Thursday, March 24 and Friday, March 25 brought sunny skies and warm weather to Willcox and the Chiricahua National Monument when 23 members of the Saddlebrooke Hiking Club made a two-day visit. On Thursday afternoon, they split into two groups, with the first half visiting Zarpara Vineyard and the other half visiting Pillsbury Wines. Both locations are about twenty minutes south of the town of Willcox. The groups then switched venues. After their wine-tasting sessions, everyone returned to Willcox for a third wine tasting at Keeling Schaefer Tasting Room, located in an old bank building. The day concluded with a delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant.
On Friday morning, hikers headed to Chiricahua National Monument, thirty-eight miles south of Willcox. The National Monument, established in 1924, dwells in a sky island mountain range. The area was inhabited by the Chiricahua Apache tribe from the early 1400s to 1886 when, after a protracted war, the tribe’s leader, Cochise, surrendered to the U.S. government.
Two separate hikes were offered, a B-level hike on the Chiricahua Heart of Rocks Loop, led by Frank Earnest, and a C-level hike from the Echo Canyon trailhead to the Visitor Center, co-led by Bruce Landeck and Kathryn Madore. The Heart of Rocks Loop visits the most spectacular rock formations in the Monument area and includes part of the scenic Echo Canyon trail. The Echo Canyon to Visitor Center trail displays remarkable pillar and grotto rock formations. Both trails offer incredible views of rock pinnacles (which Apaches called “standing up rocks”) reminiscent of Bryce Canyon.
After these beautiful hikes, the participants headed back to SaddleBrooke with fond memories of their adventure. Hikers who made the trip include Frank Earnest, Sarah Earnest, Jeff Love, Susan Love, Kaori Hashimoto, Linda Eglin, Jim Solon, Missy Rodey, Cathy Meyer, Bruce Landeck, Kathryn Madore, Marcia Munich, Kathy Warren, Mary Riemersma, Kathy Minx, Judie Shyman, William Brown, Georgette Brown, Tom Conrad, Maria Spencer, Maria Szentirmai, Karen Munn and Wendy Berns.
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