The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Chiricahua Mountains and beyond: Southern Arizona and New Mexico

My chosen home from mid December to mid January was an AirBnb guest house on a working ranch in Southwest New Mexico. The remote ranch was about three hours’ drive from Tucson, the nearest city. The most remote AirBnb I’ve stayed at yet, the ranch was more than an hour from any supermarket. However, it was conveniently located for hiking the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeast Arizona, only a half hour from the Cave Creek entrance in Portal Arizona.

Apart from trails emanating from Cave Creek (a popular birder’s destination), many other great hikes abounded, though most were 80 or so miles distant (considered a short drive in these remote areas). I hiked quite a few and collected some of my photos of this disparate landscape for this blog. Enjoy!

Tonto National Monument, Arizona. Salado Cliff Dwellings (ca. 1300-1450 CE) are on the left in this photo. I stopped here on the morning of the second day driving from St George Utah.
View of Saguaro cacti and Roosevelt Lake from the Tonto National Monument trail to the Cliff Dwellings
The Cienega Ranch Guest House where I stayed for a month (AirBnb photo)
Morning alpenglow on the Chiricahuas from my veranda at Cienega Ranch
A rock face along Cave Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains. Cave Creek, on the east side, was the most convenient access point for me and boasted a wide variety of hikes from easy half day hikes to strenuous backpacks.
A Cholla cactus in bloom on the Silver Peak trail. While not the highest, Silver Peak was the nearest Chiricahua Mountains peak from my AirBnb and had a well-maintained trail.
Rock formations on the Silver Peak trail
Summit vista Northwest from Silver Peak. The twin peaks in the center distance are the Dos Cabezas, spearated from the Chiricahuas by the Apache Pass.
Rock formation on the Silver Peak trail
Morning sunlight on the South Forks to Burro Trail loop hike (this portion was an off trail exploratory I added) above Cave Creek
A waterfall on a side canyon feeding into Cave Creek, Chiricahua Mountains
Chiricahua Mountain view from the Herb Martyr-Snowshed loop hike I did in January above Cave Creek.
Snow on Finnicum and Sentinel Peaks of the Chiricahua Mountains on the January loop hike. Snow finally arrived at elevations of 6000 to 7000 ft around the New Year.
Hoodoos on the Big Loop Trail, Chiricahua National Monument. While the Monument, located in the Northwest portion of the Chiricahuas, encompasses only a fraction of the mountains, the rock formations are arguably the most dramatic.
Big Balancing Rock, Chiricahua National Monument: 22 feet in diameter and weighing about 1000 tons
Pinnacle Balancing Rock, Chiricahua National Monument. Not quite as large, but every bit as impressive as Big Balancing Rock.
The approach to Granite Peak, Peloncillo Mountains. Although not particularly high, it was the nearest mountain to my AirBnb, only a few miles north. This is the approach view from near the road head.
Granite Peak south slopes. This photo was taken from my earlier recon hike when I circumambulated the Peak, and highlights class 3 scrambling of the summit block
A gnarled old juniper on the summit block of Granite Peak
View Northeast from the summit of Granite Peak
Fort Bowie Arizona National Historic Site. The fort protected the wagon route between El Paso and Tucson before the railroad was built. View of some building ruins and Helen’s Dome, which I never did get a chance to climb.
Jacks Peak home site, high in the southern portion of the Gila Mountains, New Mexico. This hike was about an hour Northeast of my AirBnb.
Blackwater Hole, Bunk Robinson Wilderness, New Mexico. Deep in the ‘heel’ of New Mexico, this canyon was the definition of remote.
The only other people I say in Blackwater Hole were two mounted border patrol agents that had apprehended several migrants. Mexico was a long day’s walk to the South from here.
To end this blog on a more positive note, I saw this rainbow above the Chiricahua mountains from my veranda one morning before a storm arrived.

I am currently spending a month in Alpine California, a community in the foothills east of San Diego, with my brother Clifford visiting me and joining me on a wide variety of hikes which I will share with you in my next blog. Until then, enjoy the outdoors wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

Comments

  1. I’ve always been curious about the Tucson area. Thanks for sharing the pics. I miss the desert! Lenny would salivate over the potential to climb some of those faces, haha. Sad about the migrants though.

    Enjoy southern CA. Looking forward to hearing about your next adventure!

Categories

Subscribe for Updates