From New York to Arizona: Labor Day Weekend Part 2

Fort Bowie and Chiricahua National Monument

Not a sign you want to see while driving.

Sunday we headed out to Chiricahua National Monument, which is an amazing area where, due to erosion, there are towering columns and balancing rocks. A few miles before the entrance, there was a pull off for the Fort Bowie National Historical Site. Not really knowing anything about it, we turned down the road. For 6 miles, we drove on an unpaved, rocky road, dodging potholes and bouncing up and down hills. When we finally arrived at the parking lot, we realized that the actual ruins of Fort Bowie were another 1.5 miles away, accessible only by hiking through desert scrub and rocky terrain. If we had planned appropriately, we might have done the hike. It looked like it would be a nice walk, but it was just too hot and we hadn't even gotten to the National Monument yet.

After the disappointment of Fort Bowie, we headed to Chiricahua (cheery-cow-aah) National Monument. We drove all the way in and hiked a small nature trail and then hiked half a mile to reach the grottoes. If it hadn't been late in the afternoon, we would have tried doing the whole 3.5 mile loop, but we were hot and tired and had no idea how much light we would have left. On the way back down we got a good look at the "Sea Captain" formation as well as the "Organ Pipe" formation.

Outside the park, we drove a little off the beaten path to get some pictures of the landscape. Also, I spied a tarantula crossing the road, so we pulled over to take some pictures of him. Good thing he didn't get run over. The speed limit there was over 55mph!!

Lots of pictures on this one, so enjoy!!