Mr. Sirena and I camped at Barfoot Park in the Chiricahuas for our anniversary this week. I woke up early and decided to check out a trail that was marked in the park, but unsigned as to where it went. I made sure Mr. Sirena was still sleeping soundly when I left, but I forgot to leave a note. There was a steep ascent up to a saddle and then I came upon a sign that said it was only another quarter-mile to the lookout itself. I didn't realize that the trail in the park led to the lookout, perhaps I would not have started up the trail in my red long underwear and sandals. At the lookout, there was a nice old couple from Portal that was looking for a short-tailed hawk that lives in the area- they got me in my pj's instead.

The views from the lookout at 8823 ft. are spectacular, even more so since I had just been in the Chiricahua Monument last week and had Wendy point out landmarks to me. I always enjoy the view so much more when I know what mountains I am looking at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSRt9g4NagM

There was no one manning (womanning) the lookout, the couple said she didn't show up till after 9am the last couple of times they were there. The hike down took no time at all and I approached our campsite, hoping Brian would still be asleep and my hike would go unnoticed. No luck, he'd been awake since just after I left and was starting to worry a little because I'd not left a note. I made nice by offering to cook him breakfast

After breakfast, we walked through Barfoot Park and looked at the spring and then went to see the scree slopes of Barfoot Peak. We'd been hearing rockfall all morning, and when we got to the base of the peak, we could see several hikers very slowly making their way down the unstable slopes.