History and hiking in the Southwest.

A guide to hiking and history in the Southwest.

Menu
  • Hiking
  • Angling
  • history
  • About
  • Contact
Menu

Author: rondungan

Hiking Wooden Shoe Canyon

Posted on November 21, 2022November 21, 2022 by rondungan

Things change. Why, just a few months ago, you could hike Squaw Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, spend a night at SQ1 or SQ, connect with Lost Canyon or Big Spring Canyon for a nice loop, and come back with some great memories and a few swell photos. But things change, and the canyon is…

Read more

A digital black hole

Posted on October 24, 2022October 24, 2022 by rondungan

Arizona is losing its history. Rats build nests in historic documents, old buildings sag and buckle, roofs leak and records blacken with mold. Collectors slip a few papers into their homes and looters plunder archeological sites. Historians and archivists say the problem keeps getting worse as budgets are slashed and information is processed digitally, then…

Read more

The path slowly traveled

Posted on October 21, 2022November 21, 2022 by rondungan

The Happy Jack passage runs about 29.5 miles from end to end in Coconino National Forest, and I imagine there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of hikers who have done it from top to bottom in one shot. I am not one of those hikers. I am lazy and unfocused. Also, when I did this passage,…

Read more

The Apaches, a history

Posted on September 23, 2022September 25, 2022 by rondungan

Historians will lead you to believe it was all a misunderstanding. How the Americans, in their ignorance, failed to appreciate the differences between Apache bands, between raiding and warfare, how they had a tin ear for language and other cultures. The implication is that if only the Americans were not so stubborn, so unreasonable, so…

Read more

Hiking Vallecito Creek

Posted on September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 by rondungan

We hoisted big packs and tottered upstream, the day sunny, our brains foggy with the flotsam of a night spent in a Durango brewpub. Vallecito Creek offers a back door to Chicago Basin, where you’ll find some of the coolest peaks in southern Colorado. Yes, there is another way to gain access to the Basin…

Read more

The red ghost

Posted on August 21, 2022August 21, 2022 by rondungan

Word spread through the territory – a beast roamed the Arizona frontier, though each sighting was little more than a glimpse: A flash of red. Hooves and old bones. When the beast trampled a ranch woman to death at Eagle Creek, a witness described the creature: Red, tall, and ridden by a devil. It was…

Read more

Arizona Trail, Kaibab Plateau

Posted on August 20, 2022October 21, 2022 by rondungan

The Kaibab Plateau sneaks up on you. A few sections of the Arizona Trail cut across its eastern flank, through big country that sticks to your memory and gets under your skin. There are some gorgeous walks up there. The trail cuts through timber and meadow, though aspen glens and evergreen clusters, mile after mile….

Read more
Public lands like this are the backbone of the American West.

America’s public lands

Posted on July 17, 2022July 19, 2022 by rondungan

Public lands are the backbone of the American West, and they are under attack. Sagebrush rebels, state governments and political action committees want to do away with federal oversight, while robber barons from back east buy vacation homes, put up gates and seize their own personal forest. When the locals protest, they lawyer up. The…

Read more

Hiking Elk Creek

Posted on July 10, 2022July 10, 2022 by rondungan

The best policy is to keep walking. The fishing at Elk Creek ranges from so-so to pretty darn good, and the hiking keeps getting better as the creek climbs and loops through wood and meadow. The aspens flutter and the air is thin as you climb, but the views are worth it: Keep walking. The…

Read more

Hiking Saddle Mountain Wilderness

Posted on May 12, 2022July 16, 2022 by rondungan

Saddle Mountain Wilderness is home to a small population of Apache trout. The fish are small and skittish, and the casting windows range from tight to impossible. Unless you enjoy nettles, snags and fishless days, leave the fly rod in the truck. This is a place to hike. The wilderness is on the eastern edge…

Read more
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next

Stories

The opening piece of our water series, in which we try to look past the bathtub ring of Lake Powell. In this story, I follow a single drop of water on its journey to your tap.

Oak Creek. / Ron Dungan

https://kjzz.org/content/1792236/better-understand-arizonas-water-supply-we-retrace-its-origins

https://kjzz.org/content/1831459/while-covid-19-raged-archival-history-research-was-pushed-back-burner

The next time you're in the Marble Canyon and wonder if you can snag a permit to Coyote Buttes, you might be surprised to find that the answer is yes. No line. No early wake up call. / Ron Dungan

https://kjzz.org/content/1822075/blm-expands-use-reservation-app-coyote-buttes-south-area-permits

Apache trout. / USFWS
https://kjzz.org/content/1813132/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-recommend-delisting-endangered-apache-trout

My story for Here and Now.

A volunteer at the dog races. / Ron Dungan

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/01/17/arizona-dog-sledders-climate

A meadow along Canyon Creek, Tonto National Forest. / Ron Dungan
https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1629386/western-fires-burn-forest-management-easier-said-done
Shop Beer Company / Ron Dungan
https://kjzz.org/content/1631717/arizona-craft-beer-finds-its-way-during-pandemic
Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge / Ron Dungan
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/best-reads/2015/04/17/edward-abbey-last-act-defiance/25930091/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/fashion/weddings/rebecca-mackinnon-bennett-freeman-marriage.html?ref=oembed
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/fashion/weddings/rebecca-mackinnon-bennett-freeman-marriage.html?ref=oembed
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. / Ron Dungan

https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/story/us-mexico-border-history/510833001/

©2023 History and hiking in the Southwest. | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes.com