We have had 4-wheel drive vehicles for many years and we’ve always found it to be a great tool that can take the worry out of some roads. I just had no intention of expanding my 4-wheel drive experience on this particular day, but there was no turning around and so onward. As it turns out the road that took us into the riparian corridor of Chimney Creek is a series of the Forest Service Roads 4430, 4438, and 4431 and is quite popular with serious and avid 4 wheelers. I would add that it is not for the faint of heart as the descent and ascent are sorta tricky. Or maybe I’m just getting old…and wiser.
How cool is it to run into a bunch of white nosed coati mundi? Very cool! They are not rare however, and all you need to do is get out into the canyons and oak woodlands where they occur, though I once saw a solitary male coati mundi wandering up Brewery Gulch in Bisbee and headed for a beer no doubt.
The photos are mine. I loved the slopes with saguaros and junipers and you can see the dead juniper that must have been the nurse plant for the saguaro in the photo. I took dozens of photos of coatis, but here are two that I liked: a coati hanging upside down in a hackberry tree…note the tall tail below… and a handsome youngster walking across the wash.
