It was an unusually warm summer day when I hiked the Sipe White Mountain Wildlife Area with the local hiking group, TRACKS. We started hiking the High Point Loop Trail behind the Visitor Center and, after just the short 1.5-mile ascent and descent, my dog Duncan and I finished off our bottles of water. There was, however, a more than slight change in elevation and it felt like it increased the intensity of the sun’s rays. The views from on top of the rock outcroppings made it worth the trek and the petroglyphs on the front side of the cliffs provided the icing on the cake. 

Once we returned from our first jaunt, we sat on picnic tables under the large willowy trees that drape over the parking lot, ate snacks, hydrated and then headed over to the ruins of the Rudd Creek Pueblo. Our casual stroll through the many vintage cabins and barns (housing for managers, biologist and other agency visitors -- including wildlife) on our way to the trail was interrupted by my dog chasing free-range chickens — beware of free-range chickens! I caught my dog well before any damage was done but Ron, the Area manager, told me that these chickens are very capable of taking care of themselves -- often to the detriment of the dog. So, it’s a good idea to keep canines on a leash. 

 

The ruins of the Rudd Creek Pueblo are crumbling back into the ground that they were built from. Pottery remnants of the once bustling small community of these Pueblo People lie on top of large stones to remind us of their ancient past — about 1225 A.D. There are portions of masonry walls — sections of the estimated 50 rooms that housed about seven to eight families. According to the information provided at the site, the families that occupied this Pueblo only stayed for about 75 years. They believe that the Rudd Creek Pueblo was one of many villages along the northern edge of the White Mountains which were occupied during the 13th century.

After leaving the ruins, we headed south past a duck blind that overlooked a mucky McKay Reservoir. We were on our way to the old Nelson Homestead. I was fortunate to have seen the homestead with its wooden exterior still standing. In fact, I drew the picture of it for the sign that is posted in front of what is left after it burned to the ground in the Wallow Fire. I always imagined that it would have been pretty astounding to step out on the porch of this cabin each day and stand in the shadow of Escudilla Mountain. It has a history that is pretty much unparalleled in comparison to many other surrounding mountains. It was the home of Big Foot, the last grizzly bear in Arizona. “Wherever they rode, they saw the mountain (Escudilla, Spanish for ‘bowl’), and when they saw the mountain, they thought of bear,” Conservationist Aldo Leopold states in his book “A Sand County Almanac.” No one really ever saw him but they would see his tracks and once Leopold saw one of his kills. “The cow’s skull and neck were pulp, as if she had collided head-on with a fast freight.” Big Foot was stalked by a government trapper who tried traps, poison and “all his usual wiles,” to no avail. The bear was too smart but ole Big Foot was eventually done in by a set-gun — he walked into the string and shot himself. “His pelt was foul, patchy and worthless,” said Leopold, “all he left was a skull in the National Museum.” Sadly, much of Escudilla’s beautiful landscape was demolished by the Wallow Fire too. Because of a fire in the 1950s, Escudilla was singled out as one the most incredible Autumn hikes in the area. Most of the mountain was covered with golden aspen that formed tunnels of color. I hiked it a couple of years ago and the young aspen are once again devouring the hillside but there are still a lot of remnants of the devastation that The Wallow Fire created. The Wallow Fire was human caused.

After we left the Nelson Homestead, we headed back to the Visitor Center. All in all, we hiked about 5.6 miles and saw some pretty amazing sites. 

A variety of animals can be found at Sipe, including eagles and other raptors, deer, elk, turkey, pronghorn antelope, small mammals and waterfowl. An assortment of grassland and pinyon-juniper woodland birds can be seen and heard on the property. In the summer, nesting birds include rufous and broad-tailed hummingbirds, Lewis’ and acorn woodpeckers and mountain bluebirds. For the best birding spot, work your way along Rudd Creek and be sure to spend some time in the orchard near the Visitor Center. Elk can be found at Sipe all year but, in fall and winter, you will have an increased chance to see them. Lower Rudd Creek is home to a native fish community that includes Little Colorado spinedace, speckled dace and bluehead mountain-sucker.

If you go, start off at the Visitor Center which is closed now -- due to COVID-19 -- but the grounds are still open to the public seven days a week from mid-May to mid-October. Activities at Sipe include walking and hiking trails, biking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing and photography, picnicking and visiting the historic and prehistoric cultural sites. Please don’t enter or dig around these sites. There are interpretive trail signs and maps with trail information in the parking area.

To get to Sipe from Eagar, take U.S. Highway 191/180 south toward Alpine for about two miles to the signed turnoff at the top of the first hill. Drive south five miles to the Sipe property on a gravel road suitable for passenger cars.