May 12th - Tucson to Chiricahua National Monument

Leaving Liz's in Tucson in my new RV shirt

I left Liz’s home in Tucson about 10:00 this morning and headed east on Highway 10. I drove to Wilcox, Arizona and from there turned south on 186, a scenic road, to Chiricahua National Monument. The monument is a small area within the Coronado National Forest in southeast Arizona.

On the way to Wilcox I made on stop at Council Rock where there is a distinct outcrop of large, rounded boulders and piles of rocks. A commemorative marker at the rest stop said Council Rock was where Cochise and the Chiricahua Apache ratified a peace treaty in 1872. An interpretive sign explained how Cochise and Geronimo used the surrounding rocks as fortresses. Cochise successfully evaded capture for 12 years.

The Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924. Near the visitor center there is a monument to the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) that built the buildings and structures in the park. This piqued my interest because three years ago I suggested that the theme for that year’s HALS (Historic American Landscapes Survey) Challenge should be to document projects built by the CCC during Roosevelt’s New Deal program – 1933-1942. The idea proved to be very popular. As I recall the National Park Service received the highest number of HALS submissions that year. 

Chiricahua Natl Monumnet Visitor Center built by the CCC

Park signs by the CCC

6-sided Exhibit Building at Massai Point built by the CCC

I did two short hikes while in the park. First to Massai Point and then a one mile hike to Echo Canyon Grotto. Each offered views of varied rock formations – pinnacles, totems, columns and unnerving stacked boulders. It was a pretty rugged but safe trail and hot.

If you blow this up you can see Cochise's head - he is
lying in the middle of the hill

One of the many unnerving balanced rocks in the park

This spot is known as the grotto even though
there is no water anywhere nearby

A large collection of stacked rocks

Tonight I am back in Wilcox with the air conditioning on high waiting for it to cool down outside. Tomorrow I’m headed for New Mexico.

Council Rock Rest stop on Highway 10

Geronimo and his warriors from the interpretive sign

View from Massai Point

This illustrates the entire 12,025 acre park.
The monument is the square gray area near
the top