Rockhound State Park near Deming, NM

We left Kartchner Caverns State Park near Benson, AZ about 10 a.m. today and got to Rockhound State Park near Deming, NM about 4 p.m. That six hours included a stop at a rest area, gas for the rig ($117 for 33.6 gallons) and the loss of an hour because Arizona ignores Daylight Savings time.  

 We'd briefly visited Rockhound in December 2011and wanted to come back and explore some more.  We'll also plan our trip home to SLC for grandson Marshall’s first birthday on April 24. We'd like to drive north through New Mexico's mountains; we'll watch the weather to see if we can go that way or if we should make the trek via Arizona.

Meanwhile, yesterday at Kartchner we hiked part of the Guindani Trail that starts at the park but quickly goes into the Coronado National Forest.

Jim on the Guindani Trail near Kartchner State Park south of Benson, Arizona.  Ahead of him to his left is an agave, which dies after shooting out a huge flowered stalk.

Bev and a still-living agave.

Since two people warned us to look out for rattlers on this trail,  Jim carried a stick and tapped it on the ground as he walked.  That's supposed to create a vibration to make snakes scatter.  We didn't see any rattlers, so maybe it worked. But I think their reptile brains just move them in and out of the sun as needed and sometimes people get in the way.

Our spot at Rockhound State Park near Deming, NM.  The sites are huge; I stepped ours off and it's about 66 feet by 66 feet.  There's also at least that much space between camp sites.