The Chiricahua Mountains are located in southeastern Arizona and are the result of a single massive volcanic event over 27 million years ago. The 'Turkey Creek' event deposited prodigious amounts of fused ash known as tuff, which is an easily erodable rock. The ensuing millennia has formed the present-day Chiricahuas into the sprawling complex that it is today, a range of rounded ridges, gentle summits, and sections of bizarre pillars called hoodoos. The Chiricahua National Monument is located in the range and is the best example of these formations, which are similar to those found in Bryce Canyon, Utah (but of a different geological background). Ours are cooler, for one thing. Take that, Utah! The Chiricahua Mountains have impressive relief and Chiricahua Peak is the fourth-most prominent mountain in Arizona, and one of just 58 mountains in all of the coterminous 48 states with a prominence above 5,000 feet. The range is visible from miles in all directions and offer an outstanding choice of trails, peaks, backpacking and camping options. The mountains were also the historical respite of the Chiricahua Apache Indians led by Cochise and Geronimo during the latter half of the 19th century. It is an area of Arizona steeped in a unique history of its own, with plenty of places to visit outside of the range as well.

First Visit, February 2000: A month ago I had driven the 240 miles out to the Chiricahua Mountains in extreme southeast Arizona. I intended to hike to the summit along the Crest Trail, starting at Rustlers Park about 5 miles to the north of the Peak. A recent snowfall had shrouded the top, and after a mile or so of sidehilling in snowshoes, and growing weary of it, and apparently getting off track, I decided to abort this attempt and try the peak again under better conditions.

I had not planned to do this peak on this particular weekend, but Saturday afternoon (the 19th) I got that highpointer's itch to give it another try. I got up early on Sunday, hit the road at 4:15 am, and was at the Chiricahuas by 8:00 am. This time I decided to hike up the Mormon Creek Trail from the west, access from Turkey Creek Road. After gathering my gear and talking with a camper, I hit the trail. There are two trails that run parallel along the Mormon Creek drainage. I took the "lower" one, the one literally in the creekbed (the "upper" one's trailhead is about a half-mile west of the lower's trailhead, but there is no convenient parking for that trailhead). The trailhead's elevation is approximately 6,400 feet.

The trail begins at the end of the Sycamore campsites off a little spur from Turkey Creek Road. It's fairly flat for a few hundred yards, then swings left, at which a sign mentions the distance to the peak as 5 miles. From here it is a consistently moderate uphill grade along nice wide trail. After about a mile, it comes to a spring, where remnants of an old pump (?) station remain. The trail resumes but is noticably more primitive. It parallels the creek on the right as one faces uphill. Parts are nice easy trail, parts have downed trees and branches obstructing the way, and all of it was covered under a heavy matte of pine needles and leaves, pine cones, and other detritus. It would appear this route sees little travel, relatively speaking. After another 3/4 mile or so, it crosses the creek bed, and paralles up the left side for another 1.5 miles. Quality of the trail ranges from good to tricky. The creek itself had running water down low, fed by springs.

At the top of the drainage, the trail begins a short but steep series of switchbacks. Parts of the trail were completely obscured, but periodic cairns pointed the route. After hiking the steep switchbacks, the trail converged with the upper trail, meeting at an elevation of 8,700 feet. For the first time I had an actual view of the peaks above me, although Chiricahua's summit was still obscured by trees. However, I could readily see some of Chiricahua's northern satellites, such as Anita Peak. A large fire about 5 years ago had defoliated much of this part of the mountain and the burn scars were still readily evident.

From point 8,700, I proceeded southerly about a half mile to the Chiricahua Saddle, elevation 9,100 feet. From here I had a choice: loop south then east and approach the summit from the southeast, or loop north. I decided to follow the Crest Trail (signed) north about 3/4 mile to the saddle between Chiricahua and Anita Peaks, elevation 9,500 feet. A talus field (with no trees) allowed for excellent views down to the desert floor. It was along this stretch I encountered the first of many downed trees. Crossing these obstacles was easy at first, but soon, especially on the final approach heading south of the saddle up to the peak, the quantity of deadfall was enormous. For the most part I tried to go underneath as often as I could, preferring not to touch or put any weight on these massive logs. There were also many standing dead trees, and they creaked in the slight breeze. I also saw what appeared to be very recent deadfall, judging by the disturbed ground and freshness of the wood. Soon, after getting past these woody obstacles, I arrived at the summit, exactly three hours after starting. The weather was breezy but very nice, with temperaturess right around 50. I stayed about 15 minutes at the top. A sign (mentioned in some guidebooks) that had stood at the summit is no longer there. The summit is marked by a benchmark in a boulder situated at the base of a large tree. The benchmark's elevation is listed as 9,795 feet, which is probably in error. There aren't any great views from the summit, unfortunately.

After some snacks and photos, I proceeded down, following the same route as I had come up. I met with a couple of hikers at point 8,700, the only people I saw the whole day on the route. They had come up the upper Mormon Creek trail and they mentioned there were good views along this route. The hike down was fairly quick, although the loose rocks here and there were more treacherous as I moved downhill. I arrived back to my truck at just before 2 p.m. The weather was spectacular! Breezy and cool, but not cold. I laid in the bed of my truck and took a catnap for about a half-hour before packing up, changing into some civvies and proceeding home. I was back in Chandler just in time for the Simpsons.

Second Visit, November 2003: Beth and I planned to tackle another Arizona highpoint while the getting was good, and on the docket this weekend was Chiricahua Peak. We decided to tackle it from the Crest Trail, with Rustler Park as our first choice but considering a start from Long Park as a possibility. From our hotel in Willcox we followed AZ-186 35 miles southeast toward the Chiricahua National Monument, then right (south) another 14 miles up the Pinery Canyon Road toward Onion Saddle and Rustler Park (FR-42 and FR-42D). Past the campgrounds and trailheads at Rustler Park we drove to the guard station buildings and found the gate to the road leading to Long Park. It was unlocked and we went in. The road is quite rough, rocky, steep and generally nasty. I used 4-wheel drive to manage it, and another 1.4 miles later we were at the end of the road. The weather was cool but very nice. We started in at 9:10 a.m.

A mostly-level trail leads south and meets the Crest Trail (Trail 270) after about 2/3 mile. We followed the Crest Trail, contouring past Flys Peak, coming to a meadow at Round Park, then contoured around some smaller peaks before coming to Cima Park ("Park" is used in these cases to refer to small saddles along the range crest). We hiked up the easy grades, took a breakfast break, and followed the trail past Anita Springs and up to the summit, 3.5 miles and 2 hours after starting in exquisite weather. What I noticed immediately was the lack of downed tree trunks along the final portion. In 2000 they were everywhere but since then the Forest Service people have obviously removed many of them, making for far-easier hiking. We took a good 20-minute break at the wooded top, signed in, sought out the highest bumps, and then started down.

We followed the same route out, meeting up with a father and son out hunting and another group near the trailhead. In all the hike had taken just 4 hours total, with a total gain of about 900 feet from Long Park (600 net). We drove down the roads and went in to the National Monument. We didn't hike any but we did a walking tour of the Faraway Ranch complex, where the Erickson family steaded in the 1880s and whose daughter was instrumental in helping form the area into a National Monument. The next day we returned and did two hikes: a 3.5-mile loop through the Heart of Rocks and some spectacular rock formations, and a 2-mile slog up Sugarloaf Peak, which may be the highpoint of the Monument. Later that afternoon we made another 3-mile hike and visited the Fort Bowie National Historic Site, where the Army set up camp to help fight the Apache Wars against the very able "opponents" led by Cochise and Geronimo. The fort was decommissioned in 1894 and today is just some stone foundations and the occasional adobe walls that look like they're melting into the earth.