We worked the morning away, but after lunch we drove over to Willcox, AZ, to the Chiricahua National Monument. I think this is one of my FAVORITE National parks. It was absolutely amazing! From the visitor center, you are climbing up a sky island-an isolated mountain range rising above the surrounding grassland "sea". From the visitor center, you drive through 8 miles of rock pinnacles, balancing rocks, and many other formations to the summit at Massai Point. There is a 1/2 mile trail around the rim of the peak, overlooking the canyons of pinnacle rocks. The view is just amazing. It is like looking at a fairy tale, or like a hillside of organ pipes, or like a scene out of The Lord of the Rings. Rocks are balancing in impossible positions, and you wonder why they haven't fallen down yet. The columns and pinnacles of rock are so tall and so deep. It was just amazing.
We then rode the short distance over to Echo Canyon, and hiked the mile trail out to the Echo Canyon Grotto. What a trail!! Each turn and twist had another amazing vista or amazing rock formation. Without a doubt, this was one of my favorite parks and hiking experiences. Since we got there in the afternoon, we couldn't spend as much time there as we could have. There were many more trails we could have taken, but. . .
The area around these Chiracahua Mountains was a lot greener than other areas in the desert. We even saw ranches with cattle grazing. You could tell, this area has a lot more water. On the way out of the park, we saw a Coatimundi at the side of the road. This is a black, long tailed, white faced, animal from central america -- very rare.
What a delightful day.
Chiracahua National Monument photos (there a many):
Coatimundi photo:
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