Two National Wildlife Refuges, in two different locations, managed by one office staffed by three people, two law enforcement officers, and two part-time maintenance people. San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon are located in Arizona's southeast Cochise County, adjacent to the US-Mexico border. They are two of few refuges established specifically to protect native fish.
We lived and worked on the grounds of the office complex, located in between the two refuges. We visited Leslie Canyon on several occasions as it was the closest refuge to the complex. We had one memorable visit to San B, which will be described later on this post. We loved our time at Leslie Canyon. It is a beautiful, peaceful place. The songbirds were starting to sing as the temps warmed while we were there.
Leslie Canyon NWR is located on the edge of the Swisshelm Mountains, 16 miles north of Douglas, AZ. It was established in 1988 and is small for a refuge, at 2788 acres. In addition to providing habitat for endangered fish and plants, Leslie Canyon is preserving rare and unique trees: Arizona Ash, Arizona Black Walnut, Arizona Cottonwood Riparian corridor.
Both Leslie Canyon and San Bernardino NWRs protect fish and wildlife associated with unique habitats of the Rio Yaqui Watershed. This wetland in the desert hosts eight native fish, four that are either endangered or threatened species (Beautiful Shiner, Yaqui Chub, Yaqui Catfish, Yaqui Topminnow). In addition, there are two other threatened species (Chiricahua Leopard Frog, Mexican Garter Snake), and an endangered plant (Huachuca Water Umbel). The San Bernardino Springsnail is known only to exist in a small spring adjacent to the SBNWR.
There is a nice 3 mile trail in Leslie Canyon on a old miner's road. These images were taken along the trail.
At the end of the 3 miles trail in the Canyon are the remnants of an old mine that is now closed.
In 1889, local bartender, gambler, cattleman and known murderer Frank Leslie shot and killed his girlfriend on the 7-Up Ranch. He escaped through what is now known as Leslie Canyon.
At the bottom of the valley is the rare riparian corridor of trees that the refuge protects. We were just ahead of the time when the leaves on these trees will green up. We still thought it was a beautiful area.
This is the access road that leads to the Canyon entrance and trail. Oliver spent many-an evening running this road. It was very peaceful. Only on a rare occasion would we see another car.
It is unusual to see so many trees in the desert. Here is a closer look at the wetland area where the trees grow and the fish are protected. Visitors are not allowed on this part of the refuge.
The Biologist at SB/LC gave us use of a high-clearance refuge vehicle one afternoon so that we could make the trec to the backroads of San Bernardino NWR. We started the adventure with a picnic lunch and walk around at Slaughter Ranch, an historic home and grounds that sits adjacent to the refuge.
Above was our first view of the rare Vermillion Flycather - hard to miss because of his distinctive red color. After lunch, we headed to the grounds of San Bernardino ready to have some fun and do some exploring!
It was amazing to see so much water in this part of the country. We rambled all around these spring-fed ponds, listening to the frogs and watching the fish. It was a warm afternoon and the trees were all starting to bud - spring was in the air! Isn't it gorgeous?
We could have spent HOURS roaming around these ponds. They were so full of sounds, sights and life.
Another look at a Vermillion Flycatcher. This guy seemed to be following us around.
It was right after our time checking out these ponds that we turned down a dead end road and got the refuge Tahoe stuck in what was an incredible patch of cement-like mud. We tried for an hour to get the car out of the mud and only made matters worse. As darkness was approaching, Chris called our friends who operate the Slaughter Ranch who also tried for over an hour to get the car unstuck. Because this part of the refuge is a corridor for illegal traffic in the overnight hours, we decided to accept the generous offer of the Slaughter Ranch folks and stay overnight in their guest house (see the photos below). We had dinner with them and went to sleep in the hopes of better luck in the morning. Chris came with Jason from the refuge with two trucks and some other necessary equipment and pulled the car out in one try! Because the morning temps were cooler, the mud was not quite as sticky as it had been in the late-afternoon hours. We think that also helped.
Our accomondations at the Slaughter Ranch guest house were first-rate! Below is the morning view from the deck.
The fence below denotes the border and is an ever-present site and concern along San Bernaradino and the Slaughter Ranch.
The above pond was the source of the water that created the soft soil. Below is an "after" shot of the area where the car was stuck. You can see how close we were to the border....it is the fence just beyond in the distance.
The Tahoe was no worse for the wear, but Oliver was.....we were tired, embarrassed and ready to go back to the office and back to work! We gave the poor Tahoe a good washing when we arrived back to the complex.
The final image of the Slaughter Ranch as we drove off the grounds. Chris kindly offered his own refuge vehicle for another trip to San B, but we did not have the guts to accept a second time. The border issues and our nervousness of having a second problem with a refuge car kept us going back to Leslie Canyon for our explorations and not to San B. We were very happy to have been able to see what we did see at San B as it is a lovely place...how cool to see fish in the desert!
This is the view from our trailer. The evening skies were always so pretty.
We did have some rain early in our visit. The rainbow above is a rare site in this part of the country.
Here are some images of our humble home at San B/Leslie Canyon.
Another view from our trailer. We enjoyed the mountains all around us.
Here is the office and visitor's center.
The access road to the office complex. Some nights we ran and walked this mile-long road for our exercise.
There goes Oliver!
This is Chris, the refuge biologist and our main contact. He was a great guy to work with and super nice and helpful to us during our stay. He was the one we called when we could not get the Tahoe out of the mud.....
The visitor's center housed some tanks that showcase the endangered fish that the refuge protects. It was fun to be able to watch them up-close.
This is Brenda, another great San B employee. I had a nice time chatting with her throughout our visit. As a long-time resident, She had all kinds of good advice on the area.
Above is our work station. This is over a weekend and Oliver is "working" while he catches one of many NCAA tourney games we watched via the internet during our stay here.
The refuge abutts a ranch and these cows were hanging out right along the access road one night when we were out running/walking. They way they were staring at us, you would have thought they had never seen people before!
Above is the outside of our workspace in the bilogy bldg, adjacent to the office and visitor's center.
Jason is one of two law enforcement officers at San B/Leslie Canyon. He is also does community outreach with some of the refuge office "pets". He treated us to a front row seat of this guy one Saturday. The law enforcement officers at these two refuges have significant challenges in their daily jobs with the issues around illegals and drug smugglers. Thankfully, they work closely with border patrol as there is always strength in numbers.
We spent a Sunday afternoon in Tombstone, AZ. It is a touristy, but fun old western town a short drive from the refuge office complex.
Tombstone is the site of the actual OK Corral gunfight. Oliver and I watched a reinactment of the fight, which was a hoot.
Above is the historic courthouse in Tombstone.
Above and through the end are some photos of Bisbee, Az, an old mining town that has re-created itself as what is now a cool, artsy area with neat little shops and restaurants.
Bisbee is a town of hills and stairs, with many of the homes built up on the side of the town's mountains.
These two photos are of one of the large, vacant mines around Bisbee. It was the mining industry that created and then almost ruined the town. We have seen the remnants of the mining past of the SW throughout our travels. Bisbee is a success story and was a fun place to tool around.
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