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 ...