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The story of how I saved money, quit my job, sold my possessions,
and set off to endlessly travel by bike around the world.
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Equipment Pages Index
Introduction
How Much to Bring and Weight
Some
Advice About Advice
A Note to Perspective Sponsors and Gear Suppliers
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more about Sponsorship)
START
HERE for Touring Bikes and Commuting Bicycles
Custom Touring Bicycles and Bike Upgrade Buyers Guide
Bicycle Touring Frames
The
Steel Repair Myth.
Steel
and Aluminum Derailleur Hanger Repair.
Bicycle Touring Wheels
Phil Wood: The Best Bicycle Hubs
Panniers / Bike Bags
Cargo Trailers Vs Panniers
Tires for Bike Tours..
Bicycle Touring Saddles.
Women's Specific Bike Touring Saddles
Brooks Leather Touring Bicycle Saddle Care and Conditioning
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Portal
Arizona
A Birder, Nature Lover, Naturalist, and Bird Watchers Paradise Area Map
(Late April - Early May, 2002)
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|
| To put it simply Portal Arizona is a Paradise. It is rare to find
a place suitable for living but also undeveloped and untrampled by tourists. We
liked this area so much that we hung around for three weeks. If our urge to travel
was not very strong we would have bought property and stayed. Portal is the closest thing to a backcountry town that we
have seen in Arizona. We found it so relaxing and enjoyable we stayed for three
weeks, including a 6 day backpacking trip in the nearby Chiricahua Mountains. Portal
was originally known as a ranching area but now this little town is known internationally
as a bird watching area.
Portal sits at the end of a long lush canyon with a year round
creek that draws it's water from the looming 9000 ft and up Chiricahua Mountains to the
west. To the east is New Mexico and the high Chihuahua desert that stretches far
south into Mexico. Deserts do not know international borders.
These mountains were originally a favorite haven for the Apache Indians. In fact
this whole corner of the state was the Apache's reservation for about four years until the
US government decided that this land was to nice to give to Indians and took it away from
them and moved then to the hot dry San Carlos reservation. I guess they did not care
that the Apache had pushed the original inhabitants out and lived here for a two or so
centuries. This gave us some mixed feelings. If this was still a reservation
we would not be allowed to travel here and this area is certainly to nice to keep anyone
out.
The first birders we met were Frank and Robin from Berkley, California. They
would come to Portal as often as they could. They had a whole library of books for
identifying birds, plants, rocks, and mammals. We enjoyed camping next to them for a
week. I have never really been around "bird watchers" or Birders as they
often call themselves. Portal is a Mecca for them. They are a most interesting
group of people. A frugal bunch with the only required equipment being high quality
binoculars, field guide for bird identification, and an outrageous floppy hat. Some
have cameras but this does not seem to be a requirement. They are a highly educated
bunch with many people that we met having advanced degrees in ecology or
ornithology. Kind of a liberal scientist. We met people from all over the
world with many of them being famous in the naturalist circles. Many of them had
written well known books in their specific field of expertise. As you can guess most
of them are very environmentally aware and politically active in this arena. They
were some of the most humble and interesting people that you will ever meet. As a
group I would have to say that they had above average income levels to match their
advanced university degrees but instead of looking for ways to flaunt their wealth they
were on a continuous quest to learn and study. Who needs a fancy car when you could
identify a new species of bird. We liked everyone of them that we met.
These Birders had some very interesting habits. You can guess that they walked
around during daylight with their binoculars looking at various birds and identifying then
in their little field books. We saw and even participated in lots of that. The
activity that seemed the most odd was owling. Owling is the art of walking around at
dusk and well after dark to look at owls. For this you can leave your floppy sun hat
behind but you do need some kind of flashlight. We went several times with locals
and with Frank and Robin who really knew what they were doing. Tromping around in
the dark reminded me of "Snipe Hunting" when I was a Boy Scout and it was just
as fun. Once you hear an owl making its "who" or "hoot" noise
you close in and figure out what branch it is on. This is no easy task because it is
dark. Once you find and identified the owl one person holds the light on the owl
while everyone else look in their binoculars. They politely take turns holding the
light so everyone can look. They often would see that we were looking through our
miniature travel binoculars, that my dad gave me, and insist that we use their much more
powerful binoculars. One night while we were looking for the little (6 inch) Elf Owl
a van load of people parked and silently got out with their lights (off) and binoculars
around their neck. Without saying a word they stood in the darkness listening for a
specific owl that they were looking for. After a few moments they walk on but not
one of the ten or so Owlers made even the slightest noise. I later joked with Cindie
that had we been camped nearby and did not know the habits of Owlers I would of assumed it
was a nutty cult and they would have scared the hell out of me.
Besides birds there are several other animals that I had never seen before. We
saw all kinds of wild life including many kinds of hummingbirds, screech owl, great
horned owl, elf owl, ring-tailed cat (who ate my fig newtons), skunk (who ate my oatmeal),
coati, gray fox, deer, Javalina., and a phantom black bear.
The residents and tourists of Portal Arizona we very kind and generous to us.
Dave let us camp in his yard for a few days after our backpacking trip. We got to
enjoy his yard full of bird feeders and various animals that came to visit. Dave is
an artist and his subjects are the local wildlife.
We had planned on staying in the canyon for a couple weeks before entering Mexico but
we stayed much longer. Initially the appeal had to do with the shortsightedness of
the US Forest Service. We expected to find a free spot along the creek to camp for a
week. This would involve filtering water from the creek and sitting on the
ground. Because of a serious drought campfires were only allowed in Forest Service
campgrounds. This was bad news because we only had a limited amount of fuel in our
stove. The nearest gas station was miles away. The Forest Service campgrounds
were $10 a night PER VEHICLE. We would gladly pay the fee if their was a shower but the
National Forest Campgrounds (and National Parks) never have showers so we usually
considered it to expensive and camped free on the ground in an undeveloped area. The
lure of a legal fire and tap water that we could drink without filtering made us think.
Most National Forest Service campgrounds have a self pay set up and after
depositing your money in the envelope you are supposed to put the receipt on you
dashboard. There was a time that I would argue with motorists that a bike is a
vehicle but this was not one of them. Besides we definitely did not have a
dashboard. We tried camping and not paying. Sure enough the Ranger came in the
morning counted the money then counted the cars. Once satisfied they were on their
way. We stayed a week and never paid. We had a fire every night and some
mornings which heated water for our solar shower and everything else. When we needed
water we just walked over to the tap and got clean water. Another perk was a sit
down toilet witch is much better than - well, digging a hole.
The thing that we liked the best about Portal Arizona was the peacefulness and dramatic
scenery. We arrived on the dirt road that climbs over a high pass of the Chiricahua
mountains. This road basically cuts these high mountains in half. By the time
that we reached Portal AZ we had gone nearly a week without even the smallest of stores to
buy food. We ate the last of the canned food that Tim had stuffed into his bike
three weeks earlier in Prescott. Needless to say we were very tired by the time we
arrived in town. So this paradise was a welcome retreat from the long and winding
road. |
INDEX #1:
North and Central America
3-30-02 to 4-17-03
(July 18 - Aug 22, 2002)
The State of
Michoacan, Mexico
Guanajuato to Toluca, Mexico
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Other essays by Tim
Into the Mist State
of Michoacan, Mexico
Best Place to see Pictures
Thumbnail Page of Michoacan,
Mexico Pictures
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Full size Picture
Pages
- Guanajuato to
Penjamillo, Mexico
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Penjamillo to Patzcuaro, Mexico
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Patzcuaro, Mexico
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Patzcuaro to Cuidad Hidalgo, Michoacan,
Mexico
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Morelia, Mexico
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Into the Mist Mexican highway 15
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Cuidad Hidalgo, Michoacan, to Toluca, Mexico
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Toluca, Mexico
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The Velodrome in Toluca, Mexico |
|
(Oct. 12 - Nov. 8, 2002)
The States of Tabasco and Chiapas,
Mexico
Villahermosa, Tabasco to Cuauhtemoc Chiapas, Mexico
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Best Place to see Pictures
Thumbnail Page of Tabasco and
Chiapas, Mexico Pictures
|
Full size Picture
Pages
- Museum La Venta and the
Olmec Heads Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
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Villahermosa, Tabasco to Ocosingo,
Chiapas, Mexico
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Palenque #1 Photo Picture Page
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Palenque #2 Photo Picture Page
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Misol-Ha Waterfall Chiapas, Mexico
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Agua Azul Chiapas, Mexico
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Tonina Mayan Ruins Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico
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Mexico's Day of the Dead Ocosingo, Chiapas,
Mexico
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Ocosingo to Cuauhtemoc Chiapas, Mexico |
|
(March 15 - April 10, 2003)
Costa Rica #2
Manual Antonio to Monteverde
Cloud Forest, Costa Rica
|
Tim's Emailed Newsletters
(Join List)
Costa Rica #2 (incomplete)
Best Place to see Pictures
Thumbnail Page of Costa Rica #2 Pictures
|
Full size Picture
Pages
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Parque National Manuel Antonio, #2
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City of Santa Elena
and Monteverde
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Butterfly Garden,
Santa Elena, Monteverde
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Finca Ecological,
Monteverde
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Frog Pond (Ranario), Santa
Elena
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Santa Elena, Cloud
Forest, National Park
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Sky Walk, Suspension
Bridge, Canopy Tour
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Sky Trek Zip Line,
Canopy Tour
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Monteverde Cloud
Forest Reserve |
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