We moved the Tincan out of the Phoenix area and headed south to Patagonia Lake State Park. The Park is located 20 miles north of Nogales and is known for its excellent bird watching.
The Park is located a short distance from the Sonoita Creek State Natural Area. The 2.75 mile Sonoita Creek-Blackhawk Trail Loop is a moderate hike that gives you a good overview of the topography of the area. The trail starts on a dry ridge and drops down to the riparian woods along Sonoita Creek.
The loop ends at the dam that created Patagonia Lake.
A short walk from our camp spot is the start of the Bird Watching Trail. The trail gives you many opportunities to watch a wide variety of birds.
The trail follows Sonoita Creek and traverses open pasture land. As a result you share the trail with these guys.
One day we ventured into Nogales to find a tortilla factory we liked from a previous visit. Sadly Linda’s Tortillas was no longer in business. Nogales is a historic town that was established in 1841 as a land grant when the area was still part of Mexico. It became part of the US in 1853. Today it is a major border crossing for fresh produce. We decided to stop and take a look at this section of our porous southern border.
Chilly wet weather has been dogging us for a while now. However, we were not expecting this.
In spite of the snow and overcast sky at the end of our stay here we did experience and abundance of sunshine. Hopefully that sunshine returns as we continue our travels.
Tincan Travels 
Oh. NO snow!
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We stayed at Patagonia a couple of years ago. One of our favorites. We took a little break on the trail exactly where Pat was sitting. It was so nice remembering all those great memories. We participated in a birding hike with several others and between all of us, we saw 99 different types of birds. What a thrill. We kayaked on the lake and saw quite a few additional. It was a great trip. I’m sure glad we didn’t experience the same weather as you! We left the north to escape that white stuff! We really enjoy reading your blog.
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Snow in the desert? I am sure that was a surprise. Thank you for your update.
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Surprise! Snow in the desert is kind of beautiful! Great photos, as usual. When we first moved to Arizona in 1981, we used to go walking, eating, shopping on the Mexican side of Nogales! Actually we used to go down into Mexico quite a bit into the 1990s but not anymore!
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Great post again.
Love the photos of the Tin Can in the snow, the border wall, and the cactus. That razor wire looks nasty.
That storm hit the whole southwest. First Snow in LA since 1962. There are patches left at elevations over 3,000’ here at Joshua Tree. Thanks for the recommendation. This is fantastic.
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