Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Day trip to the Chirachuas

I had a little staycation the last 10 days or so. One day that Keegan and I were both off, we drove down to the Chirachuas. I have been down in the far southeastern corner of the state a few times in August. That corner of the state catches a lot more of the monsoon rains than we do in Phoenix. It gets really green with tall grass. It is also cooler. In Chirachua National Monument, it was between 68 and 72 while we were there. We also enjoyed the beautiful play of rain, clouds and mountains. Above is the appropriately named Dos Cabezos peak.

 Loved this shot of the dark storm and mountains.

  At Massai point in the Chirachuas. Cindy and I hiked there almost two years ago. Since that time they had a devastating fire. You can see the effects all over, but it's still an amazing place. We only saw about 4 or 5 cars they whole time we were there. Most of the time we had wherever we were to ourselves.
 Fire damage.

 Keegan with a windblown mohawk.
 Love the lichens.

 Faraway ranch is within the monument. I had never gone to see the ranch buildings before. There are some interesting displays. If you time it right, you can tour inside the main ranch house.
 Thistle

 Several Buffalo soldiers stayed at the ranch house in the 1880's and carved their names in the fire place rocks.

 We enjoyed beautiful sky weather, clouds, sun and light on the way home.

In Benson.


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