While it is only a few miles (by Arizona standards) from Faraway Ranch in the Chiricahua National Monument to Fort Bowie National Historic Site, it is arguably some of the prettiest landscape you will see in southeastern Arizona.
Looking southeast, In the distance are the Chiricahua Mountains and the Chiricahua National Monument and in the foreground cattle grazing lands as far as the eye can see.
A “zoomed-in” view of the grasslands with the Chiricahuas in the background.
Looking northeast towards the Dos Cabezas mountains and more grasslands. Where the Dos Cabazas and the Chiricahuas meet is the pass where Fort Bowie was built.
And here are some of the cattle using all that grazing land. We had earlier passed a road sign that said, “Loose Cattle” and we were quite puzzled over it and equally amused by the wording. Did they mean that the cattle were roaming wherever they wanted? Or were they “loose cattle” in the same context as “loose women”? Just a short bit down the road, though, we discovered these critters and, if you look closely, you will see that they are indeed loose, being on the road side of the fence rather than the pasture side of the fence!
As we drove on down the road, we soon saw why the cattle were “loose.” The monsoon waters had recently washed away the soil from around one of the fence posts (it was still muddy) and the fence post had tipped over, pulling the fence wire down and allowing the cows to just step over the wires and enjoy the greener grass on the other side. Obviously this occurs frequently enough to warrant an official road sign!
Love this series of images!