Chiricahua National Monument

“I’ve got it! Let’s do all the trails!” I announce to Jan as I'm pouring over maps of Chiricahua National Monument.

We don’t really. But we cover most of the trails as we learn about the history and unique geology of this off-the-beaten path place in southeastern Arizona.

Chiricahua National Monument contains incredible rock formations. A massive volcano 27 million years ago deposited layers of ash and pumice that formed the rhyolite. Over time weathering gave rise to wildly shaped columns and pinnacles.

The first stop is the Visitor Center to pick up a Junior Ranger book. It will provide hours of entertainment during the 12 hours of darkness spent huddled in our tents.
We also learn that there is a FREE hiker shuttle. Perfect since it will allow us to hike from the top of Echo Canyon, over the Hailstone Trail, around the Mushroom Rock and Balanced Rock Trails, add side trips to Inspiration Point and Heart of Rocks, and come out the Lower Rhyolite Trail back to the Visitor Center near the campground. No personal vehicle required!

After getting our campsite, my parents drop us off at the Natural Bridges Trailhead (they decide to head back to town to get a hotel). The interpretive sign promises a dense stand of Apache pine trees along the trail. I'm been confused about how to identify them and hope this will help.

It looks like ponderosa pine to me but the needles of apache pine are longer.

On the roadwalk from the Natural Bridge trailhead back to the campground, I chase a butterfly but only get a lousy photo.

My butterfly buddy says this is an American Snout. Maybe if you squint you will agree? I'd only seen one before in Kentucky. The caterpillars feed on netleaf hackberries, which are a small tree found along streams.

On the walk from the campground to Faraway Ranch, I pull out my Junior Ranger book and start learning the trees along Bonita Canyon.

The biggest Alligator Juniper I’ve ever met.

One of the activities in the junior ranger book is a scavenger hunt at Faraway Ranch. Jan helps find everything on the list.

It takes us a while to locate the inscriptions made by the Buffalo Soldiers here on these stones. We learn they were stationed in Bonita Canyon in 1885-6 to fight the Apache. The stones were originally part of a monument to President Garfield that were later re-purposed to build Faraway Ranch’s fireplace.

The sun goes down early. I'm glad I have my junior ranger book to keep me busy with the word search and bird-related crossword puzzle.

The next morning, Mexican Jays squawk loudly and another bird flies high up into a tree.

What could this be? An exciting tropical bird?

I discover in my birding app that Mexican jays are often followed by northern flickers in winter. Ah ha! Apparently flickers take advantage of the jay’s alarm calls to warn against predators. So while I never do spot an elegant trogon, the good thing about being an inexperienced birder is that everything is new and exciting so I don't need to find something rare to be satisfied.

Finally the visitor center opens and I get sworn in as an official Junior Ranger. At 9 AM, an SCA drives us in the park van to the trailhead at Echo Canyon.

Once we get beyond a half mile down the trail, we don't see anyone until we are within a mile of the visitor center.

Jan takes her lunch break on a high perch at Inspiration Point.

I joke with Jan that this is an imposter balanced rock because, coming from Arches, we've got the *real* balanced rock. Though to be honest, this one has a narrower neck, so is perhaps even more spectacular.

In our only patch of sunlight on the otherwise shady Echo Canyon Trail, we take another rest break.

Wow an ANT!

According to the natural history guide, the Chiricahuas have over 135 species of ants. What incredible diversity! I'd been looking hard for ants for the past four days and laughing with Jan about how I couldn't find something as pedestrian as an ant.

Then, Jan spots this bug. Which turns out to be a redcoat seed bug.

“Two wildlife species!” declares Jan.

I agree wholeheartedly that insects count as wildlife.

My parents meet us coming down the Lower Rhyolite Canyon. They spent the day on the park road and were impressed with all the viewpoints and interpretive signs.

Overall, Chiricahua is one of my new favorite places for the surprising botanical (and zoologic!) diversity and unique geology.

More Information

For a different take on our visit to Chiricahua, read Jan's blog post.

Chiricahua National Monument is located in southeastern Arizona.  There is no entrance fee for the park. There was a $12 fee for the campground but the price is going up next year.

Sign up for the free hiker shuttle the day before and pick up your Junior Ranger Book at the Visitor Center. 

https://www.nps.gov/chir/planyourvisit/things2do.htm

Not-so-famous Arches

Two months ago this parking area echoed with excited 2nd graders. Now it is eerily silent in the predawn bitingly cold air.

Not the real balanced rock. But less people out this way.

This week, one of the second graders ran up to me excitedly and gave me a hug, “When are we going on another field trip, Ranger Joan?” She remembers like it was yesterday.

I love that the kids remember me and their field trip so well. That’s what makes being a ranger worthwhile— this positive impression. A seasonal job isn’t easy. I’ve been laid off of my park job for a month and won’t be rehired until January. I’m only working my other part time job in the meantime. More time for hiking but less income. Tradeoffs.

I decide to come back here to check out an area of the park I’ve never explored. Visible on the skyline but past the “4WD only” warning sign. I leave my car and set out on foot down the sandy road. At this early hour, no traffic.

Finally, a fish-shaped sign reads “Eye of the Whale Arch.”

The sun is just coming up and makes the sandstone glow.

Peering through, deciding to find a way up there.

That’s the only marked arch in this playground of Entrada fins. Seeing others requires routefinding and following the leave no trace practice of restricting travel to slickrock and washes while avoiding dunes and cryptobiotic soil crust.

Following washes full of animal tracks.

Washes are good place to start exploring since you can find them on a map. Follow the blue lines. Sometimes they lead to pouroffs but not always.

Some arches are hidden ribbons of rock. But see that light pouring underneith?

It only needs to be three feet in one direction to qualify as an arch.

There are over 2000 arches here but seeing a new one for the first time still takes my breath away.

A small detour. Just a few miles away is the Willow Springs dinosaur tracksite. So I hike out the 4WD road again and this time there is traffic in the form of a single jeep.

165 million years ago, a three-toed, meat-eating therapod walked across the tidal-flats along the shallow sea that was here at that time.

Returning back the way I came. Then up a wash. Relief at getting off the road again since it was so "crowded". Then, at the slickrock, climbing up. There are dropoffs. Continuing anyway despite a fear of heights. Fear is just a feeling, right?

Scaling boulders. Pack waiting down below.

Peeking up for a view of this arch.

Wiggling up a crack between the fins.

Feeling the warmth of the soft light radiating off the rock, making the winter less biting.

Because at the top of a fin, its expansive and quiet and for once it's not cold.

Up here.

Roadwalking can be done past dark. So I stay out later to watch the sunset.

This spot was surprising. Hard to believe that something in plain site of a busy landmark could offer such solitude and beauty. And have so few human footprints.

Salt Creek, yet again

Salt Creek Canyon in the Needles of Canyonlands National Park is one of those places that can be explored for days. Over Thanksgiving break, I returned for 4 days to visit the part I hadn’t been to between Angel Arch and Kirk’s Cabin. This area is designated an "archeological district" because there are more ruins and petroglyphs/ pictographs per square mile than anywhere else in Canyonlands.

Year-round, reliable springs allowed the Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont people to thrive here around 1200 BCE.

I was eager to see All American Man, an unusual red, white and blue shield-like figure. It’s 8 miles from the southern trailhead, so could technically be seen in a long dayhike if one had a vehicle that they wanted to take on the bumpy road to that TH (which I do not).

But more time is required to get a sense of the amazingly redrock scenery, diverse plants in this riparian area, plus the solitude, quiet, and wildness of this place. To find and appreciate all the hidden archeological sites might take a lifetime.

"All American Man" is the most well known pictograph in this area (and the only one I will post a photo of). It is so unusual that people questioned if it is authentic. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that it dates to the 14th century.

I set out early from the northern trailhead near Cave Spring. Bitingly cold air causes me to put on my puffy down jacket by 3 PM even while hiking. A clear, moonless night makes for more stars than I've ever remember seeing. It is so cold that my nose hurts from breathing (even through my buff) and I get frozen condensation inside my tent but I stay warm and sleep well, considering that I'm sharing my sleeping bag with all my water and electronics.

I wake up early and hike over to catch the sunrise at Angel Arch.

I use my hiking pole to break a hole in the thick ice that formed on this water source during the night so I can collect some more water.

The Salt Creek Canyon Archeological District contains graineries, dwellings, pictographs and petroglyphs, and lithic scatters left by the Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont people. It's quite fascinating seeing the mix of these two cultures. The sites are not marked but some can be spotted from the trail.

Looking up to see an ancient site.

On my second day, I just hike 7 miles of designed trail and spent the rest of the time exploring washes and slickrock.

There are countless arches too.

Climbing up and down the slickrock. Much backtracking is required to figure out routes that avoid pouroffs, crypobiotic soil crust, and thickets.

In this section of trail there are many archeological sites. You must camp in the designated campsites. 

Climbing up the slickrock above camp in the evening.

The trail mainly stays at the bottom of the wash, but here it takes a climb up to avoid a steep drop-off in the aroyo.

After three days of seeing no other people, I finally meet two backpackers near the turnoff to this site. They are doing a one-way hike and are on a time-constraint so they don't make the side trip. I'm glad I allowed enough time for such things.

Down a side canyon, under some low-hanging branches, I find a sherd laying in a wash. Its the biggest I've ever found. I lay it back down carefully, right where I found it. The fact that is hasn't been moved or put up on a ledge makes me wonder who the last person who touched it was. I show this photo to a friend who works at a nearby national monument who knows how to identify pottery types. He says it is probably McElmo black on white, likely made between 1150-1250.

Near some pictographs, I entered a crack between the boulders and found a junction of two cracks that formed this star-shaped pool of light. An incredible, wonderous place.

After a cloudy start to the day, finally the sun come out and I sit on sandstone slab in sun in the warm embrace of the sheer orange walls and eat ramen and tuna which are the best ever. While my condensation-dampened sleeping bag drys, I put on fresh socks and think this is probably as peaceful and content as I’ve ever been my whole life.

A plateau side-bloched lizard is also sunning itself on the rocks. They have a fascinating mating system that may have helped give rise to the many regional varities and species (read more here and here). There haven't been many fellow creatures out here, only those two other backpackers and a few ravens. So these feel like a special treat and make me wonder about (and feel my connection to) the diversity of living things.

 Even though I've been to Salt Canyon and nearby Horse Canyon, this place still surprised me with its unparalled history and the amazing sense of solitude it provided. I was so glad to have planned an out-and-back hike since there were many things I missed on the way out that I spotted from a different perspective and in different light on the way back. I hope that this place is preserved and protected so that future generations can have opportunities for wonder and wildness too.

More information

Backcountry permits are requred for camping in Salt Creek. You will also need to carry and store your food in a bear canister in Salt Creek. See the Canyonlands National Park website for more rules and regulations.


I have not posted photos of the countless pictographs, petroglyphs, and sites in an effort to protect them and your experience. Please go out and discover all the other ones for yourself. In a world with too many hashtags and gps coordinates, I believe in preserving the experience of discovering things for yourself. It makes for more wonder in the moment. Something I am grateful to find.

It feels like you can reach out and touch history here. But keep your fingers off the sites so the fingerprints left in the past can be preserved!

Do your part to preserve the amazing archeology you can find here for future generations. Don't touch pictographs or stone walls. Stay outside of graineries and dwellings. Be careful about leaving anything including footprints. Leave everything like you found it.

Grabens in the Needles

Combining the Confluence Trail with Lower Red Lake Trail in the Needles of Canyonlands National Park makes for a geologically-fascinating overnight backpacking trip.

This hike rocks.

The confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers is geographically important because it divides Canyonlands National Park into three districts- the Needles (where this photo below was taken from), ISKY (top), and the Maze (left).

The more sediment-rich Green River (left) mixing with the Colorado River at the Confluence.

The Lower Red Lake Trail provides the easiest route down to the Colorado River. But I think the real treat is getting to see two of the really old rock formations (the Paradox and Honaker Trail Formations) and also learning about the formation of grabens, which are steep-sided valleys.

Fossils in the Honaker Trail Formation (like these crinoids) date back to 286 to 320 million years ago when this whole area was covered in a shallow sea.

The yellow rock layer is the Paradox Formation which was crucial for shaping the fins, arches, and grabens high above it.

Grabens are rock formations that are broad avenues bordered by steep rock walls that run very strait. The NPS has a good description of their formation here.

But first you have to get to the grabens and hike out past Cyclone Canyon, on the Confluence Trail.

While the Confluence Trail has only 220 feet elevation gain/loss, there is still plenty of scrambling. Long legs are recommended for this trail.

After crossing the deep Elephant Canyon, a high point in the trail is reached via a metal ladder. In the maze of canyons,  familiar places like Junction Butte and the La Sals are reassuring visual anchors.

Sitting with a map and compass and trying to figure out how I will ever get over to the Maze and to Mount Ellen.

The Lower Red Lake Trail drops about a thousand feet but is well-marked and not as sketchy as I feared.

Keep your eyes peeled for the green limestone rocks that contain fossils of the sea creatures that were living during the Pennsylvanian period.

A deer stares at me for a while then decides to head down-canyon to avoid me. Unfortunately, that’s the direction I’m going too. I come upon him after each bend and he looks at me before making his way further down-canyon until we reach the Colorado River.

Tracks of humans and deer in the mud flats along the Colorado River.

After walking upriver for a bit, I turn around and trace my steps back. I hike past dark, hoping to get to a high point to optimize full moon viewing. Darkness comes quickly, so instead, I opt for a cryptobiotic soil-free spot at the edge of this graben.

My permit is for the Grabens/ Red Lake Zone which means plenty of spots to choose from.

 In the 14 hours between sunset and sunrise, there is time to read about the formation of grabens (in this PDF) and learn that John Wesley Powell was the first to describe the grabens system during his 1869 and 1871 expeditions. Thankfully, the geology paper is thick and dense and (mostly) distracts me from other thoughts that come up in the long hours of darkenss.



On my second day, I return via the Devil's Lane jeep road. Deep sand makes for tough walking but at least my pack is lighter after drinking most of my water.

An elevated perspective of the grabens

Overall, this is a great place to visit in winter and there look to be many side-canyons to explore. If I did this trip again, it'd plan on spending more time down on Lower Red Lake Trail checking out the fossils.
 
More information

Do not expect to find water in the grabens. I carried all the water I'd need for both day.

Winter is a quiet time in the Needles. No other people were encountered on this weekend overnight trip.

In winter (late November to early March), overnight backpacking permits are available at the Needles visitor center via a self-registration system.