The Chiricahua National Monument bills itself as, ” A Wonderland of Rocks”. Indeed it is. Located outside Wilcox, AZ, the National Monument was created in 1824. It is one of the lesser visited monuments since it is pretty nearly in the middle of nowhere. Rhyolite rock pinnacles rise sometimes hundreds of feet in the air and there are thousands of them all packed together. These are exactly what the monument was created to protect. We drove around the monument and did a few short hikes…this was our recovery day afterall.
Pinnacles, columns and balancing rocks are just some of the fascinating geology on display throughout the monument. Originally angular and blocky, these features were smoothed to their present cylindrical and hourglass shapes by chemical weathering, repeated freezing and thawing, lichen attack, and other processes during the last 10,000 years.
Sugarloaf Mountain is pretty much the tallest point in the monument if you don’t count the unnamed ridge on the northern boundary of the park. At the top of the 7310′ mountain is a lookout built by the CCC in the 1930’s. It’s a short hike to the top at only .9 miles.
We visited Echo Canyon and Massai Point as well. Both offer hiking options depending on how far you want to go. Massai Point is the end of the park loop and the 360 view was a highlight. If you’re ever in the area I highly recommend a visit here.
This was Derek’s birthday so we completed the night with birthday beers. We picked up a new to us beer from Left Hand Brewing. It’s called White Russian Nitro and is an 8.9% stout with coffee, vanilla, and hints of chocolate. It is a beer I’ll only buy once probably, it was a bit too sweet after we pigged out on the peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate chips!
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