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Chiricahua National Monument –
In January of this year, on our tour through southern Arizona in a 19-foot RV, we spent a couple of nights at Chiricahua NM. Had it not been on the list of National Park units, we probably still wouldn’t know about it. A two-hour drive east of Tucson takes you to the monument, and while off the beaten path, its history, wildlife, geology, and hikes make it well worth the visit.
Surrounded on three sides by Coronado National Forest, Chiricahua NM seems much larger than it is. The unusual rhyolite rock formations in the park reminded us of the Bryce Canyon hoo-doos, except in Chiricahua they’re grayish rather than the tan and red shades you’ll find in Utah.
The monument sits in a region that’s home to several rare mammals; ocelots and jaguars live in the area but are almost never seen except by the trail cameras set up to document their presence. Another unusual but less rare animal, the Coati (or Coatimundi), also lives in the monument. It looks like a cross between a raccoon and a meerkat, with a long monkey-like tail to give it a truly bizarre appearance.
A fun fact we learned at the visitor center is that there are four types of skunk: Hooded, Striped, Hog-nosed, and Spotted, and all of them live in Chiricahua. Our campground host warned us that there are usually skunks around the campsites, especially at night. Karen was glad we had rented an RV for the trip. She said her worst nightmare would be to trip over a skunk in the dark while trying to find the camp restroom in the middle of the night. To Karen’s relief, we didn’t see a single skunk during our visit.
The central geological feature of the park is its rock spires, which create an interesting landscape to hike through. They also played a vital role in the history of the area. In the 1860s and 1870s, Chiricahua Apache warriors led by Cochise and Geronimo hid in the Chiricahua Mountains to evade the U.S. Army. As the result of several local skirmishes, the Army built Fort Bowie in the 1860s at a site which sits about 20 miles from the Chiricahua NM visitor center. Fort Bowie National Historic Site is also an NPS unit, and while there’s not much left of the old fort, you can visit the site and attend ranger-led programs about the history of the fort.
Seventeen miles of day-use trails snake through the park. Black-tailed rattlesnakes also snake through the park, but we didn’t see any of those either. On our one full day at the monument, we caught the 9:00 am park shuttle from our campground to the top of Echo Canyon and hiked about ten miles back to the visitor center. Hiking one-way downhill saved us from about 1,500 feet of elevation gain, but there was still some up-and-down on our hike, and we were pretty tired at the end of the day.
From where the shuttle dropped us off, several trails loop through the rock spires before descending into Rhyolite Canyon, which leads to the visitor center. When we were amongst the unusual rock formations, it was easy to see how this area made the perfect hiding place for the Apache. At one point, we took a side trail up to Inspiration Point where we had panoramic views of the monument and national forest beyond. As we sat there having a snack break, looking out over the wilderness, we both agreed that Chiricahua is a hidden gem.
Black Elk Peak -
Fire lookouts make fantastic destination hikes because the views are always spectacular. Most of the ones we’ve hiked to have a similar design: a simple four-sided structure with a ladder or stairs leading to a second-story enclosed platform. Inside the lookout, with its 360 degrees of windows, the spotter can see for miles in every direction. Most, if not all, of the fire lookouts in the U.S. no longer serve their original function; newer technology has made them obsolete. Many are now maintained by volunteer groups who want to keep them from falling into disrepair or worse, tumbling to the ground.
Last month, when we hiked to the Harney Peak Fire Tower in the Black Hills of South Dakota, we expected to find the typical, run-of-the-mill lookout at the end of the trail. What we saw blew us away. The fire tower sits atop Black Elk Peak, which is just outside the boundary of Custer State Park, but the trailhead where we started the hike is in the park right by Sylvan Lake. When we reached the end of the 3.5-mile trail to the peak (with an elevation gain of about 1,500 feet), we were dumbfounded to see what looks like a small stone castle. A sweeping stone staircase leads to the second story of the tower. The floor below has several rooms that have been used over the years for work, storage, and sleeping. Above the mid-level is where the fire spotter would scan the forest for plumes of smoke.
Standing in the top floor crow’s nest, looking out at the unobstructed, panoramic view of the Black Hills, I couldn’t help but wonder how the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), who finished the structure in 1939, got the building materials to the site. We learned later that they brought over 7,000 face rocks to the peak in small, horse-drawn wagons. The wagons held 15-20 rocks per trip; that’s a lot of trips. And if that wasn’t hard enough, the horses also had to haul almost 33,000 lbs. of cement and an even greater amount of sand to the building site.
The 7,242-foot peak was formerly named Harney Peak, hence the name of the fire tower, but in 2016 the U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially changed the name to Black Elk Peak. The change was to honor the revered Lakota medicine man and holy man Black Elk, who is said to have had visions on the peak and believed it to be the center of the universe. I’m sure I didn’t explain that precisely the way Black Elk would have, but it gives you a sense of the context for why they changed the name.
The peak lies within the Black Hills National Forest, and it was heartening to see volunteers and contractors working on the fire tower—installing new doors and windows and performing other maintenance and upgrade tasks—when we were there. With that level of conservation support, the fire tower will no doubt continue to welcome visitors who hike to the summit for decades to come.
Forest Service Cabin -
In December we’re trying something new: spending several nights in a forest service cabin in Montana. Karen has wanted to stay in one ever since she learned that the National Forest Service rents many of their cabins when they’re not using them for official business. The cabin we rented doesn’t have water, plumbing, or electricity, but it does have enough bunk beds with mattresses to sleep eleven, two wood-burning stoves, a stocked woodshed, and a pit toilet nearby. We’re going with two other couples, so with only six of us, we should have plenty of room to set up a puzzle and still have space to play cards.
On our way home from Yellowstone this last September, we stopped by the cabin to check it out and, as Karen says, “get the lay of the land.” It made us more comfortable to see the cabin and the surrounding area before our December trip. Now we have a better sense of how to prepare and what provisions to bring. In September though, the five-mile gravel road was snow free and the temperature mild. By December the landscape may have changed to a sub-zero, snow-coated winter wonderland, which would be—epic!
To find available forest service cabins, go to www.recreation.gov. The amenities and accessibility of each cabin vary widely. We learned before we booked our December cabin that we’d have to walk or snowshoe a quarter of a mile to reach it. I’m not sure how we’ll get our Dutch ovens full of chili and cornbread to the cabin—let alone all of our other gear—but we have a few weeks left to figure that out. (We’ll probably pull our stuff in on a sled.)
Another related activity we want to try someday is sleeping overnight in a fire lookout. Our hike to Black Elk Peak rekindled our interest in these unique structures. Since the forest service no longer uses these lookouts to spot fires, many of them are available to rent for overnight stays. Some are available to reserve in advance, but many others are open to the public on a first-come-first-served basis, which essentially means that even if you get to a lookout and set up camp inside before anyone else, another group could come along and choose to join you in the lookout for the night.
Instagram Feature Photo -
View of Mount Rainier from Tolmie Peak Fire Lookout. (From 08/29/18)
Click on the photo to go to our Instagram account.