Mileage:  69,354

Cochise Stronghold Campground Pearce, Arizona

We started driving early this morning. It has been a weeks since we were on a major interstate for any length of time and it felt odd to us!

We had heard that Cochise Stronghold was an interesting place to visit.  The only campground in the area, was several miles down a dirt road.  We made our way very slowly and arrived around noon. 

After lunch, we set out to explore the area.  Cochise was an Apache Indian Chief from the Chiricahua Clan.  Cochise chose this canyon as a place for his people because there is only one way to access the canyon.  He was able to guard the entrance with Indians on horseback.  They lived here from 1852-1872.  During those years, the Apaches were frequently involved in violent struggles with the neighboring settlers. We are in the Dragoon Mountains.

Our second reason for staying in this area was to see the town of Pearce, Arizona.  This is an abandoned historic ghost town.  It was a mining town.  The town was named for James Pearce who found gold here in 1894.  In the 1940’s the mine was closed.  There is a Pearce Society dedicated to the preservation of the old town.  It was neat to see this place. 

The Pearce Jail.

The Old Store.

The Post Office.

There is an elementary school here and the Miners are their mascot.

On our way out of Pearce, Tim saw a snake in the road.  He circled back and he could see that it was a Mojave rattlesnake.  He circled around again so that I could get pictures from the Jeep window.  He was coiled and rattling!  I know that he can only strike 2/3 of his body length.  He was about 3 feet long…and I was COMPLETELY safe Mom!

We took Middlemarch Road, an easy gravel road, up to Middlemarch Pass.  The views were very pretty.

We took another road to a Soren Pass. 

We saw lots of hawks today and lots of deer.  The Arizona whitetail deer or Coues are a different variety of whitetail than we have at home.  They are much smaller and rarer…though we have seen several every day. 

The mine at Soren Pass.

It was getting dark as we returned to our campsite.

We had an easy dinner of rotisserie chicken and salads. It gets dark so early…we can’t even stay up until 9pm!