Thursday, November 9, 2017

After a day of R & R yesterday, we had to get up early today to get to the Chiricahuas for a van ride to the top. I always ask people in the van where they are from.  Today, we had a couple from Germany, a foreign student from Norway, her host family from Sierra Vista, AZ, a guy from Virginia (he ran down the trails), a couple from Seattle and a couple from Colorado. This was the day we hiked from the top to the bottom!  It was 7.1 miles long and elevation of 734 feet.  So, a bit longer than we have done but the elevation wasn't as bad.  Why, then, am I so tired?

We love this trail, as it takes us from the very top of the Chiricahuas, which is close to 7,000 feet elevation, to the visitor center, which is at 5,400 feet elevation.  We do have some up's and down's, so it isn't all down.  This gives you a good idea of what it's like near the top.

Did we see a giraffe?  Not quite!  This is an oak tree that was burned in the 2011 fire and I thought it was quite interesting, the pattern that it left. Most of the trail wasn't harmed by the fire, but we could see where it went across another mountaintop. 

This is one of their outstanding rock formations in the park.  They call it Mushroom Rock, and I think it looks more like an anvil.

This is another famous rock formation in the park.  It's called Balance Rock, and it's 25 feet tall, 22 feet in diameter, and weighs 1,000 tons.  I wonder how they figured that out. 

We met this guy on the trail and had a good chat with him.  Notice his hiking stick.  He said that he and his wife went to 17 national parks last year and he has a metal on his stick to prove it.  He teaches and leads hikes to instill wilderness hiking skills to others.  His wife has Parkinson's so bad now, that he has someone stay with her, so he can get some hiking in.  He is a fairly young guy, so we felt really bad for them. 

Jim found another pretty 'blonde' lady today.  Jeanie, notice where his hand is!  She was a charmer!

It didn't take Virginia's husband long to find her!  They were adorable!  We found out that he is Walter Stephens, the well know watercolor artist from Sunsites, AZ.  He is 96 years old and it is a second marriage for them.  He never sells his work, but donates pieces to the community for a fund-raiser.  He said he doesn't paint any more.  He met Virginia in church 5 years ago, and married shortly after.  I can see why he doesn't have time to paint.  She's a character.  He was a pilot and then a commander in the navy in his younger days. They just returned from a trip to San Diego, for a military reunion.  She said they were treated like royalty.  They said they come to the park every day to walk the trails!  I don't think they did the 7 mile hike that we just did, but bless them for wanting to be in this enchanted area!  She had taken pictures of some deer that they had seen today.  We wished that we had more time to talk to them, but we finally met 'Walter Stephens'!  We used to see his work hanging in the golf course clubhouse, and inquired about buying some, but nope, it wasn't for sale.  Today was a great day!