Chiricahua National Monument
This place wasn’t on my radar at all, so credit to Molly for her continuous research into cool places for us to check out. Chiricahua is pretty far from anything, but the beautiful hike we did was worth the long drive.
Indian Bread Rocks Recreation Area
Before heading into Chiricahua, we spent one night at this remote campground. Out-of-the-way places like this are one of the big reasons we’re loving this trip.
Chiricahua National Monument
Bonita Canyon Campground
Immediately on pulling into our campsite, Molly looked across a nearby creek and saw this guy plodding along. We had no idea what we were looking at; at first I thought it was some kind of badger. White-nosed coatis are native to the park, but this is the only one we saw in our brief visit.
Arizona White-tailed Deer are a smaller cousin of regular White-tails. The Mexican Jays are a loud menace, and there were signs around telling you not to feed them (I think they’re a fun bird, but they are very vocal). I was happy to get some decent photos of an Acorn Woodpecker, after seeing a few last year in California.
Echo Canyon - Sarah Deming - Heart of Rocks - Balanced Rock - Mushroom - Ed Riggs Trail
What a hike! Constantly changing views, incredible rock formations, beautiful weather, and almost no one else on the trail. Photography was a little challenging because the light was often harsh, but Molly was patient with me every time I wanted to stop and wait for a cloud to roll over. This was one of those ideal situations where one big hike let you see most of the park.
The Next Morning
The campground was heavily wooded (a nice little treat after a month in the desert), which meant we couldn’t get signal with our Starlink internet. I had a phone call scheduled with a recruiter, so I made the short hike over to the visitor’s center to use their wifi. It had poured rain overnight, and was still drizzling pretty good as I made my way. There was a good fog over the nearby mountains, and I cursed myself for not bringing my camera (though I probably would’ve been late for the phone call if I stopped to take pictures, soooo…). As I was standing outside talking on the phone, I got to clearly watch the rain slowly change to snow on the mountain tops, and then make its way down into the valley. I took these few shots on my phone as I walked back to the campground, and then we got the heck out of there before we got snowed in.
