Everywhere you look in southeast Arizona, mountain ranges rise abruptly from the broad horizon -- like massive islands in the sky. These ranges offer outstanding opportunities for hiking the high elevations and deep canyons.

Geno and I did hikes of the Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains and, with the Saurs, Echo Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains.

Geno and Gary Ballangee, our great new friend from Colorado, hiked the Guindani and Saddle trails in the Whetstone Mountains. With local hiking groups, they trekked to a historic mining camp in the Santa Rita Mountains and to snowy Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains.