Chiricahua National Monument, Bisbee and Tombstone, Arizona
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011April 20-21st
We woke in Chiricahua refreshed after a cool and quiet (no wind) night of sleep. The Chiricahua Mountains are known to the native Chiricahua Apache as “Land of Standing Up Rocks.” The rock pinnacles that make these mountains famous were formed by volcanic activity 27 million years ago. The layers of gray rock called rhyolite have been carved into their standing forms by the processes of weathering over millions of years. As you climb higher, the diversity of plant life also increases, from desert shrubs at the bottom to pine and fir woodlands as you near the top. Our unexpected overnight stay, gave us the nice opportunity to go for an early morning hike. We chose a loop trail that gave us a little taste the various types of vegetation and magnificent views of the rocks.
After lunch, we headed to Bisbee, following the American/Mexican border. Our first impression of Bisbee was the big open pit mine that greets you as you come into town. The Lavender Mine (named for a mining executive) which is no longer in operation is ugly visible testimony to one of the many ways we’ve found to take from the earth. The old town of Bisbee is actually pretty cute, with boutique hotels, galleries and some old historical sites. We visited the Queen Mine, which has an interesting tour led by a former miner. Our tour started with us dressing in slickers and hard hats and getting hooked up with a light. We straddled a small railroad car which took us deep into the mine, where the miner showed us equipment that was used inside the mine, examples of minerals that could be found, etc. Seeing (the vast darkness) and feeling (the cool 46 degree temperature) in the morning helped us imagine what the working conditions might have been like. Personally, I was pretty happy to be back on the outside in the warm sunshine when the tour was over.
We had planned to spend the night in a motel in Bisbee, but the places we found in town, though cute, were out of our budget. We thought that by following the road out of town, we might find a cheaper option, but there was nothing on the road. We make a last minute decision to drive to Tombstone (site of the OK Corral) about 30 miles away. Luckily, driving in to Tombstone, we spotted an old fashioned motel, The Trailriders’ Inn, which suited our needs perfectly. The motel, run by a British Couple, was decorated in southwest motif and had a very nice swimming pool and hot tub, just what we needed after a day of hiking and sightseeing. We walked 5 minutes to historic Tombstone where we found a saloon for dinner, had a couple of beers and watched some karaoke, all country of course. The following morning we spent a couple of hours visiting the town. We went to the historic courthouse and walked along Main Street. The place is a sort of tourist trap now with high admission fees for semi-authentic sites, so we weren’t inspired to stay long. We can say however that we saw the OK Corral where the famous gunfight with the Earps and Doc Holliday took place.
Next stop…Tucson.
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