Tue, Mar 22 (Lordsburg NM)
03.22.05
We didn’t sleep all that well and decided to get out of bed early and get going. We finished breakfast and were on the road before 9am.
Harlan’s plan was to take I-10 west and then go south on 80, and approach Chiricahua National Monument from the back roads at Portal AZ. Brenda vetoed the idea because it is a 24 mile/1.5 hour journey over bumpy, winding, unpaved, and very scenic road. Instead we continued in to AZ, turning south at Bowie to pass by Fort Bowie National Historic Site, and then taking 186 east to Chiricahua. This mostly dirt road was pleasant, and it was a beautiful drive.
We got to Chiricahua around 11:30, and checked with the rangers to see where to hike. We drove to the end of the scenic road to the Massai Point, and prepared for something between 2 and 10+ miles of hiking. We’ll update this with better information when we find the maps, but for now know that Harlan had a mostly fresh roll of 36 exposure film in the camera and another roll of 27 exposure film with him. It wasn’t enough film. After a little while, Brenda took over the digital camera for the hike.
Amazing place – we would love to come back and spend several days here. As we were hiking out, the moon was rising in the east as the sun was setting. Astonishingly beautiful.
We walked about 8.5 miles, and considering it was our first day of hiking since we got sick and we were at 6000-7000′ elevation, we did OK.
We finally found a hotel in Tucson, and will spend at least one more night here. Tomorrow we have some errands to run and want to visit Saguaro National Park.