Another “hike through history” and “hike for health” day! This time after our morning oats we headed south to Coronado National Memorial, where we hoped to do some climbing and hiking, see some beautiful views and maybe even visit a cave. The drive was pretty uneventful and easy enough after we got off I-10. It was chilly and windy this morning! The chilliness would be welcome as we knew we’d be climbing in full sun, but not so much the wind. Turned out to be just slightly annoying at times, but not really too much of a problem.

We had planned to do the Windmill Hike before going tot he visitors center, but it wasn’t clear where the trail or trailhead was (we saw a Windmill Road but there was only a sign prohibiting unauthorized vehicles and nothing about it being a trail, although we found out later that that road was the trail). We continued on for a mile or so to the visitors center. It was packed! We were pretty surprised, even though today was Saturday, because the location is relatively remote and we didn’t expect it to be that popular. We found a spot to park down by the road and went inside to ask about the trails and if they still had the Hike for Health pins.

We were greeted by a very enthusiastic ranger, Lynna Jackson, who assured us they did have the pins and gave us some ideas about what trails we could hike to reach the 3+ mile goal. She confirmed our suspicions about the Windmill Trail and suggested that we do the drive to the top of the road and then hike to the peak from there (0.4 miles according to the map, but my GPSr tracked it at about 0.6). We could then hike down to the Ridge trail and hike to its junction with the Yaqui Ridge trail, which would give us another mile if we then backtracked and went back to the car, which was about all we figured we would have time and energy for today. Plus, of course, the hike to the cave!

Everything went as planned - we drove the road, which was reminiscent of the Moki Dugway, to the parking area just below the peak. We poked around there taking photos for a few minutes and then headed up to the peak. Beautiful views around every turn! It’s shocking really how far you can see here, and how different the scenery is just a few miles apart.The wind was fierce at times which made photography difficult but it was so worth it. Our hike along the ridge trail offered similar views but a different type of hike, and we spotted two awesome clumps of hedgehog cacti growing on a rock outcrop! We both loved them. We had a snack of prickly pear licorice and chessmen cookies on a bench and talked with a few people who had come up the ridge trail from the Mexican border before turning back.

Our final destination was the cave! We reached the parking area right around 2:00pm and the same ranger we’d met in the morning was there. She gave us a few tips and we headed up … and up! The trail is a continuous climb, but very short and not bad even on a very sunny day (if the temperature had been in the 80s or higher I would suggest LOTS of water!). The last 100 yards or so are constructed trail, stone steps, that deposit you right at the mouth of the cave. Unfortunately the cave had ben filled with kids who were all popping out the minute we arrived, very annoying. Finally they all left and we had a minute to tale a photo at the cave mouth. We weren’t prepared to go into the cave today, but would love to do it next time!

We made our way back to the visitors center and showed the ranger on duty (not the one we had seen earlier) our proof of hiking the trails, and she handed us our pins. We had a little discussion about how much we enjoyed the program and how it had gotten us to parks we wouldn’t have made a priority otherwise. She explained that it’s not an official program; the parks each decide on their own to offer the pins. She also wasn’t aware that Saguaro was participating now, although she had heard rumors that it was the case.

Dinner was at La Casita in Sierra Vista. Discovered via TripAdvisor on our way back from the memorial. Cool large Mexican restaurant with lots to choose from. We were very hungry by this point and chose an appetizer, which we almost never do, in addition to our entrees. In part, that was because they had cheese crisp on the menu and we enjoyed the one we had last time in Phoenix so much, I wanted to have it again. It didn’t disappoint! R mixed together the two salsas (mild and hot) that we had received for our chips and we used that for some of the cheese crisp as well. So tasty and excellent crispy texture! Went very well with our Negra Modelos that we both had. Then came our entrees- both also very good! R had to get the green chile burro (just couldn’t wait till Sunday! :~P) and he said it as very good, just not quite as good as the ones made by the Indians at the mission. We were both very tired by this point and just wanted to get back to our room, so we’ll leave further adventures for tomorrow!