Chiricahua National Monument: 2/26/14

BB, Henri and I drove from TTRV to the Chiricahua National Monunent.  According to the National Park Service Website, the monument was once the home of Swedish immigrants Neil and Emma Erickson, along with their children Lillian, Ben, and Hildegarde.  They called it their "Faraway Ranch" and the family graveyard rests in a beautiful spot, underneath a large Alligator Juniper at the start of the Park.  The Erickson family bequeathed the land to the National Park Service.


The beautiful Chiricahua Mountains are one of several "Sky Islands" surrounded by desert grasslands.  The Chiricahua range is an inactive volcanic range.  Some of the striking rock formations within the Monunent is called Rhyolite.  Rhyolite is super-heated volcanic ash, spewed from the Turkey Creek volcano eruption 27 million years ago.  The super heated ash melted together, and eons of wind, water and ice erosion has created a fantisyland of rock formations.

As shown on the screen print, The Wilderness is located southeast of Wilcox Arizona.  As also shown on the screen print, there is little, if any, cell phone coverage within the Wilderness.

Don't miss this beautiful part of Arizona if you are ever in the vicinity.  Here are some pictures from our trip.

We're getting to be "short timers" here at TTRV, as BB, Henri and I pull out for California next Friday.  We have so enjoyed our time here in southeastern Arizona, and hope to return next December to spend the winter.

I'm looking forward to my final jam session, then pulling out and spending time in California for a few weeks before landing in Oregon to visit Kelly, Tammy and Devon.  If this is our last post from Arizona, we'll save some for next year when we return.