A RETURN TO THE CHIRICAHUA NATIONAL MONUMENT

 

 

STOPPED TO HAVE A WEE CHAT WITH A HORSE THIS MORNING

We had the Jeep wheels rolling by 8:30 this morning heading north up the Sulphur Springs Valley.  A couple quick stops for pictures, a chat with a horse alongside the road & we rolled into the Chiricahua National Monument at 9:40 a.m.  Made an important stop at the Visitor Center where Kelly, after 62 years, was finally able to purchase a lifetime free entry pass to all the National Parks in America.  It’s called an ‘America The Beautiful’ pass & has a bunch of other perks with it.  Kelly has dual citizenship, having been born in American at Rochester NY.

   

LOOK FOR THE REPOSING PROFILE OF THE GREAT INDIAN CHIEF, COCHISE

This was our second trip to the CHIRICAHUA NATIONAL MONUMENT.  Our first time at the Monument was a couple years ago & it was a very cold windy day up in the mountains so we didn’t stray far from the car & didn’t do any trails.  But, we did visit the FARAWAY RANCH at that time & it was a worth while tour of an old Ranch homestead from yesteryear.  It is located in a Canyon within the Park.  Today we headed directly for the Echo Canyon Trail.  One of the most popular & scenic trails in the Park located at the 6,780 level it loops out 3.3 miles through some of the greatest rock formations I have ever seen.  It is truly one of those places where the phrase, ‘with each step a thousand photographs’ could have been coined.

  

KELLY GETS HER ‘AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL’ PASS AT THE VISITOR’S CENTER

  

Average time to do the trail is 2 hours but of course we ended up taking 4 hours to get around it.  Many stops for photos along the way with occasional rock scrambles alongside the main trail.   For me, it is day’s like this that make the RV lifestyle the greatness that it is.  I am not going to try & describe the beauty we saw today but over the next couple days I will post a few pictures of what we saw & I will also put together a Picasa Web Album in the next few days with all the photos from today’s hike.  I took 233 pictures today & on my first edit threw 103 of them in the trash bin.  The poorest lighting for photography is bright mid day sunshine & I was disappointed with the lighting in a lot of the photos.

 

We did underestimate the length of the trail today.  After last weeks long drive from Ontario Canada our legs were no way in any kind of hiking condition & the last uphill grade really had us bearing down & concentrating on getting our aching limbs back to the parking lot & planting our buns firmly into the waiting comfortable Jeep seats.

(click pics to enlarge)

We had planned on stopping in to see our friends Carol & Rosanne at the PAWS & HOOVES ranch near Sunizona but we were just too tired plus the fact we had taken a couple hours longer than planned.  We always worry about our doggy guys when we are away for any length of time.  Of course the guys were all fine when we got back to the rig & we were welcomed with the usual flurry of wagging tails.  I have a feeling Saturday is going to very relaxed day hanging out at the rig:))))))

SHORT CHAT WITH A GROUP OF HIKERS WE MET ON THE TRAIL

More photos of today’s hike…tomorrow:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((   A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one day.

The Russian said, "We were the first in space!"

The American said, "We were the first on the moon!"

The Blonde said, "So what? We're going to be the first on the sun!"

The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their heads.

"You can't land on the sun, you idiot! You'll burn up!" said the Russian.

To which the Blonde replied, "We're not stupid, you know. We're going at night!"

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.