Blue in Arizona

I don't think I've ever seen blue as pure as the blue sky above Portal Peak in southeastern Arizona. We spent three nights at Sunny Flat Campground near the Chiricahua Wilderness in the Coronado National Forest. The Chiricahua Wilderness is a piece of land south of the main Chiricahua National Monument, which is famous for its hoodoos, volcanic rocks that eroded in odd ways, creating tall skinny rock formations and its big boulders perfectly balanced on pedestals. We drove into Cave Creek Canyon and Sunny Flat Campground from Portal, AZ, a stone's throw from the N Mex. border.  Portal Peak stands at 8544 feet and towers over the little town of Portal. Just so you know, a scenic gravel road connects Portal to Paradise. (That seemed significant to me.)
                                    Sunny Flat Campground is 14 campsites amid stands of oaks and sycamores built around a small meadow, made miniature by the magnificent rock formations towering over it. I guess Sunny Flat got its name because by 8:30 a.m, the sun does rise above the wall of majestic rocks that enclose three sides of the campground . Across the road and south a mile, Stewart Campground is in the shadow of Cathedral Point most of the day.
During our two and a half days at Sunny Flat, we hiked 3 different trails. One was the South Fork trail, famous to birders who flock there in the spring to try to catch sight of the Elegant Trogon.

The bird eluded us, but the trail through Cave Creek Canyon was one of the most inspiring we've ever hiked. Also, while at the campground, we soaked up the delightfully warm afternoon sun (I did anyway, Michael found his shady spot) and our last afternoon there we drove the Mini to the top of a mountain on a 5 - 10 mph rocky gravel, 1 1/2- lane, twisty- turny road that  had a number of signs that looked like upside down U's.  And at the edge of the "outside" lane? Nothing.

Except the drop down into the valley which, of course, kept getting steeper and deeper as we climbed the mountain.  At the top of the mountain we found snow! Not a lot, but enough to remind

 us of winter, and make us turn around and descend to the warm sunshine.