Whitewater Draw Wildlife Management Area

Whitewater Draw WMA is located south of Willcox, Arizona. As the crow flies, it is about 90 miles from Hot Well Dunes. Needless to say, our travel day was not long and drawn out. Bob and I arrived at Whitewater in time to eat lunch. Larry and Connie needed to run some errands in Willcox before joining us. At first we were parked in the area with the pit toilet and the main crane viewing area, but there were a lot of rigs for the small space. Bob and I took a look at the map and found two other camping spots for the wildlife area. One was north of our location, the other south. The one south of us looked like it had an easier entrance and a lot more space for large rigs.  The one north had a gate which looked narrow and it also looked like it could be quite dusty if the wind was blowing. We chose the south camping area and texted Connie notifying her of the change of location. She and Larry joined us within 45 minutes.

The reason most people visit Whitewater Draw is because it is the winter roosting place of sandhill cranes. Soon they will return to their nesting areas, but for now they are at Whitewater Draw. On our first visit to the roosting area, we spotted these three cranes away from the others. One may be a juvenile, but we couldn't see if his head was still grey. Only adult cranes have the distinctive red forehead.

Later in the evening, Bob and I took a walk toward the roosting area, but the sun was already below the mountains and the air was chilling more than we liked. I did get a picture of the lone tree near our campsite with the sunglow behind it.

The next day we all wanted to explore Cochise Stronghold--the area where Cochise hid from the army after the Bascom incident at Fort Bowie. The stronghold is located in a section of Coronado National Forest. The campground is nice, but it is not big rig friendly. The maximum length recommended for this campground is 26 feet.

 We hiked the nature trail and the history trail. The rock formations are reminiscent of some of the smaller rocks in Chircahua. This mountain range is called Dragoon, but you can see the Chiricahuas from here.

It amazes me how the vegetation changes as you change elevation and enter the mountains.

Particularly pretty on the nature trail were the pointleaf manzanitas. The bees were also enjoying them!

When we returned to Whitewater Draw, we checked to see if all the cranes had returned. Each morning the cranes take flight in search of food. They begin returning to the roost area around noon. Some leave again in the afternoon, but all remain in the area overnight. As you can see in this picture, some of them had returned, but not all.

The next day we traveled to Bisbee, Arizona. It is an interesting mining town built on the side of the mountain. One of the tourist attractions is Queen Mine. We have all visited Bisbee before, but none of us had toured the mine. Today's activity---tour the mine. Once again, when traveling with Larry and Connie, we had to don special apparel for our activity. The last time we were together, we looked like oompa loompas as we got ready for our whitewater rafting experience.

This time, we looked like we were ready to direct traffic at night in a construction zone.

To get into the mine you have to ride a train.

The tour guide unlocks the 1915 door and into the mine you go!

The mine began production in the 1880s and closed its doors in 1975. What copper was left was not deemed enough for the expense it would take to extract it from the ore.

Question: What did the miners do when they needed to use the facilities?
Answer: They used the two seat portable potty!

Yes, it is mounted on wheels so the mules could pull it out of the mine for emptying!
After our tour, we went to Bisbee. Since it is built on the side of a mountain, there are a lot of steps. So many, that every fall, there is an ironman race to the top!

Another event held in Bisbee is the welcome back festival for the turkey vultures....yes, you read that right!

As we were walking around town, we took a wrong turn and ended up climbing about 100-200 (we didn't count) stairs! The view from the level we reached gave a good view of the town.

We found our way down and made it to Old Bisbee Brewery for lunch. I got the sampler with 7 beers. One of the most interesting was Salut! which was made for customers who like white wine. Connie ordered it as you see in the tall goblet to the right of me (my glass is in the center). If I look lost in thought with my cell phone it is because I am registering all the beer on Untapped.

While we were eating, the brewery received a delivery of hops.

I am standing in front of the tasting room and the brewery is in the small building behind me.

We enjoyed our trip to Bisbee, but it was time to return to Whitewater to check on the cranes. They had returned! This is only a small portion of the thousands of cranes roosting at Whitewater.

When we were at Whitewater Draw, there was a camera keeping track of the sandhill cranes. The camera has since been disabled because the cranes leave during March for their nesting areas.