sonoran Desert, and as I dropped out of the higher elevations of the Gila Wilderness and Apache National Forest. While there are still pinyon-juniper groves, the vegetation here is much brusher and thornier.

The Coronado Highway (US-191) heading towards Morenci.

The Morenci Mine, owned by PhelpsDodge.

The scale of destruction here is mind-boggling. Note the F-350 pickup truck on the left side of the road, and how small it looks compared t the monster Caterpillar load hauler, which costs $2 million and has tires that are 12 feet in diameter.

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