Long overdue! Chiricahua National Monument
Way, way, way overdue. Trying to catch up on the rest of our trip, before the New Year is upon us. SO, we headed west from El Paso, back into the very southern border of New Mexico. No joke, that drive was nothing but Border Patrol. Very little to see landscapewise, but at least 8 Border Patrol agents in a 2 hour stretch, on the road that borders Mexico.
We had heard of this place called Chiricahua National Monument from neighbours at a campground early in our trip. It's in the south eastern corner of Arizona, just south of I-10, and has some of the most unusual rock formations. True story: without our reading glasses on, Gav and I both thought it was Chihuahua, like the dog. Nope, it's pronounced Cheery-cah-how, just in case you go, you won't embarrass yourself like we did!
We had read that the campground at the park was very small, didn't take reservations and filled up quickly. Thank god for the internet, we found a tip for a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) site that was just on the other side of the mountains from the park. We did have to hike on foot about a mile, to make sure we would be able to get in and out with our trailer, but that hike + a shovel (for the super uneven site) and we had a free campsite for 2 nights. There were at least a couple of other people camping at the site, but we could hardly see them. For the most part, our only neighbours were cows and donkeys.
Up and early the next moring and we headed over Apache Pass Road and into the park. Turns out there was an annual fun run going on, so there was lots of activity at the park entrance and the campground was way full. We were very happy with our decision to camp out on the other side of the mountains; we would not have had a place to camp in the park and there's really nothing for about 20 miles outside of the park. This fun run, the Boulederdash, includes a 30-ish kilometer run into, through and back out of the park. I don't call that fun. I call that torture. Anyway, we opted for the once daily hiker's shuttle that drops you at the end of the 8 mile road into the park. We then hiked 7-ish miles through the heart of the super cool rock formations and back to the visitors center, mostly downhill!
What's the deal with the weird rocks, you ask? The rocks are mainly rhyolite, some of them hundreds of feet tall. Many of the formations and most of the hiking trails in the park were named/created by the Civilian Conservation Core in the 1930's. If you don't know what the CCC is, go ahead and google it. If you've ever hiked in any national park, there's a very good chance you've seen their work. But that's a whole other post. Back to those rocks...
About 27 million years ago, there was a volcanic eruption. The ash and debris that that settled and compacted in this area was mostly rhyolite; time and weather has eroded and fissured the rock into the shapes that you see today. You would never know these rocks are here, until you get into the heart of the park, the landscape is very bland looking from a distance, but what a cool surprise when you see it up close!
I think this one looks like a gorilla!
Duck on a rock!
Balanced Rock..
We had heard of this place called Chiricahua National Monument from neighbours at a campground early in our trip. It's in the south eastern corner of Arizona, just south of I-10, and has some of the most unusual rock formations. True story: without our reading glasses on, Gav and I both thought it was Chihuahua, like the dog. Nope, it's pronounced Cheery-cah-how, just in case you go, you won't embarrass yourself like we did!
We had read that the campground at the park was very small, didn't take reservations and filled up quickly. Thank god for the internet, we found a tip for a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) site that was just on the other side of the mountains from the park. We did have to hike on foot about a mile, to make sure we would be able to get in and out with our trailer, but that hike + a shovel (for the super uneven site) and we had a free campsite for 2 nights. There were at least a couple of other people camping at the site, but we could hardly see them. For the most part, our only neighbours were cows and donkeys.
Up and early the next moring and we headed over Apache Pass Road and into the park. Turns out there was an annual fun run going on, so there was lots of activity at the park entrance and the campground was way full. We were very happy with our decision to camp out on the other side of the mountains; we would not have had a place to camp in the park and there's really nothing for about 20 miles outside of the park. This fun run, the Boulederdash, includes a 30-ish kilometer run into, through and back out of the park. I don't call that fun. I call that torture. Anyway, we opted for the once daily hiker's shuttle that drops you at the end of the 8 mile road into the park. We then hiked 7-ish miles through the heart of the super cool rock formations and back to the visitors center, mostly downhill!
What's the deal with the weird rocks, you ask? The rocks are mainly rhyolite, some of them hundreds of feet tall. Many of the formations and most of the hiking trails in the park were named/created by the Civilian Conservation Core in the 1930's. If you don't know what the CCC is, go ahead and google it. If you've ever hiked in any national park, there's a very good chance you've seen their work. But that's a whole other post. Back to those rocks...
About 27 million years ago, there was a volcanic eruption. The ash and debris that that settled and compacted in this area was mostly rhyolite; time and weather has eroded and fissured the rock into the shapes that you see today. You would never know these rocks are here, until you get into the heart of the park, the landscape is very bland looking from a distance, but what a cool surprise when you see it up close!
Comments
Post a Comment