Our trip to Picacho Peak State Park - Part 2

We are camping in Picacho Peak State Park for the entire week and fitting in some hikes and exploring the area while Mike is working. That's never easy, especially with the wind which can be pretty brutal in springtime...but we powered through it anyway.

Did you know there was a Civil War battle fought here? We didn't know but they have a entire area memorializing the event. That was pretty amazing... something else we didn't learn in history class. We're both history buffs so we read all the signs and descriptions. Here's a little about the battle...

In February 1862, a band of Confederate Rangers under Capt. Sherod Hunter raised the Stars and Bars of Tucson, Arizona, part of an effort to create an ocean-to-ocean Confederacy. In order to thwart this move, a Union "Column from California" under Col. James H. Carleton set out across the lonely desert toward Tucson.  On April 15, Union cavalry under Lt. James Barrett met with Confederate Rangers near Picacho Peak, a rocky spire 50 miles northwest of Tucson.  Barrett was killed almost immediately and fierce combat continued for more than an hour before the Federals retreated.  Although the Rangers' victory at Picacho Pass delayed the Union force, the following month Carleton's Californian's eventually took Tucson without firing a shot. One of the signs also said Barrett was told not to engage the Confederates but did anyway... which turned out badly for him. There's a huge stone pillar which is the first thing we saw after we hiked the Nature Trail.

There's also a Nature Trail which is full of interesting facts about Saguaros as well as many of the other plants & wildlife. Everything is in bloom & the desert is amazing! It's considered an easy trail and only half-a-mile long and includes an abundance of interpretive signs. With Mike's sciatic nerve pain acting up, we weren't going to push it with that huge difficult hike up to the peak. His $20 acupuncture knee brace from Amazon was an amazing help! Ask us if you're interested... Mike was concerned he wasn't going to be able to do any hiking so he figured for $20, it couldn't hurt. Now he swears by it!

We also tried a micro-brewery/restaurant---(we definitely want to go back there again!), a pizza place on a golf course & the only eatery in town which is a Dairy Queen--NO, I'm not making that up!

We also visit some of our horse riding friends who have moved out to Arizona from the NY/NJ area. No photos but I have a virtual stroll down memory lane. (We named our channel 'Wild Horses' for a reason!)

Come with us as we discover some amazing places in Arizona!