History and hiking in the Southwest.

A guide to hiking and history in the Southwest.

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

Author: rondungan

Ralph Cameron

Posted on May 12, 2022June 9, 2022 by rondungan

Things never really change, do they? Take the Grand Canyon, for example. A century ago, the canyon looked much the same as it did today, with its red cliffs, its pink sunsets, its gathering storms, its grifters on the Rim, looking for a way to make a fast buck. Ralph Cameron has gone down in…

Read more

Disclaimer:

Posted on February 27, 2022February 27, 2022 by rondungan

We live in a litigious, guardrail society, in which is necessary to state the obvious. Hiking the Arizona backcountry is dangerous. There is a perception that when a trail appears in a guidebook, or on a website, or in a magazine, it has been “tamed.” It has not. You are responsible for your own safety….

Read more

The Apaches: A brief history

Posted on February 27, 2022June 9, 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 the Alamo Canyon Passage

Posted on February 27, 2022February 27, 2022 by rondungan

A few things grab your attention when you hike the Alamo Passage of the Arizona Trail. The first is Picketpost Mountain – how it rises out of the Sonoran scrub and commands the view for about four miles as you move north to south. Telegraph Fire The next thing that will grab your attention is…

Read more

American wilderness

Posted on January 17, 2022January 17, 2022 by rondungan

For four centuries, the continent never seemed to run out of anything. No matter where colonists built, or settlers plowed, or soldiers rode, or trappers roamed, there was something new to discover and exploit. Tribes were slaughtered, then domesticated, money changed hands and maps were redrawn. Mines played out but new ones were found. Timber…

Read more

Hiking Soap Creek

Posted on January 10, 2022February 27, 2022 by rondungan

Decades ago, I backpacked into a place Soap Creek, tributary of the Colorado River in northern Arizona. It’s possible that just about everything about our trip was illegal – our dogs, our campfire on the beach, our feasting like Viking lords on a fat rainbow trout, howling at the moon. We did not have a…

Read more

The border: A history

Posted on November 14, 2021June 9, 2022 by rondungan

Everything was up for grabs. For three centuries, England, Spain and France sent soldiers, trappers and merchants to plant flags, move goods, build forts. They drew maps to mark territory, signed treaties abused the natives, but their hold on North America was weak. All that time, Americans had put down roots along the eastern seaboard,…

Read more

Hiking Canyonlands National Park

Posted on October 30, 2021February 27, 2022 by rondungan

Getting lost in The Maze I don’t know what I can tell you, other than don’t go, or think about it, or, take a friend and make sure you stop frequently for a map check. Getting turned around in The Maze is easy to do, and it’s not much fun. Trails are few and hard…

Read more

Hiking Saddle Mountain Wilderness

Posted on August 26, 2021September 21, 2021 by rondungan

A walk on the wild side 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…

Read more

A short history of Jerome

Posted on August 26, 2021January 17, 2022 by rondungan

Arizona’s mining towns frequently went up in flames Jerome burned. And burned and burned. Three years in a row, the town burned, and merchants rebuilt the tents and shacks that sheltered saloons and cathouses. It was a mining town, where men dug furiously by day and drank away the night. Jerome ran on whiskey, dreams…

Read more
  • Previous
  • 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
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