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| Hiking | 8.30 Miles |
1,600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.30 Miles | | | |
| 1,600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Roland and I had heard lots of positive comments about the Chiricahua's from friends and after reading the comments posted, we took advantage of the cooler weather and headed South East for day hiking and overnight camping in the Chiricahua National Monument.
The park is easy to get around and about eight miles from end to end. If you can't hike or just want to do short walks there's the "Faraway Ranch" and the "Stafford Cabin" or drive to the end and enjoy a breath taking view at Massai Point and have a picnic. They offer a tour of the "Faraway Ranch," but we were up early and didn't want to wait, so just walked around the "ranch" and "cabin" and peeked in the windows. Also, the Visitor Center is really impressive for its size...they show videos about how the mountain was formed, some plant and animal species, and history about the Apaches.
There are NO services...NO gasoline, food or restaurants. Willcox is pretty much your last opportunity to stock up. The park has clean bathrooms (no showers and no solar showers allowed). There are bear boxes for food storage, bear proof garbage cans, running water bibs, grills, picnic tables, and raised tent sites at the Bonita Canyon campground. The one and only campground (open all year round...I think 24 sites), is first come, first serve, and has strict food rules. Trailers up to 26 feet long are allowed. Roland saw skunks in the campsite and you'll get visited by the aggressive Mexican Jays anytime you pull food out.
The Chiricahua's are known as a great bird watching area, but we only saw two species and lots of fat lizards getting ready for winter. Luckily, no bears, snakes, or rabid foxes (two were running around at the time and information was posted on what to do and not do). At the time the park was changing phone services, so the only place to make phone calls were at the Visitor Center. We have TMobile and had NO phone service until we got near Tucson. Not even in Willcox or Benson!
We took the Echo Canyon trail to the Sarah Deming trail and sure enough, the "Heart of Rocks" is a must. We still haven't figured out the "Old Maid" rock, but "Punch and Judy," "Big Balanced Rock," "Pinnacle Balanced Rock," and "Duck on a Rock" were obvious. The trails offered beautiful views of the rock spires and variety of trees. Besides the "Heart of Rocks," my favorite was at the bottom of the canyon where your walking along a wash (dry that day...1st of November). It's very peaceful and you could hear the wind whistling through the tree tops. The weather was warmer than usual, but we lucked out with a continuous breeze. The trail was not crowded...we ran into two on horseback, and five other hikers. Some areas, you can walk side by side. I need more ankle support, so wore hiking boots, but Roland does just fine in sneakers. As Roland said, we socialized a little too long with one couple, and had to hustle out of there. We had flashlights, but even then, there are steep drop offs on the trail...wouldn't recommend night hiking. We did get some dark clouds in the afternoon, but no rain. We really enjoyed this hike and would of liked to see "Inspiration Point," but short on time. We also liked taking it easy the next day with the short side trails and visiting the Vistors Center. For more information they have a website: http://www.nps.gov/chir |
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