Returning to Chiricahua

We had only three days to do it in. Not only to make the 500 mile drive from Las Cienegas National Conservation Area to Carlsbad, New Mexico, but to see four National Parks in the process. If we could knock them all out in one weekend, then we could high-tail it out of New Mexico following the work week and get to Big Bend National Park sooner.

So, we prepared to leave Las Cienegas early on Saturday morning. Not that I believed Kerri could crawl herself out of bed that early, but I was up before the sunrise hitching up the truck to the trailer. She… somehow… was up and finalizing the tie-down process for the interior of the trailer. Next thing we both knew, we were on the road just as the sun was beginning to spy us. I bet we surprised the sun that day!

We arrived well before noon. Just a few hours down the Interstate, at Bowie Arizona; Indian Bread Rocks to be exact. Kerri and I spent a week here just after we first met, but we were here not to reminisce, but to make a day-trip into Chiricahua National Monument right beside us. Kerri had never been, and we missed it last time. We dropped the trailer at the Bread Rocks, and made the jump into the park for a hike of only a few miles down through the Grotto to Echo Canyon. This is where I came to experience the park way back when (wow, 2011). Chiricahua has always held a special place in my memory.