Chiricahua National Monument - Faraway Ranch and Snow

Go figure ... it has been a warmer than average (by 10 to 12 degrees) spring and we managed to go camping for the few days of a cold spell ... complete with snow!  The snow did not stick and quickly turned to a cold, intermittent rain, but cold and gray nonetheless.  We were very glad to have had our hike to Heart of Rocks yesterday when we had blue skies.  And decided to leave a day early than planned, but not before a big breakfast and another hike ...

We had breakfast with the McDougals and a couple of friends who wanted some of Jim's bacon.  Kathy caught the Mexican jays in the act of scoping out possibilities ...

We took a shorter hike down to the Faraway Ranch site in the Monument (Jim and Kathy drove ... doctor's orders ... minimize walking, maximize healing).  This was a guest ranch established by hard-working Swedish immigrants, Emma and Nels Erickson, and their daughters, Lillian and Hildegard, and later owned by their son, Benjamin.  Lillian and her husband, Ed Riggs, took a major role in both creating the guest ranch and in pushing to create the Chiricahua National Monument (1924).  Ed was also the trail supervisor for a C.C.C. that built most of the trail system in the Monument.  Good reason to encourage immigration to our country ... hard-working, risk-taking, energetic and forward-looking immigrants can and do make our country great ... no walls, please!

US Forest Service volunteer interpreting the history of Faraway Ranch ... note the fireplace which has rocks inscribed by soldiers who had left their names in rocks that had built a memorial at the entry of the canyon and were incorporated into the fireplace, including the name of a future president, James Garfield, and the name of the first African American graduate of West Point Academy, H. O. Flipper.

On our way back we found some Coue's white-tailed deer enjoying the meadow that previously had housed the C.C.C. camp... (smaller deer, found at higher elevations in Arizona)

And, we introduce a couple of Bambi's new travel companions, Olivia and her son, Rojo, who hope to join Bambi on all of his travels ...

Chiricahua National Monument - Heart of Rocks Trail

Another quick trip out to explore our desert Southwest ... Bambi wants to make sure that we realize that we can take short outings to explore our own backyard as well as taking longer trips. We made reservations, months ago, to stay at the Bonita Campground in the Chiricahua National Monument with our friends, Jim and Kathy McDougal, and Bambi's fellow traveler, Lucy.  

Bambi tucked into a tight space in Bonita Campground in the Chiricahua National Monument.

Jim McDougal with his travel trailer, Lucy. 

You may notice a walking "boot" on Jim's right foot ... unfortunately his foot met with an offending rock while exiting Bambi on the first night (while preparing steaks for all of us) resulting in a broken toe necessitating a quick visit to Willcox for urgent care while we went on a hike to the Heart of Rocks area.  Kathy accompanied Jim to Willcox while we headed out on a hike from the Visitor's Center on the Lower Rhyolite Trail on to the Sarah Deming Trail up to the Heart of Rocks area ... 8.4 miles, 1,700+ elevation gain, but worth every step.

View of the rhyolite columns from the Lower Rhyolite Trail.

My hiking buddy ...

and me ...

Pinnacle Balanced Rock

"Punch and Judy" rock formation 

And, as always, the data, this time on an iPhone App, Gaia, that Paul is testing in lieu of using the GPS ...

As an added note, Paul also used this data at the Visitor's Center to document the fact that we had hiked over 5 miles netting us both a pin that is being handed out as part of a Hike for Health program in the National Park system ... this pin featured the Chiricahua National Monument logo with the tag line "Rhyolite Rocks!".  

Spring is coming a bit slowly at this elevation, but some early bloomers out ...