Recommendations from locals
Sometimes recommendations from locals are great and sometimes they're not so great and sometimes they're a bit of each. If I'm feeling adventurous, I ask.
Last year, I had a really enjoyable conversation with a woman working in a roadside tourist trap in Bowie, Arizona. I told her how intrigued I was by the huge rocks by the side of the road near the Dragoon exit off I-10 in Arizona, and she told me I had to go see the Chiricahuas, and while I'm down that way, I should visit the ruins of Fort Bowie. It's more than a mile hike from the parking lot to the ruins at Fort Bowie, but she said that there is handicapped access.
Today is the day I checked out the advice of that woman from last year.
She was right about Chiricahua National Monument -- it is pretty spectacular. Once again, the photos don't do it justice, because the size of the formations is part of what makes them spectacular, and that just doesn't come across in the photos. For example in this photo, how tall are those rock formations?
I'm not sure either, but I think back to an office building I used to work in that was ten stories tall. These were in the same ballpark as that ten-story building, so let's say they're around 100 feet tall. There's nothing in that photo to give that perspective. I tried shooting over the top of my van, and that didn't help much but it is another really nice view of the rocks that gives a better perspective on the depth of the spaces between them. Note that the prominent column near the right of the photo above is left of center in the photo below.
This is wild, wild country. The kind of place where they could film westerns, and they have! Imdb knows everything. Here's a list of movies filmed there: https://www.imdb.com/search/title?locations=Chiricahua%20National%20Monument,%20Arizona,%20USA&ref_=ttloc_loc_9
I'm really glad I visited this place and saw these magnificent formations. I wasn't so sure about that at times on the drive to the top of the mountain. The road hugs the side of the mountain and chunks of rock on the road serve as reminders of gravity and impermanence. So does the guard rail and the sheer drop off on one side of the road. On the way up, I was in the lane hugging the side of the mountain. That means that I knew I'd be in the lane next to the guard rail on the way back down. I was not looking forward to this. In fact, I wanted it behind me as soon as possible, so I didn't spend much time at the top. I did take a couple of photos, and they do give some idea of how much of this beautiful stuff there is because you can see it going off into the distance. In this photo, you're seeing the brush at the edge of the parking area. Past that is a steep descent down the mountain and then the formations on the next ridge of the mountain.
This next photo shows rocky stairway down the side of the mountain that I didn't feel stable enough to try. Between the loose rock and uneven stairs with no hand rail, and the jitters I'd acquired on the drive up, it didn't feel like a good idea.
I made the drive down easier to bear by repeating over and over, "I will only look at the road. I will be fine. The scary part will be over soon." I was careful to only look at the road. I was fine. The scary part took about ten minutes, then I was back to having some roughly-horizontal ground on the side of the road I was driving.
On the way back, I decided to investigate the other recommendation I got from the local woman, Fort Bowie. At the turn off to the fort, I discovered that the route was a dirt and gravel road. It was really nice as dirt and gravel roads go, and it was only 8 miles, so I decided to give it a try. The scenery was stunning. The road was a soft red clay color and the brush covering the desert was a soft green color, and then there were mountains nearby. It didn't look like anywhere I'd ever been before.
About halfway to the fort, after not having seen another vehicle going either direction the whole time, I saw a sign that said, "Mountain curves and grades next 5 miles." I decided that I didn't want to see the site enough to put up with difficult driving for the next few miles, so I turned around. Right after turning around, I took a couple of photos to capture the beautiful scenery.
I'm really glad I took both drives. Even though they didn't work out the way I hoped them to, they
took me to some beautiful places unlike any I'd seen before.
I think that local woman who recommended those places is made of sterner stuff than I am. You probably have to be to thrive in such a harsh environment. Winter is the easy time of year in these parts. Summer isn't something I want to experience.
Last year, I had a really enjoyable conversation with a woman working in a roadside tourist trap in Bowie, Arizona. I told her how intrigued I was by the huge rocks by the side of the road near the Dragoon exit off I-10 in Arizona, and she told me I had to go see the Chiricahuas, and while I'm down that way, I should visit the ruins of Fort Bowie. It's more than a mile hike from the parking lot to the ruins at Fort Bowie, but she said that there is handicapped access.
Today is the day I checked out the advice of that woman from last year.
She was right about Chiricahua National Monument -- it is pretty spectacular. Once again, the photos don't do it justice, because the size of the formations is part of what makes them spectacular, and that just doesn't come across in the photos. For example in this photo, how tall are those rock formations?
I'm not sure either, but I think back to an office building I used to work in that was ten stories tall. These were in the same ballpark as that ten-story building, so let's say they're around 100 feet tall. There's nothing in that photo to give that perspective. I tried shooting over the top of my van, and that didn't help much but it is another really nice view of the rocks that gives a better perspective on the depth of the spaces between them. Note that the prominent column near the right of the photo above is left of center in the photo below.
This is wild, wild country. The kind of place where they could film westerns, and they have! Imdb knows everything. Here's a list of movies filmed there: https://www.imdb.com/search/title?locations=Chiricahua%20National%20Monument,%20Arizona,%20USA&ref_=ttloc_loc_9
I'm really glad I visited this place and saw these magnificent formations. I wasn't so sure about that at times on the drive to the top of the mountain. The road hugs the side of the mountain and chunks of rock on the road serve as reminders of gravity and impermanence. So does the guard rail and the sheer drop off on one side of the road. On the way up, I was in the lane hugging the side of the mountain. That means that I knew I'd be in the lane next to the guard rail on the way back down. I was not looking forward to this. In fact, I wanted it behind me as soon as possible, so I didn't spend much time at the top. I did take a couple of photos, and they do give some idea of how much of this beautiful stuff there is because you can see it going off into the distance. In this photo, you're seeing the brush at the edge of the parking area. Past that is a steep descent down the mountain and then the formations on the next ridge of the mountain.
This next photo shows rocky stairway down the side of the mountain that I didn't feel stable enough to try. Between the loose rock and uneven stairs with no hand rail, and the jitters I'd acquired on the drive up, it didn't feel like a good idea.
I made the drive down easier to bear by repeating over and over, "I will only look at the road. I will be fine. The scary part will be over soon." I was careful to only look at the road. I was fine. The scary part took about ten minutes, then I was back to having some roughly-horizontal ground on the side of the road I was driving.
On the way back, I decided to investigate the other recommendation I got from the local woman, Fort Bowie. At the turn off to the fort, I discovered that the route was a dirt and gravel road. It was really nice as dirt and gravel roads go, and it was only 8 miles, so I decided to give it a try. The scenery was stunning. The road was a soft red clay color and the brush covering the desert was a soft green color, and then there were mountains nearby. It didn't look like anywhere I'd ever been before.
About halfway to the fort, after not having seen another vehicle going either direction the whole time, I saw a sign that said, "Mountain curves and grades next 5 miles." I decided that I didn't want to see the site enough to put up with difficult driving for the next few miles, so I turned around. Right after turning around, I took a couple of photos to capture the beautiful scenery.
I'm really glad I took both drives. Even though they didn't work out the way I hoped them to, they
took me to some beautiful places unlike any I'd seen before.
I think that local woman who recommended those places is made of sterner stuff than I am. You probably have to be to thrive in such a harsh environment. Winter is the easy time of year in these parts. Summer isn't something I want to experience.
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