We started the day with breakfast from a new place that I discovered on TripAdvisor: Barista del Barrio on North Grande Avenue, just a short drive from our hotel. Apparently it had been a coffee cart until recently, when the owners expanded into a small cafe. I had the most excellent breakfast burrito I’ve ever tasted, a perfectly grilled tortilla filled with sausage, eggs, potato and beans. Rich had a tamale bowl consisting of a tamale atop the same goodies that were inside the burrito. We enjoyed coffee and tea outside on what was a slightly chilly morning for Tucson. While we ate, Rich noticed a seafood restaurant across the street called Mariscos Chihuahua that looks interesting. It might be worth checking out sometime.

I had no idea what we might do but R suggested checking out the Fort Bowie historical site. I didn’t know anything about it other than they offer one of the Hike for Health pins, and that it’s somewhere near Chiricahua. It was so worth the trip! (Note for others: if your GPS tells you to take Gas Line Rd or Mogul Rd, don’t! Stay on Apache Pass until you see signs for Fort Bowie. We didnt take that road; it seemed pretty obvious from its appearance that it was a private road or access road of some kind. But we were still a bit confused at the time and wondered if we had missed something, or if the GPS had really screwed us up and we were stuck somewhere where we wouldn’t be able to reach our destination without a long drive around.) The last few miles are along the graded dirt Apache Pass rd., easily passable by any vehicle. There were half a dozen other vehicles at the parking area when we arrived just before 11am. We planned to hike the ruins trail to the visitors center (this park is unusual in that you hike in to the visitor center and then back out) and then the Overlook Ridge trail back out. There was so much to see along the way, so much history in this area! Butterfield Overland mail route, clashes with Apaches, Cochise and Geronimo, and of course the two versions of the fort, which was built to secure the Apache Spring and make the area safe for the mail route and road. We took our time as always exploring all of the ruins in detail and taking photos all along the way. The air temperature was a bit chilly, we had fluctuating clouds and sun throughout the morning, which turned to heavy overcast with a very strong (and chilly!) wind as the afternoon went on. We met some interesting characters along the way, including an 89 year old man who has done this hike about 15 times. We were disappointed to hear that they were out of the Hike for Health pins! We got stand-in pins for now, and we’ll email the ranger to put our names on a list. Supposedly they will mail us the pins when they come in.

Our hike back was, as planned, along the Overlook Ridge trail. Talk about amazing views! We would have spent even more time there if it wasn’t so windy. Near one overlook we spotted a beautiful rainbow hedgehog cactus beneath an agave. We’ve never seen one in the wild and it was so exciting!

Dinner was at La Unica Restaurant & Tortilleria in Willcox, which we had never heard of but I found through a search from my phone when I (intermittently) had service along the way back from ft. Bowie. I had pork tacos, very different from what I’m used to -seasoned pork with pico de gallo and cabbage, and R had shrimps and mushrooms diablo with flour tortillas, rice and beans. R tried Corona Extra for Dave (didn’t think it was anything exciting) and I had Negro Modelo. The place seemed a little strange at first but then it got busy and the service improved, and everything turned out great! We’ll definitely stop there again when in Willcox. It was getting late by now, so we headed back to town, watching an extremely colorful sunset (peaches and purples) and “alpenglow” on the facing mountains.