Arizona’s Nature Nurtured

Who would have thought that a bird weighing less than two pennies could fly up to 600 miles in 24 hours? But that’s exactly what some species of hummingbirds do each spring to nest in the sycamore trees of Ramsey Canyon.

The reason for their odyssey is quickly apparent to anyone who ventures here, 11/2 hours southeast of Tucson. The hummingbirds find an unusual ecosystem--one that supports flora and fauna from habitats as diverse as the Rocky Mountains to the north, the Sierra Madre to the south, and the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. More than 400 types of birds--half the known species in the continental United States--have been recorded in the canyon.

In 1974 the Nature Conservancy established the Ramsey Canyon Preserve, which has grown to 380 acres. The park and its adjacent B&B; are open year-round, and guided birding tours are offered March through October. The nice thing about staying at the Ramsey Canyon Inn, besides the fact that room rates ($121 to $158 per night) include admission to the preserve, is that guests have after-hours access to its trails.

So one Friday in late March, as the colorful little hummingbirds made their journey to Ramsey Canyon, my husband, Geoffrey, and I took flight too. Our plane from Los Angeles landed in Tucson, and we rented a car for the easy drive to the preserve.

Nature Conservancy lodging coordinator Judy Lamoreaux gave us the grand tour of the inn. The spacious main room is outfitted with comfy couches and shelves stuffed with books on Arizona history, plants and animals. In the open kitchen, guests find at least three pies in the late afternoon plus coffee and tea all day. (We helped ourselves to slices of homemade cherry.) Judy also showed us the front porch and back garden--prime places to sit and watch for birds. The place felt like a modest yet comfortable country home.

The inn has two detached apartments with full kitchens and room for a family of four. But Geoffrey and I chose one of the main building’s six guest rooms, each named after a type of hummingbird.

Our room, the Blue-Throated, was cozy with quilted bedspreads, memorabilia such as an old-time autograph book, and antique-looking double beds and chairs. (Rooms with a queen or king bed were booked by the time I made reservations.)

The sun was sinking fast behind the canyon walls as we ambled to the visitor center nearby. Inside was an excellent bookstore as well as informative ecological displays and information on hiking trails.

Out back, patient birders can sit in the sun and wait for hummingbirds to come by and feed. The preserve’s main hiking trail also starts here, linking to a network of higher, more challenging routes.

The canyon stays 5 to 15 degrees cooler than Tucson, thanks to the abundance of shade and the higher elevation, about 1,000 feet at the inn and 3,000 feet on some canyon trails.

With a nip in the air, we walked back to the inn, grabbed a couple of Arizona guidebooks and spent a peaceful hour reading before dinner.

Judy made a reservation for us at the Mesquite Tree restaurant, about 10 minutes south on Arizona Highway 92. We warmed to the place immediately. With partitions breaking up the space and eclectic items on the walls (think old car license plates), it was homey and inviting.

Figuring that this is steak territory, I chose a New York peppercorn, and Geoffrey ordered a filet. Both were cooked to perfection, served with a flaky baked potato.

Saturday morning dawned sunny but cold. We took a short walk, then found a feast in the dining room: yogurt, fresh fruit, sausage, potatoes, scrambled eggs, biscuits, juice and coffee.

At 9 o’clock we joined 15 others in the hummingbird viewing area to meet the Nature Conservancy’s resident naturalist, Mark Pretti. He told us about the hummingbirds’ migration and how spring-fed Ramsey Creek sustains the water-loving sycamore trees that they call home.

We took off down the trail with Pretti telling us more canyon history. Flowering fruit trees were planted by early settlers; the only native fruit tree is the chokecherry. He explained how the conservancy is attempting to banish nonnative plants like the colorful but invasive blue vinca.

We walked with binoculars at the ready, scanning the dense foliage for birds and listening for telltale chirping. A couple of woodpeckers courted each other, and bright yellow vireos offered a cheery song. Hardly avid birders, Geoffrey and I found ourselves seduced by the trills and tweets for 21/2 hours before we walked back to the inn.

For our afternoon adventure, we drove 25 miles east on Arizona 92 to Bisbee. At the turn of the century, Bisbee was one of the largest cities in the West, and its mines were among the richest in the world. As the mining played out, the population shrank, but artists and antique stores have moved into the 100-year-old buildings along Main Street.

Lunch was a sandwich on the porch of the Copper Queen Hotel, built in 1902, where the ambience far surpassed the food.

Refueled, we started up the main drag. Even if we didn’t have $125 to spend on a custom straw hat, the creations at Optimo Custom Hatworks were worth seeing: beautiful hand-woven straws from Ecuador, and custom-made beaver, cashmere, hare and rabbit blends.

We were tempted to return to the Mesquite Tree for dinner, but we opted for the Outside Inn, a mile north of Ramsey Canyon on 92. The atmosphere was pleasant and the staff friendly, but the veal piccata and scallop-and-shrimp pasta weren’t as good as the previous night’s steaks. The food wasn’t terrible--just a little pricey for what it was and for the middle-of-nowhere location.

Sunday morning, after another lavish breakfast (light-as-air chile relleno souffle, coffee flan), we returned to the hummingbird area, where I wanted to get a photo.

We sat in the sun for an hour and were rewarded with visits from a variety of species, including the black-chinned hummer and another called the magnificent. We had started toward our car when a full-grown, shimmering green magnificent flitted to the feeder nearest me. It got its breakfast--and I got my shot.

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Budget for Two

Round-trip air fare, Los Angeles to Tucson: $274.12

Ramsey Canyon Inn, two nights: 262.00

Dinner, Mesquite Tree: 61.00

Lunch, Copper Queen: 34.00

Dinner, Outside Inn: 68.00

Car rental, two days: 53.82

Gas: 11.73

Airport parking: 24.00

FINAL TAB: $788.67

*

* Ramsey Canyon Inn, 29 Ramsey Canyon Road, Hereford, AZ 85615; telephone (520) 378-3010, Internet https://www.cybertrails.com/~seazuu/Ramsey/front.html.

* Ramsey Canyon Preserve, same address as inn, tel. (520) 378-2785, https://www.tncarizona.org/preserves/ramsey.asp.