April 25, 2025 Silver City to Portal, AZ

 Friday, April 24

48 degrees this morning!  But we are in a higher elevation here, about 6000'.  Lots of forest area north of Silver City.

Anne bakes an egg and green chili dish and biscuits for a leisurely breakfast.  We wave goodbye about 10:00, heading south again to more arid mountains and a birding area known as Portal/Cave Creek Canyon just over the Arizona border. We cross the Continental Divide around Lordsburg, NM at 6533' - high desert.

We stop at the Chiricahua Desert Museum which is in NM, at the turn for Portal. Some history of the area and its inhabitants.   Lots of live snakes - didn't know there were so many kinds of rattlesnakes (17 in Arizona!).  Also Gila Monster - a big poisonous lizard which a ranger later tells me spends most of its life underground.  

They also have a nice garden filled with birdsong, and cacti like these purple prickly pear.

Then on to Portal where we stop at the general store.  I talk with two women birders who are very helpful, showing me places they've been on a map which I printed out earlier.

First we walk the main street in front of the store.  Main Street is used loosely, as it is mostly dirt and has a few widely separated houses and a post office. At the post office the road gets even smaller and is private (but walkers welcome, according to the sign). 

 A few people have turned their yards into bird havens and placed benches or other seating where we can observe.  No neatly trimmed grass here...just dirt with assorted native trees and bushes and lots of different feeders. Bud and Deb's Bird Haven is the largest.

One site had a dripping water feature which was very popular with this Acorn Woodpecker and others.

We walk back to the Trek and decide to look for a place to camp.  There are several Forest Service campgrounds which do not accept reservations.  The women I talked with said they are all full, but there is dispersed camping available in the National Forest. We stop at a ranger station and get some suggestions and find a spot at the very last one - Herb Martyr Campground.  

 It gets cold once the sun is gone.