Choice Pictures - Arizona - Chiricahua National Monument

The Chiricahua National Monument, also in the southeastern part of the state, was our second hiking outing on the trip. The first had almost been rained out, and this one would have also, except it got cold enough that the rain turned into snow.

We found this amusing, since it was Arizona, but we figured it would keep the trail virtually free of other hikers, so we put on our rain gear and were on our way.

I'm glad that it snowed. I like snow pictures, and the weather also gave us a bonus fog, which added another dimension.

At one point, Jeff and I had the following exchange:
Me: Snow-izona!
Jeff: More like Ari-snowa!
The entire trip did not get much more sophisticated than that, by the way.

Eventually the trail led to a valley filled with some very interesting rock formations. The fog helped to give it a more mysterious vibe, although rock formations can only be so mysterious.

As we circled the valley, I noticed some of the rock formations along the trail had icicles hanging on them. This triggered a desperate need in me to take a picture that somehow included the icicles. At each rock formation we passed, I would hem and haw for a while, trying to decide if I could get anything to work. Jeff quickly left me behind, but eventually I got a shot that I liked

Soon we started back down the trail. By this point it was growing warmer and the fog had lifted, which made the trip back enjoyable, as all of the views were much clearer. ("There was another mountain back there? Huh!") Not wanting to waste the snow, I had to stop to make a quick snowman.

The snowman was about a foot tall, and right in the middle of the trail. I hoped that any hikers following us would enjoy it, although I'm sure it probably got punted into the trees by some surely teenager. Stupid teenagers.

At this point it had been two days in Arizona, and nothing but rain and snow. But it was still fun, and I didn't go there to get a tan.