After our unplanned 5 day (2 days planned) stay in Phoenix we were finally on the move east again. Our first stop will be a 2 nighter in Bowie AZ. Patty does most of the planning for our travel and has chosen to make up our lost time with the unexpected truck work by alternating 1 and 2 night stays on our trip east to Florida. We like to travel with all 2 night stays but if we need to make up time then we can either travel farther before we stop and/or stay just one night. By staying just one night we don't get any time to explore and it becomes tiring pretty quick. This trip east to Florida is more about getting to Florida so we weren't planning on too much exploring anyway. Also, our travel plan is only tentative as we don’t typically reserve sites in advance. We may change our plans as we go depending on new information.
I usually do a quick check of the travel plans to make sure she/we didn’t miss something or I might just have a different perspective on some of the travel plans. We debated a bit about taking interstate 20 starting in Texas instead of the slightly quicker I 10. But we concluded that the Interstate 10 roadway was way too rough in the Gulf States so we stayed with Patty's original plan of I 20.
Travel to Bowie on I 10 east was uneventful. The 220 mile trip took us about 4 hours. We arrived at Dwayne's Mountain View RV Park a little after 2pm and set up in a nice simple pull through. Mountain View was behind and owned by Dwayne’s Jerky store. Can’t beat the cost of just $15 a night for a 50 amp full hookup!
 |
| Sign pointing to all points everywhere in front of Dwayne's Jerky Store |
 |
| Our simple site behind Dwayne's Jerky Store |
 |
| A friendly roadrunner came to visit just outside Patty's window |
So for our one full day here in Bowie we decided to hike the Apache Pass. It is a short hike of just 4 miles round trip. The information we found said it was just 3 miles but it was a little over 4 miles by the time you see all of the ruins along the way.
 |
| Arriving at the Fort Bowie site for the Apache Pass Hike |
The Apache Pass hike was a very nice hike! There were many things to see and the trail was just the right amount of work for us. However the return trail was a little more ascent than we were led to believe by the park ranger. She said it was a gradual ascent of about 200 feet. No, it was more like a 45% grade of about 500 feet! The downhill side was a more gradual grade with switchbacks.
 |
| The foundation of an old rest stop on the pass |
 |
| The old Bowie Fort Cemetery. |
 |
| Geronimo's child is buried here |
 |
| Foundation of the original Indian reservation headquarters |
 |
| An Apache wickiup |
 |
| Just a slight grade! |
 |
| A little more than just 200 feet elevation! |
 |
| Still going up! |
 |
| Time for a break! |
 |
| We decided that this was an Adam's family "IT" cactus! |
 |
| Picture of the fort in 1894 |
 |
| All that remains from the same vantage point |
 |
| The Apache Pass is the sandy area we were on in the middle of the picture |
There was loads of cactus in bloom too! Due to its history, geography, and beauty this hike was one of the more memorable hikes we have been on. It was a great find for our one day here in Bowie AZ!
Now on to Texas and further east!
 |
| Sunset on our site in Bowie Arizona |
Stay Tuned!
2 comments:
Love this blog!
Thank you for sharing!
You are finding places that we never did and it is fun to armchair travel with you!
Wendy
THANKyou!
Post a Comment