Go West old man!: Empire Ranch 5

It rained all night and was in the low 40s at sunrise. Not a primary hiking day so it took until late morning to decide where to go.

We have been to Patagonia a few times and like the little town. And there are some trails there too. It’s less than 30miles away so off we went. It was raining a little bit when we arrived and still in the 40s, even though it is lower elevation than here.

It was a day for meeting people. In the first shop we visited we met a woman from St. Gallen, Switzerland, the same town where my grandfather grew up. In the second store we kept on meeting people from VT every time we turned around. The owners are from Rutland and Tucson, but he lived in VT for 18 years. Then we met her sister and husband from So. Burlington who turned out to be birders and Green Mountain Club members that Carlene knew about. They all live here in Patagonia now. There were two others from Milton and So. Hero who seemed to know the others.

In the next shop we met a couple from MA who spend time in VT.

After all that we went on to Patagonia Lake State Park and did a hike on the birding trail. It was not very long but it had a lot more deer than birds! We saw perhaps 14 deer in 20 sightings, meaning we saw some deer more than once. But by the location it is a sure thing they were not all the same ones.

We have been looking for the antelope here at the Ranch and today was the big day. On our way back to camp there was a big herd on a hillside. I got out for some better photos and even though they saw me and were cautious they didn’t run. After several photos we drove by them and into camp. They were on the same hillside we had hiked yesterday and kept coming across right in front of us. More photos! But you may have to blow them up a bit, depending on what you are using to see the pix.

We are hoping the rain is mostly over. Considering going to Bisbee and Tombstone tomorrow. But at this time (8:30 pm) it is raining and 39 d.