Chiricahua National Monument & Saguaro National Park
This is a continuation of the previous post.
From White Sands National Monument we made the trek to our next destination, Chiricahua National Monument. Unlike the majority of our other travels, the destinations on this trip didn't have us driving for long periods at a time. However, we found out that what we gained in little time spent in the car, we lost when it came to nearby towns when we arrived at Chiricahua. We got there around lunch and after we stopped at the Visitor's Center and had our tent set up, we decided to just eat a light lunch and start exploring. We took the Bonita Canyon Drive all the way to the very end when we reached Massai Point. It had incredible views the entire way up, but the final destination was breathtaking! I definitely recommend walking some of the nature trail to take it all in. While up there, we both decided that our light lunch was a little too light and we were ready to get an early dinner. Being as high up as were made cell phone reception pretty amazing (something we do not usually have the luxury of in most parks), but in doing a quick scan for places to eat we found out the nearest town was at least an hour away. Normally, while not ideal, that wouldn't have been that big of an issue. However, we were low on nutrients from not having an actual meal all day, and the roads we had to travel on made us tired just thinking about it...they looked like this for miles and miles:
After some deliberation (and a dramatic "we're going to starve here" meltdown from yours truly) we decided to just eat another snack meal for dinner and go to bed early. While we waited for an acceptable dinner time we decided to explore a few of the trails around the campground. Looking back now, I'm so glad we didn't leave to go eat because we would have missed getting to walk these trails! Dinner that night consisted of severely squished pumpkin muffins from home, leftover trail mix, and a banana...not exactly anyone's ideal meal, but at least we didn't succumb to starvation.
A little bit of #meadadventures tip time!
- Check this park out! It is one you'll have to work for in terms of getting out there, but it is such a hidden gem!
- Come prepared! There isn't anything around that you can get to easily, and the Visitor's Center only has fresh water to refill your bottles.
- Camp here! There are trails all around to explore, the campground is very well maintained, and the park itself is so relaxing you really do not want to leave.
A new day brought with it a new destination...AND FOOD!! We packed up camp and hit the road with Saguaro National Park in our sights. We choked down another granola bar for breakfast with the promise of In-n-Out for lunch and coffee even sooner. When looking for gas and coffee options, I was pleasantly surprised when the best/closest option was located at "THE THING?". By now you should know that I tend to look forward to finding all things odd/quirky on the road, and I had been intrigued by the very vague "THE THING?" billboards for miles. I was half disappointed/half pleased when we followed the signs to reach this...
After we purchased the largest coffee they offered we had to make a quick sweep of "THE THING?" (just a giant gift shop by the way) before getting back on the road. Our next camping spot was a little tricky because we had a few campgrounds to choose from,very little knowledge/info on them, and none were actually in the park itself (only backcountry camping in this park). When we arrived to the first campground on the list, Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park, we did a loop and decided to just pick a spot here and go explore the park. When we reached the Visitor's Center we realized that Saguaro National Park is actually split into two parts, west and east with the city of Tucson in-between. Right away, I was in awe of the giant cacti as we drove the Baja Loop Drive in the west part of the park. From there, we headed into Tucson for some actual food...the moment my taste buds had been waiting for!! After lunch we visited the east side of the park exploring the stops along the Cactus Forest Drive, hiking a bit of the Cactus Forest Trail, and Mica View.
Tommy loves to visit the college campuses we are around, and we couldn't leave Tucson with visiting the University of Arizona. After walking around the campus for a bit, we grabbed dinner and then headed back to find a good spot to watch the sunset closer to our campsite. In the prep stages for this trip I had researched some places to watch the sunset, and the vast majority of my searches ended with the same destination: Hugh Norris Trail. If you go to this trail for the same reason, you will only have to hike a few minutes on the trail until you come to the "perfect spot". We hung out on a huge rock until the sun disappeared to give us the most spectacular sunset!
