MILEPOSTS

Try a Jeep Adventure, Shop a Street Fair, Raft White Water, Mosey to a Cowboy Festival SOUTHERN ARIZONA JEEP TOURS TAKE YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO

Whether you want to experience the past, appreciate the present, or just enjoy the unique beauty of southeastern Arizona up close, High Desert Adventures/Classic Jeep Tours is worth checking out. Jon C. Lauderbaugh's Benson-based company offers private and group excursions into the remote high desert southeast of Tucson via open-air or hardtop jeeps. Areas of interest include the Dragoon, Patagonia, Santa Rita, and Huachuca mountain ranges, and the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area.Trip destinations encompass storied ghost towns such as Duquesne, Washington Camp, Harshaw, Pearce, and Fairbank; the historic and scenic Boquillas Ranch; the Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site; the ill-fated Presidio Santa Cruz de Terranate outpost site; the Dragoon Springs Stage Stop; petroglyph sites; the fascinating Amerind Foundation museum; and Old West icons such as Tombstone, "the town too tough to die."

Tucson pick-ups and foreign language translators are available. For more information, call (520) 586-9309.

TRY FLY-FISHING

So you've always wanted to try fly-fishing, but don't know how to tie a fly, or cast a line properly, or where to find the best warm-water lakes, rivers, and streams?A fly-fishing school just might solve those problems and provide a relaxing vacation to boot. Nestled among the pines in the White Mountains, Greer Lodge offers group and private fly-fishing lessons throughout the summer. For information, call toll-free (888) 475-6343. Also operating in far eastern Arizona, two more fly-fishing schools await: the Arizona Fly-Fishing School, (602) 730-6808, and Glenn Tinnin's Compleat Fly-fishing, (602) 368-9280.

For more about fishing, fly and otherwise, in this scenic mountain country, call the Pine-top-Lakeside Chamber of Commerce at (520) 367-4290.

FARAWAY RANCH ISN'T SO FAR AWAY ANYMORE

Visiting Faraway Ranch in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona is easier now than when the Erickson family pioneered there in the late 1880s. Today history buffs, hikers, and birders show up to tour the historic ranch house and to explore what is now Chiricahua National Monument.

Neil and Emma Erickson built the ranch house in Bonita Canyon after Geronimo's surrender in 1886. By 1923 their daughter Lillian and her husband, Ed Riggs, had turned the place into a guest ranch, calling it Faraway Ranch because it was "so godawful far away from everything." They took friends on horseback into the Chiricahua Mountains' "wonderland of rocks," and their efforts to showcase the area proved instrumental in establishing the national monument.

The Chiricahuas are home to the elegant trogon and other unusual birds, as well as a wide variety of flora and fauna normally found in the Mexican Sierra Madres all visible from more than 20 miles of hiking trails. Campgrounds also are available. Entrance fees to the national monument are $6 per vehicle or $3 per person. The visitors center is open daily except Christmas from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. Tours of Faraway Ranch cost $2, adults; free, under age 12. Call (520) 824-3560, ext. 104, for more information.

THE SAGUARO BOOK

The image of the majestic saguaro is virtually impossible to separate from our notions of the Southwestern desert, and this full-color celebration called The Great Saguaro Book shows why.

Author-photographer Susan Hazen-Hammond has spent years in the Sonoran Desert, and this book presents more than 100 of her best images. It is replete with witty and delightful text describing cactus lore, legend, and weird and wonderful tales. The book showcases saguaros like never before set against a sunset, decorated for the holidays, and as food and shelter for desert creatures. Hazen-Hammond's book celebrates the beauty, environmental role, and mythical charm of one of the world's unique treasures. The author offers the photos and an "ode to these endlessly intriguing, endlessly creative megaplants."

The Great Saguaro Book (160 pages, paperback) is available for $16.95 from Ten Speed Press, P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707; (510) 559-1600, FAX (510) 524-4588-Richard G. Stahl

A LAKE FOR THE BIRDS

Birders will delight in the variety of feathered friends that make Lynx Lake their year-round or seasonal home, or make a migratory stop there on the way to other climes. Lynx Lake nestles in a thick pine forest in Prescott Valley on Walker Road, off State Route 69. Species that may be seen there include the bushtit, mountain chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, black-headed grosbeak, and western wood pewee. Lakeshore Trail, which cruises the lake's perimeter, provides two and a half miles of excellent birding opportunities.

At the halfway point, a large platform high in a ponderosa attracts nesting ospreys. Hummingbirds frequently buzz Hilltop Campground, a mile south of the lake on Forest Service Road 197.

For more information on Lynx Lake, contact the Prescott National Forest, (520) 771-4700. For an informative book on birding in the area, try Kathy Wingert's Birding in and Around Prescott and the Verde Valley; $5 plus $1 shipping and handling, Left Hand Press, Prescott; (520) 445-5062.

WHITE-WATER RAFTING

Arch marks the beginning of the white-water rafting season through the corridors of the scenic Salt River Canyon, located two hours east of Phoenix. Rafting trips begin at the Salt River Canyon Trading Post on U.S. 60 north of Globe. Thrilling rapids, riverside hot springs, waterfalls, and abundant wildlife make for an unforgettable ride through this 2-billion-year-old, 2,000-foot-deep desert canyon. Oneto five-day excursions and several different kinds of rafting trips are available. For more information on white-water rafting in the Salt River Canyon, call the Greater Globe-Miami Chamber of Commerce toll-free at (800) 804-5623.

EVENTS Balloon Festival

March 5-7; Parker More than 40 hot-air balloons will compete in special events, including a hound and hare race, at this 10th Annual Arizona West Balloonfest. The town of Parker sits along the Colorado River on the aptly named Parker Strip, an 11-mile waterside stretch between the town and Parker Dam. There also will be sky divers to entertain the crowd, a barbecue, and a Health Fair. Information: (520) 669-5460.

Civil War Reenactment

March 13-14; Picacho Peak Relive Arizona's most significant Civil War battle as authentically outfitted soldiers of the North and South re-create the Battle of Picacho Pass at Picacho Peak State Park. The battles of Valverde and Glorieta Pass, which took place in New Mexico, also will be reenacted. Watch cavalry and artillery demonstrations, and visit the soldiers' encampments to see 1860s-style activities like laundering, candle making, sewing, and cooking, as well as period fashion shows. Food will be available, or bring your own cooler. Gates open at 10A.M.; activities run from 10:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. Call for vehicle admission charge. Information: (520) 466-3183.

Western Festival

March 18-21; Scottsdale The US West National Festival of the West, held annually at Rawhide, pays special tribute this year to the roles the black cowboy and the Buffalo Soldiers played in settling the West. Four days of pure cowboy fun will include a merchant show, a music jamboree, cowboy poetry, a film festival, a chuck wagon cook-off, mounted shooting and working ranch horse competitions, costume contests, mountain men activities, and a special kid's corral. Call for hours, admission prices, and event schedule. Information: (602) 996-4387.

Street Fair

March 19-21; Tucson This fourth annual street fair offers "Arizona's largest community-wide celebration of arts, crafts, food, and entertainment." You will find moderate to upscale juried vendors' booths lining nine blocks of Fourth Avenue from University to Ninth Street. A special kids' section will keep youngsters busy with face painting and other activities. There also will be a virtual-reality display, two food courts, and live entertainment on several stages. The Old Pueblo Trolley will shuttle visitors from the entrance at University up Fourth Avenue. Fair admission is free.

Photo Workshops SEARCHING FOR WILDFLOWERS IN THE SONORAN DESERT

The Sonoran Desert is the most botanically diverse in the world, and you'll see what we mean when you join photographer Randy Prentice and the Friends of Arizona Highways, March 20 to 25, for an intimate Photo Workshop. Observe golden poppies, blue lupines, and pink owl clover quivering in the morning air beneath the bizarre shapes of giant ocotillos and rare organ pipe cactuses. Roam the endless waves of windswept sand dunes, and wander the rugged landscape of the Anza Borrego area where dainty desert blossoms sparkle like jewels against their thorny gray-green companions.

For more about this trip and a complete schedule of Photo Workshops, contact the Friends of Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 6106, Phoenix, AZ 85005-6106; toll-free (888) 790-7042 or (602) 271-5904.

Photo Workshop dates for March through May, 1999:

Information: toll-free (800) 933-2477, or (520) 624-5004.

O'odham Day

March 20; Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument This festival of O'odham traditions features demonstrations of basketweaving, pottery making, dry-land farming techniques, and native uses of desert plants, as well as games, storytelling, and dancing. In the Kid's Corner, the smaller set gets hands-on experience in such traditional activities as grinding with metates. Activities run from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. in the group campground area 35 miles south of Ajo on State Route 85. The park entrance fee will be waived, and admission is free. Information: (520) 387-6849.

Folk Music Festival

March 20-21; Phoenix Organizers of the 10th Annual Phoenix Folk Traditions Music Festival say that this year's event promises to be better than ever. More than 200 musical artists from around the state will perform on six stages in and around the Encanto Park Clubhouse. Enjoy folk, blues, Celtic, cowboy, country, bluegrass, and traditional folk music. Workshops and jam sessions by various artists will round out the activities. The festival runs from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; admission is free. Information: (602) 495-5458.