The Land of Standing Rocks

We recently visited the Chiricahua National Park in Southeastern Arizona, pronounced “Chair-a-cow-a”, named, The Land of Standing Rocks by the Chiracahua Apaches.  Although the campground at Chiricahua wasn’t nearly as spectacular as our previous stay at City of Rocks, New Mexico State Park where each of the sites are nestled within and among the rocks, the Chiricahua campground has its own beauty and charm located in the middle of a lush forested valley oasis surrounded by desert grassland.  The magnificent beauty of this park is not immediately revealed to you as you enter the park.  It’s not until you begin your journey up the eight-mile narrow winding Bonita Canyon road that you start to see the towering rhyolite pinnacles of rock surrounded by sycamore, juniper and oak trees.  As you ascend the canyon, the landscape changes and you begin to encounter a fir woodland of pine and cypress trees.  We broke camp early and made our way to the top of Massai Point as the sun was beginning to reveal itself, providing us with a gift of solitude, being the only human presence in the parking lot.  After enjoying breakfast with a private viewing of The Standing Rocks, we descended into a magical labyrinth of stones.  Using our imaginations, the sculptured pillars took on many different familiar shapes.  It is believed by many indigenous peoples that places so majestic looking as this, is where the Great Spirit can be heard, if you sit long enough and listen from within.  I’m especially grateful to President Teddy Roosevelt for his launching of the New Deal and creating the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) who were responsible for building not just this spectacular park trails system, but countless others across the United States.  Unlike many of the other National parks we’ve visited so far that seem to be overrun with people, we only encountered one other hiker on the trail during our three-hour morning hike.  If you find yourself in the southeast corner of Arizona, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to fill your G.A.S. Tank in The Land of Standing Rocks.