At the edge of Echo Park, I came to the first of two creek crossings and managed to make it across without getting my new boots wet.  Once I was on the other side, the trail began to climb out of the park and away from the coolness of the trees inside the canyon.  A tenth of a mile later, I came to the first trail junction, where the Echo Canyon Trail meets up with the Hailstone Trail (which goes to the Ed Riggs Trail and completes the Echo Canyon Loop) and the Upper Rhyolite Trail.  Since I certainly didn’t want to go back to the Trailhead, I took the Upper Rhyolite Trail.

From the trail junction, the Upper Rhyolite Trail began to descend gently back into the cool canyon, towards the creek.  Like Echo Park, this part of the trail was very pretty.  Everything was cool and damp from the recent rains, and all of the foliage was lush and green, as though there wasn’t a drought in Arizona. 

Now, I had to be careful on this part of the trail, as John had gotten lost there four years ago.  He pointed out to me on the map that I would come to an area where the trail could go either left or right.  Going left would keep me on the trail – the trail would cross the creek then begin to climb again.  Going right would get me lost.  I assured him that I would pay attention and not make the same mistake that he made.

Fortunately, when I did come to that area, there wasn’t even a question about going left or right.  The trail on the right had since been blocked off by the park service, so the only way to go was left, which I did. 

On the other side of the creek, the trail began to climb out of the canyon once again as it followed the contour.  The trail was very exposed there, so I grateful to have the overcast skies to keep the temperatures down.

The Upper Rhyolite Trail ended at 1.1 miles, at the trail junction with the Lower Rhyolite Trail.  From there, it was only 1.5 miles to the Visitor’s Center.  Once I passed the junction, I looked at my watch and said to myself, “I will probably meet up with John in Mary in a half a mile, which, at my pace, will be in about fifteen minutes.”

And I guessed that exactly right.  A half of a mile later, I saw John and Mary hiking towards me.  Mary was so excited that she came running towards me, a half-eaten apple in one hand and her Wiggles backpack in the other.  She quickly handed off her backpack to John and grabbed a hold of me, as though she had not seen me in days. 

We continued hiking from that point to the visitor’s center, a mile away.  For the most part, Mary held my hand, as though she did not want me to leave her again.  Then, for the last quarter of a mile or so, she decided that she wanted to be the line-leader, so that she would reach the trailhead first and be the winner.  Naturally, she was the winner, as she touched the Jeep first upon finishing the trail.  We gave her lots of praise, not only for being the winner, but because she had just completed a whole two miles without being carried (and that was not including the quarter-mile that she did on the Massai Point Trail!).

There was a picnic table at the trailhead, so John and Mary and I decided to have lunch there.  We made sandwiches and ate them while watching the birds flit around from tree to tree.  Just as we finished, of course, it started to drizzle again, so it was time for us to go.

As we left the National Monument, we noticed that there were three deer grazing along the side of the road.  John pulled over to see if he could get a picture of them, and he was in luck!  None of the deer ran away!  One of them even appeared to pose for John as he took his picture, and they were still there when we finally drove away.

Rather than return to camp, we drove into Willcox instead, to replenish our ice supply.  John also needed to buy some pain medication, because his back had been hurting him during the whole trip.  While we were in Willcox, we took a moment to check our cell phones for messages, and that was when I learned the good news: my friend Debbie had had her baby that morning!  Timothy Curtis Brown was born at 5:34 that morning, on August 14 (missing my birthday by only a few hours!), weighing in at nine pounds.  What wonderful news!

We stopped at the Safeway in Willcox and got the supplies that we needed and more: we picked up a six-pack of Shiner Bock to enjoy at our campsite.  That would be a good way to pass the time in case it rained again.

It was nearly three o’clock when we returned to camp that afternoon, and finally, the sun was shining!  Instead of sitting around camp and drinking beer, John announced that he was going for a short hike, since he had missed his usual morning hike.  While he was gone, Mary and I sat in the tent and played one of her new card games (Winnie the Pooh Uno).  Then, around 5:00 p.m., just before John returned, I started cooking dinner.

That evening, we ate Sloppy Joes (made with turkey meat) for dinner, and then we sat around by the campfire (which we struggled to keep going) and drank our beer.  We also made S’mores – a tasty treat that Mary absolutely loved…although she was now forbidden from toasting the marshmallows herself after getting one stuck in her hair!  (YOU try getting sticky marshmallows out of a kid’s hair without running water!) 

We did manage to get a good campfire going that night, and it was a good thing, too, because just before Mary’s bedtime, I discovered that all of our jackets were soaking wet!  They had gotten wet when John left the drain to the cooler open that afternoon, but I never even noticed that they were wet when I threw them into the tent, on top of Mary’s sleeping bag.  (Oh, yes, that got wet, too!)  We spent the next hour or so with all of our jackets and Mary's sleeping bag hanging by the fire in a desperate attempt to dry them before Mary’s bedtime.

We were fortunate to get everything dry, with the exception of the cuffs on my jacket, before it was time to go to bed.  Once Mary’s bag was dry, we put her to bed in our tent again, knowing full well that it was going to rain again that night.  We followed a half an hour later.

The storm started earlier that night, picking up around 10:00 p.m. and raining for several hours.  Once the thunder and lightning stopped, I was able to fall asleep and stay asleep for most of the storm.  Mary, too, slept through most of the night; she awakened once to get my attention, but once I tucked her back into her sleeping bag, she was fast asleep again.

The next morning, John awoke early again, in an attempt to go on another hike.  This time, he succeeded, and he returned just as Mary and I awoke, around 6:30 a.m.  He came into the tent with bowls of cereal in his hands, and the three of us ate breakfast in our sleeping bags once more.

Since it was not raining that morning, and the skies appeared to be clear and sunny, at least for the time being, John suggested that we do a hike on the Portal-side of the mountain.  He thought that the South Fork Trail would be a good choice, because it was flat for the first few miles – that would be a good hike for Mary to do.  That would put us close to the town of Portal, where we could go to replenish our ice supply for the day.  I thought it was a nice idea, so once we were dressed and ready to go, we left our campsite and started down the mountain towards Portal.

Portal and Paradise are two of the small towns located on the other side of the Chiricahua Mountains from the National Monument.  We had become familiar with these two communities during our last visit to the Chiricahuas, when we stayed at the George Walker House in Paradise.  Although very small and only accessible via dirt road, Portal is home to a fire station, a general store/restaurant, a guest lodge, and a even a condominium complex.  There is also a National Forest ranger station there, where we have always stopped to talk to the ranger and get information about hikes in the area. 

En route to Portal, we stopped along the side of the road, at a sign that read “Vista Point”…but there wasn’t anything to see!  Curious, we got out of the Jeep and found that the Vista Point was about 500 yards away, at the end of a trail that traipsed through the dense forest.  We really wanted to see what it was, so we started hiking.  It took us about five or ten minutes to get to the end, where the trail broke out of the trees and onto a shelf of sorts that contained a park bench, a telescope, and a sign that read “Cathedral Vista”. 

The view was simply incredible.  From the shelf, we had a 360 degree view of the mountains that surrounded us: giant monoliths painted red and green and yellow in the early morning sun, with their peaks hidden by small wisps of clouds on an otherwise clear morning.  It was very stunning and well worth the short hike to get there.

We didn’t spend too much time admiring Cathedral Rock, for we still had things to do that morning.  Once we returned to the Jeep, we continued down Portal Road for another mile until we came to the Ranger Station, our next stop.  Although it was Sunday, the ranger station was open, so we went inside to talk to the ranger on duty.

There was a lot of noise inside of the ranger station that morning.  Not only was there already another group of hikers there, talking to the ranger, but all of the rattlesnakes on display were shaking their tails at anyone who dared to approach their glass.  The forest service had four or five rattlesnakes, as well as a Gila monster and some water scorpions, in glass aquariums on display.  Usually, the snakes are very quiet and don’t care if visitors come to look at them, but that morning, they were all wound up and pissed off!

Once the other hikers left, things quieted down in the ranger station – even the snakes stopped rattling.  (They started up again whenever Mary ran by their cages, but they calmed down once she ran in the other direction.)  John used that quiet time to talk to the ranger about her recommendations for kid-friendly hikes in the area. 

It was no surprise that she would recommend the South Fork of Cave Creek Trail, which was the trail that we were planning to do that day.  (She also recommended a Nature Trail, but we passed on that one.)  So, we thanked her for her time, and with that, we left the ranger station to continue on our way.

Before we went hiking, we went into Portal to purchase more ice for our coolers and to buy some snacks for later.  One of our snacks was a bag of M&M’s for Mary, which would be her motivation to hike that day.  She could not have them until she was done hiking and back at the Jeep – we hoped that it would work!

It didn’t take us long to get from Portal to the trailhead, which was located only about a mile from the ranger station.  As we approached the parking area, we stopped and paid our $5 day-use fee at the self-pay station then parked the Jeep under a large tree next to the trailhead. 

It was turning into a lovely, sunny day – a perfect day for hiking, of course.  The nighttime rains had left everything damp and cool, but the sunshine gave us just enough warmth that we didn’t need our jackets for the hike.  (We did have emergency rain ponchos, just in case…you never know when the monsoons are going to strike!)

After donning our gear and exchanging our traditional trail kisses, we started down the South Fork Trail.  Our destination would be Maple Camp, located at 1.5 miles from the trailhead.  That would make it a three-mile hike – an appropriate distance for a four-year-old to hike, so we hoped.  That would put us back at the Jeep just in time for lunch.

About a tenth of a mile from the trailhead, we entered the Chiricahua Wilderness Area – a new wilderness area for Mary, for a total of 23 wilderness areas visited in her life!  (That’s quite an accomplishment for a four-year-old.)  We stopped briefly and gave her new wilderness kisses before ushering her on her way again.

Naturally, Mary wanted to be the line-leader again, so we allowed her to walk at the head of the line, where she set the pace for us.  Although Mary was not the fastest hiker, she did manage to set a pretty good pace for us, one that was quicker than her normal pace.  She was also much more curious than usual and wanted to point out everything that she saw.  Every time she saw a yucca, for example, she said, “That’s a poker!”

“No, that’s a yucca,” John corrected.  They went back and forth like that several times. 

Although our plan was to hike to Maple Camp, we cut our trip short at the last creek crossing, as Mary was getting a little bit cranky.  She needed to take a break, so rather than go the last quarter of a mile, we stopped and took a break next to the creek.  Mary sat down on a large rock and proceeded to throw little stones into the water à la Pooh-Sticks, and I sat next to her to watch her.  

We rested there for about ten minutes before starting back to the trailhead.  By that time, our lovely, sunny day was beginning to see its first signs of monsoonal weather, as gray clouds were gathering over the peaks of the mountains.  That meant that we needed to hurry, so as to beat the storm.

Although Mary walked most of the way back, John decided to carry her for about a half of a mile.  This was to ensure that we would make it back before the storm hit.  Mary did walk the last little bit back to the trailhead, though, and as the line-leader, she made it back to the Jeep first, making her the winner two days in a row!

As we put our gear into the Jeep, we could hear the thunder rumbling all around us.  Knowing that we didn’t have much time, we quickly prepared our lunch at a nearby picnic table and finished just as the first few drops of rain began to fall.  I put Mary into the Jeep while John put the ice chest away.  Then, just as the rain began to pour down on us, John and I piled into the Jeep, sandwiches in hand. 

We are our lunch on our way back to Portal, where John decided to buy one more thing: a bottle of wine for dinner.  (“We earned it!” he said.)  He also bought us ice cream cones, which we ate on our way back to camp. 

The rain subsided halfway back to camp, as we made our way up Portal Road to Barfoot Park.  So John announced that he was going to go on another hike.  He requested that I drop him off at the Crest Trailhead, next to the campground at Rustler’s Park, and he would hike back to camp by himself.  So, I did; I let him out of the Jeep at Rustler’s Park, and after watching him disappear onto the Crest Trail, I made my way back to camp.

While we waited for John to return, Mary and I played more Winnie the Pooh Uno in the tent.  Then, I decided that I needed to take a nap.  I laid down under my sleeping bag and closed my eyes.

John returned to camp minutes later, just in time for my nap.  He took Mary out of the tent and played with her so that I could rest.  I soon fell asleep and snoozed for about ninety minutes or so.

I was awakened by Mary, who was saying, “Mommy, come and eat your dinner!”  At first, I was a bit disoriented, wondering why she was bothering me, but once I looked at my watch, I realized that I had slept all the way until dinnertime.

It had been drizzling again while John was cooking dinner, so he set up a tarp between the Jeep and the trees to provide him with a dry area in which to cook.  He also set up our table and chairs underneath the tarp, so that we could eat dinner out of the rain.

We stayed under that tarp for most of the evening, even after dinner was over, because it drizzled for most of the night.  We had hoped to have a campfire that night, as we wanted to make some Jiffy Pop popcorn for Mary, but we had no such luck.  Instead, we had to make our Jiffy Pop on the camp stove.  It was still cool to watch as the foil expanded with the popcorn popped, but it just wasn’t the same as doing it over an open fire.

Once again, we called it an early night, and once again, Mary slept in our tent, as we knew that it was going to rain.  This time, however, the storm did not hit until the middle of the night, and it blew through quickly, which gave us a chance to sleep a little better.

The next morning, John awoke early as usual and went on his morning hike.  This time, he found himself high atop another peak – not Barfoot Peak or Ida Peak, but nearby – with one of the most magnificent views he had ever seen.  Unfortunately, he did not bring the camera with him, so he did not get the change to share the joy with us.

Upon his return to camp, he began to cook pancakes for breakfast.  Mary and I heard him and emerged from the tent to start our morning. 

It did not rain that morning, and the clouds were beginning to break up to give us some much-needed sunshine.  We were grateful for it, too, because we needed the sunshine to help dry out the tents before we could pack them up.

Yes, it was time to go home.  It was Monday morning, meaning that our long weekend was almost over.  After the breakfast dishes were cleaned and put away, the three of us got busy and began to tear down our campsite.  That took a lot of work, because both of the tents were soaked, as were the mats that we had placed outside of them and the tarp, too.  We were efficient, though, and managed to get everything packed into the pod by 8:00 a.m.

Before we could go home, there was one more thing that we had to do, while we were in that region of the state.  It was one of our goals to see all of the different National Parks and Monuments in Arizona, and we were finally down to the last three or four.  One of those sites was nearby, located along a dirt road twelve miles off of SR 186.  It was the Fort Bowie National Historic Site, which had once been a trading post and military garrison during Arizona’s territorial days. 

Fort Bowie was a different kind of National Park site, as it was only accessible by foot.  Located at an elevation of about 4,900 feet, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to visit the fort, as we thought it might be too hot to hike there.  However, the monsoonal clouds were keeping the temperatures cool enough for us to make the attempt, so, we decided to make it happen.

We found our way to the Fort Bowie parking lot without any problems.  The road getting there was properly marked, as was the parking area, which consisted of a covered picnic table, various signs about the park, and a set of restrooms.

According to the signs, the trail was 1.5 miles one way – three miles roundtrip – and could be completed as a loop.  Most of the points of interest could be found along the first part of the loop, leading to the Fort.  We would see, for example, the Butterfield Overland Stage Route, with which we were already familiar, as well as the remains of a stagecoach depot, a cemetery, and some Indian artifacts, too.

We began our hike to the fort around 10:00 a.m., under overcast skies that were threatening to open up on us at any minute.  (The clouds were so low, in fact, that they covered the hilltops that surrounded the fort.)  It drizzled slightly on us at the trailhead, but the rain stopped once we were underway.

The trail started off with a short descent into the valley then followed along a wide footpath, marked with educational signs and mileage markers at every quarter-mile.  The first thing we found, at the first quarter-mile marker, was an old miner’s cabin, now in ruins, with a sign in front of it explaining its significance.  Just past the half-mile marker, we found the ruins of an old stagecoach depot, which had been used as a stopover point along the Butterfield Overland Stage Route.  Beyond that, we crossed the historic Butterfield Stage Route; there, we found a map of the entire route that had been used during the mid to late 1800’s, to deliver mail from St. Louis to San Francisco.  (We have driven a small, ten-mile section of that route that can be found in the Sonoran Desert National Monument, near Gila Bend.)

Near the three-quarter mile marker – half-way there! – we found an old cemetery, where soldiers had once been buried.  According to the signs, the soldiers had since been unearthed and reburied elsewhere; a few civilian graves still remained there.

From there, the trail turned towards the hills, and we could finally see the American Flag that flew over it.  As we neared the fort, there were many more points of interest to see.  Around the one-mile marker, for example, we found the ruins of the Chiricahua Apache Indian Agency; and just before we came to Apache Pass, we found an Apache village.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the hike was Apache Pass, located near the 1.25-mile marker.  Apache Pass was located in a rich, riparian area, in which there was a spring that provided water for the fort.  The area was very beautiful, and we enjoyed hiking in it.

As we marched through the riparian area at Apache Pass, Mary started calling out, “A rabbit!  A rabbit!”  Sure enough, there was a brown rabbit hopping across our path and into the brush next to the trail.  That was the first time that Mary had ever found wildlife before us – usually, we’re the ones pointing it out to her! 

We completed our climb up to Apache Pass and finally entered the ruins of Fort Bowie, where we found acres upon acres of ruins.  There were a few buildings that were still intact, but for the most part, all that remained were the last few crumbled walls of the fort.  Each of the ruins had a sign next to it with an explanation of what it used to be and trails leading out to them.

Instead of exploring the ruins, we went to the visitor’s center first, where we stamped Mary’s passport book.  We also spent about fifteen minutes or so reading about the fort at the various displays within the museum.  Mary was especially interested in the mannequins that were dressed up in the clothing of the period, so we took a few minutes to explain to her that that was how people dressed in those days.

After we were finished in the Visitor’s Center, we went back outside to explore the ruins and to take pictures of the crumbled remains.  It was very serene; except for the park rangers, who were inside of the visitor’s center, we were the only ones there, and it was quiet and peaceful there.  It really gave me a chance to ponder about what the place looked like in the 1850’s, and what life was like back then.

We didn’t linger too long at the ruins, as the gray clouds overhead were still threatening rain, and it was almost lunchtime.  At 11:40, John announced that it was time to go, so the three of us began the long hike back to the trailhead.

We decided to return the way we had come, rather than complete the loop, because Mary was getting cranky, and we were already familiar with the trail.  (The park ranger also told us that there wasn’t much to see along the rest of the loop, so he recommended that we return the way we had come.)  Although she was getting tired, we did manage to get her to walk most of the way back to the Jeep – she hiked a total of two and a quarter miles that day, just as she had done the other two days of our trip.  I was impressed: that meant that Mary had hiked almost seven miles during the whole weekend.  Not bad for a four year old!

It only took us about forty-five minutes to return to the Jeep, and by the time we got there, we were all very hungry.  John thought about making sandwiches for us at the picnic table, but since he was in a hurry to leave, he gave us all some snacks from the food box, to hold us until we reached Willcox.  (We would get Subway there.)  

It took us about fifteen minutes or so to get to Willcox from Fort Bowie – all we had to do was continue along the same road and it eventually came out onto a paved road that went north to I-10.  In Willcox, we topped off the gas tank once more and bought Subway for lunch.  After that, we drove non-stop all the way home.