Camping and Horses : Chiricahua Monument ride "Best ride of my life"!!

Chiricahua Monument Ride

Located approximately 36 miles (58 km) southeast of Willcox, Arizona.

Exploring Chiricahua National Monument is exploring a fantasy world of extraordinary rock sculptures that were created by the forces of nature over millions of years. Called the"Land of the Standing-Up Rocks" by Chiricahua Apaches and later the "Wonderland of Rocks" by pioneers, this northwest corner of the Chiricahua Mountains harbors towering rock spires, massive stone columns, and balanced rocks weighing hundreds of tons that perch delicately on small pedestals. Where hundreds of these rocks occur together, such as in the Heart of Rocks, the landscape appears as rugged badlands.
The story behind the rocks is not completely understood, but geologists believe that about 27 million years ago violent volcanic eruptions from nearby Turkey Creek caldera spewed forth thick white-hot ash. The ash cooled and fused into an almost 2,000-foot thick layer of dark volcanic rock known as rhyolite. The Chiricahua Mountains formed from this rock upheaval, and then the masters of erosion - water, wind, and ice - began sculpting the rock into odd formations. Erosion carved along weak vertical and horizontal cracks forming the fascinating rock forms preserved today in Chiricahua National Monument.

On March 3rd 2013 20 riders from as far North as BC and Alberta and far South as Arizona got together for the ride of their lives. We camped one valley over up Pinery Canyon Road with about 14 big horse trailers. Bill and Tom brought 2 big stock trailers to camp to pick up horses and riders to make the 5 mile trip to the Park. This was a 13.0 mile ride and due to park restrictions only 20 riders a day are allowed and only groups of 10 at a time so we broke up into 2 groups of 10.

I would like to thank Linda Modahl for inviting us on such a "ride of a life time".

Our great Leader "Arizona Cowboy of the year 2012" Bill Roberts We were the second group to head into the Monument
The riders were

Kelly Brook Allen and Ron Stolp - Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Katherine Cerra - Buckeye, Arizona

Shannon Spellman - Arizona

Pat Williams - Arizona

Lynda Lord - Arizona

Barb Cardinal - Tucson, Arizona

Sheila Burnette - Arizona

Leaving the parking area

The Faraway Ranch Historic (Pictured above) is part of Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona, and preserves an area associated with the final conflicts with the local Apache, as well as one of the last frontier settlements. In particular, it is associated with the people who promoted the establishment of Chiricahua National Monument.

Historians and archeologists believe that indigenous peoples began to inhabitant the region approximately ten thousand years ago. When Chiricahua was originally established as a monument, the Chiricahua Apache had already been removed from the landscape, forced onto reservations, and stripped of their way of life. In 1872, the area of what is now the national monument was part of the Chiricahua Indian Reservation.

These trails were built in the 1930's and all rock was moved by Mules

Lunch break at about 7500 feet at top of the hoodoo's

We hit snow but it was pretty warm out.

Below are some pictures taken by others on our ride K Rogers and Katherine Cerra

These trails were made in the 1930 and every rock and stone block was moved by pack mules.

Here is a picture of the first group to hit the trails
All the riders in this first group were

Tom Compton - Benson, AZ (your ride host)

Vernon K Rogers (Mr. K)- Arizona

Dave and Linda Modahl - Arizona

John and Brenda Brown - Alberta, Canada / Arizona

Verna and Ken Pohl - Ponoka Alberta, Canada/ Arizona

Darrell Brown - Grindrod, British Columbia, Canada

Julie Errend - Oregon

Darrell Brown up on one of the Hoodoos

Looking down at the riders below from one of the many switchbacks on this trail

Verna and Ken Pohl from Ponoka Alberta

This picture was taken by K Rogers of Verna Pohl on her draft gelding on a very scary switchback

Here is the GPS map Katherine Cerra made of our ride

This really shows the terrain we climbed up. I believe we climb up to 7,078 feet from about 4500 feet

Me and Hunter picture taken by Katherine Cerra

Video above was made by Katherine Cerra she did a very good job!

Pictures and video work by Ron Stolp video made by Kelly Allen