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 ...