Hiking the Chiracahua Mountains
Less than 2 hours southeast of Tucson is a geographically and historically fascinating area. The main points of interest are located on sky islands separated by a sea of flat plains. Driving along, you can almost “see” the Apache Chief Cochise (1870′s and 80′s) and his warriors galloping and whooping in full war paint. Rising up from the western edge are the Dragoon Mountains and rising up from the eastern edge of this plain are the Chiracahua Mountains. My husband Jim and I took off from Tucson, comfortable in our bamboo tees, and the first stop was Cochise Stronghold. Tucked up in the cliffs of the Dragoon Moutains, this is where Cochise’s Apache tribe successfully hid from the “enemy” soldiers and launched deadly raids on settlers and stage coach travellers. There is a nice campground there and several interesting day hikes.
- Stunning View of Chiracahua National Monument
We then drove to Sunglow Ranch via Sunsite, Pearce & Sunizona. By the way, the Pearce “ghost town” is just a few crumbling walls. Don’t go out of your way to see it! The Sunglow Ranch was a pleasant surprise. It is in a meadow snuggled up to the Chiracahua Mountains. The setting was beautiful and peaceful. When we pulled up to the circular driveway and stepped out of the car, we were greeted by a cacaphony of hundreds of red winged black birds that were flitting from branch to branch in the trees. Our room, the Acorn Room, was darling with a beautiful view. Dinner and breakfast were delicious in a beautiful dining room. We also took a 3 mile hike and (Birders take note!) saw Road Runners, Great Blue Heron, House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, Harris Hawks, Mexcan Blue Jays, Acorn Woodpecker and many varieties of Hummingbirds. Sunglow is perfect for birders, hikers, nature lovers, yoga retreats — and is “green” to boot!
Note to wine enthusiasts — The Keeling Schaefer winery is located here. We were served glasses of the Shiraz and the Grenache at the Sunglow Cafe and they were both excellent! Here’s to Arizona wine!
Balancing Boulders
The next morning we drove to nearby Chiracahua National Monument. It was a spectacular drive with rock formations and incredible scenic views. We stopped at the highest point accessible by car, Massai Point, and oohed and aahed and photoed the incredible views. Then we drove over to Echo Canyon Trail and took the 3 plus mile hike. This is reportedly one of the top 10 hikes in Arizona and we certainly agreed with that rating! We traveled through rock formations, grottos and pine forests. What a weekend!
