The Southern Chiricahuas

August 25-26, 2019

Since we were in the area for the 7th Annual "Concert without Borders," we thought we'd finally get to hike Rucker Canyon when the creek was flowing. Southeastern Arizona got four inches of rain a few days ago.

We drove 20 long, slow, dusty miles only to find the road blocked. Hey Forest Service if you have time to put up caution tape and five identical laminated signs announcing that the road is closed, how about posting one at the beginning of the road?
So we just chose another random canyon in the southern Chiricahuas. It was a good choice!
The southern Chiricahuas have some excellent streamside hiking in areas untouched by the fires that destroyed so much of this range.
A lovely, primitive campsite protected by a perfectly bad 4WD road.
Indian paintbrush.

We hiked into two different new-to-us canyons, both worthy of further exploration.

Mountains of bear scat confirmed that we are not the only ones attracted to this area.