October 29, 2002: Arizona Trip Day 4
	October 27, 2002: Arizona Trip Day 2
	Return to the Index for Our Arizona Trip

We are going to spend the first part of today walking around Fort Bowie, Arizona, and the time left exploring the Chiricahua National Monument.

Fort Bowie, Arizona

When we got up on Monday morning, we were ready to head off from Willcox to the Fort Bowie National Historic Site.

From Willcox, we drove southeast for 20 miles on State Road #186 to the Fort Bowie turn off, and then drove another eight miles on the unpaved road to the Fort Bowie Trailhead. This visit to a National Park/Monument was different from most others, in that the Visitor Center is not located right on or just off a highway so you can drive to it. Here, you park at teh trailhead and hike a mile and a half to get to the Visitor Center, which is located near the ruins of the fort.

Before we look at the pictures from our hike, you should know a bit about the history of Fort Bowie. In summary, it was the focal point for military actions by the US Army against the Chiricahua Apaches for over 20 years. It was significant as the "guardian" of Apache Pass- the prime trade and immigration route through this area of the Southwest. It was the site of the "Bascom Affair," a wagon train massacre and the Battle of Apache Pass, where a large force of Chiricahua Apaches under Mangus Colorados and Cochise fought a regiment of California Civil War Volunteers.

To fill in the background of Fort Bowie, you should read the excellent (and relatively short) historical account of just how the war between the Americans and the Apache came about- and it all began with the kidnapping of an Anglo boy named Felix. Read this entertaining account written by Karen Weston Gonzales here.

The artifacts, ruins, and written documentation here at Fort Bowie leave a rich historical record, and we were looking forward to our hike and tour, and you can see the route we followed on the park map below:

We started out on our hike in mid morning, walking slowly along the trail.

The first point of interest we came to was the cemetery. As you read in the account by Karen Gonzales, no one knows where either Cochise or Geronimo are buried, but some of there relatives killed during the aftermath of the "Bascom Affair" where buried along the trail we walked, and you can see a picture of Fred standing at the gravesite of one of the American military dead in the picture at left. And you can see me beside one of the graves of a Cochise relative here.

There aren't any trees around the cemetery, but it did have commanding views of the hills and mountains of southeast Arizona. Apparently, there were some buildings of some kind nearby, for we found what appeared to be the ruins of an old wall nearby.

From the cemetery we took the southern part of the trail loop heading towards the ruins of Fort Bowie, stopping at a couple of other points of interest beforehand.

One of the first of these points of interest was the site of the old Chiricahua Indian Agency, established towards the end of the Apache conflicts. Once the tribe was relocated, its function disappeared, and it fell into the ruins that you can see if you click on the two thumbnails at right. The other point of interest was the geological feature that made Apache Pass so very important- Apache Spring- the first water for travelers coming East from California after a two-hundred-mile dry spell, and the last water for quite a while for the folks emmigrating west. It runs reliably year-round, and was an incredibly valuable asset for any group to control.

We passed the site of the Battle of Apache Pass and then reached the two sets of ruins- the first and second sites of Fort Bowie. We took quite a few pictures here, most of which were the ruins of the various buildings that comprised the Fort in the 1890s. One ruin that we found, shown here, had no identifying sign, and my memory fails in thinking about what it might have been. I've looked at the site for the National Monument, but there is no similar picture. So you can make up your own mind as to what it might have been (a trough for animals perhaps?). Below are two rows of thumbnail images you can click on to see our pictures; the second row are our pictures of some of the signage around the ruins:

We completed our hike by walking back along the Overlook Ridge Trail, and in another half hour found ourselves back at the trailhead, ready to head off to explore the Chiricahua Mountains.

You can return to today's index or continue with the next section below.

Our First Hike in Chiricahua National Monument

We wanted to do quite a bit here in Chiricahua, so we've decided to do one hike this afternoon, stay again in Willcox this evening, and then return to Chiricahua again tomorrow to do another hike.

From Fort Bowie, we drove back out to the highway, south a few miles, and then east again to the entrance station for the Chiricahua National Monument. We stopped at the entrance station to pay our fee and get some brochures, and then drove on into the Monument.

After looking through the park brochure, we decided that for today's hike, we would drive north around the park road to the trailhead for the Sugarloaf Peak hike. Tomorrow, we'll retrace part of our route to get to a hike a bit further on into the park. We also planned on camping here in the park, so the first thing we did was drive from the Visitor Center to the campground to stake out a site.

Below is a copy of the park map covering the area of the National Monument that we'll be visiting today:

Along the park road towards the Sugarloaf Mountain trailhead, we were treated to spectacular scenery.

About a half-mile north of the visitor center on Bonita Canyon Drive, we came alongside what is called the Organ Pipes formation. The rock pinnacles, or hoodoos, which the monument was primarily created to protect, are erosional features composed of welded rhyolite tuff, which is volcanic in nature. The elements of nature have created a "wonderland of rocks” here at the National Monument. This forest of rock spires was eroded from layers of ash deposited by the Turkey Creek Volcano eruption 27 million years ago. The 8 mile paved scenic drive and 18 miles of day-use hiking trails provide opportunities to discover the beauty, natural sounds, and inhabitants of this 11,985 acre site. Click on the thumbnails below to see a couple of pictures of the Organ Pipes formation that we took from the parking area along the road:

We arrived at the trailhead for the Sugarloaf Mountain hike about three-thirty, and headed off on the trail. The trail is about two miles round-trip, and this would put us on the summit at sunset. We thought we'd be able to get back to the parking area just after sunset with no problem. Rising above the surrounding canyons, the 7,310-foot summit of Sugarloaf Mountain at is one of the highest points in the monument. The dark rock is dacite, evidence of a lava flow. The monument preserves the remains of an immense volcanic eruption that shook the region some 27 million years ago. Called the Turkey Creek Caldera eruption, it eventually laid down two thousand feet of ash and pumice, highly siliceous in nature. This eventually hardened into rhyolite tuffs, and eroded into the natural features visible at the monument today. Click on the thumbnails below to see some of the pictures we took as we were hiking to the summit:

When we reached summit, late in the day, we found a fire lookout; it was built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is a Model L-4 house, a 12 x 12 cabin, and it interacts with the Barfoot Mountain Fire Lookout. The building is on the National Historic Lookout Register (who knew?). Sugarloaf Mountain is a gentle dome standing quietly above the Chiricahua National Monument, and hikers reaching the summit take in 360-degree views of the surrounding canyons, valleys and peaks. There are views into and across numerous canyons including Echo Canyon to the south, Rhyolite Canyon to the southwest and Lost Canyon to the west. The San Simon Valley is visible to the southeast while the Sulphur Springs Valley sprawls to the west. Peaks visible from the summit include Cochise Head to the northeast and the Dos Cabezas Mountains to the northwest beyond Apache Pass. The Dragoon Mountains lie in the distance to the west, across the Sulphur Springs Valley, and remnants of the once-mighty Turkey Creek Volcano can also be seen. Click on the thumbnails below to see some of the pictures we took from the summit:

Returning from the summit, we got back to the parking area just as it was getting dark, and we headed back to the campground to set up the tent and cook dinner. It was too dark when we got to the campground to take any pictures, and we neglected to take any in the morning as we broke camp, so there isn't any visual record of our camping here in Chiricahua National Monument.

You can return to today's index or use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	October 29, 2002: Arizona Trip Day 4
	October 27, 2002: Arizona Trip Day 2
	Return to the Index for Our Arizona Trip