Chiricahua
The card above is love from the Chiricahuas and a new baby coati born this summer that I've named Halo. We had almost 28 inches of rain this year! The creeks were full and roaring for months. More mushrooms, birds, animals, trees, plants, butterflies than ever. Everything here depends on water and when things are just right with temperature and rain, it becomes magical. As a Park Ranger I am living here in the park. I see changes in the night sky and watched when the Milky Way core rose above the horizon and when it set. Hiked out at midnight to the Heart of Rocks to see the amazing colors and feel the forests and rocks in the middle of the night. Bobcats were the most common predator, one bear siting for me, daily coatis and turkeys and deer. A full community of nature here. I continued to collect data on the trees and ecology and am writing up my field report which I hope to have done in a couple of weeks. As for Halo and his family, the females- moms and grandmas stick together to raise the wee ones. This year we counted 50+ in the meadow. They were stocking up with acorns and grubs before the first snow fell a couple of weeks ago. The males go solo when they get old enough and they come around too climbing the trees near the Visitor Center. The Chiricahuas are amazing. A 27 million year old Supervolcano that left a 12 mile diameter caldera now called Turkey Creek Caldera. We can only see the rim from out highest point in the park at 7300' We are a mile high Sky Island and everything here has adapted and survived in its own unique way. A vast diverse Pine-Oak-Sycamore life system. It is an unknown gem in SE Arizona. People know about the Apache and the Apache Wars that happened here, but they don't know about this sacred place, the Standing Up Rocks. Who were, to the Ancient Apache, their ancestors enspirited with their grandparents and great grandparents and spirits millions of years old. The Apache came here for ceremony and to hunt and collect food, their villages in the low lands, the grasslands in the lower elevations of the park. I am so grateful to learn of this place more! Please come and visit.
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Air lifted from the trauma site, Chiricahua National Monument
(video by Ranger C)
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DaoQi Acupuncture Clinic
The clinic is in a pause mode since middle November trying to find a new space in Bisbee. I am still at the Farmers Market every other Saturrday with plant tinctures and ear seeds. Please send an email if you have any questions. I can mail tinctures so do not hesitate to contact me.
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SAR (Search and Rescue)
Being a Trail Ranger in the park, I've had alot of Field and Emergency medicine calls. Being the first contact I've had to pull out my Wilderness First Responder Skills and my best storytelling sometimes for a couple of hours before Air Rescue arrives. Some very exciting short hauls where the injured were lifted and flown in a harness at the bottom of a helicopter. These canyons are narrow and very difficult for rescues. Cochise County Sheriff's Search and Rescue has a FB page if you are interested in more info.
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Many Many Happy Wishes for 2023!
Lots of Love,
Candace
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